| Sipadan. Idyllic Sipadan. Beautiful Sipadan - both topside and underwater. I am sure many (if not all) divers have heard of Sipadan Island. Just for a geographic reference...
Located in the waters of the Celebes Sea (off West Borneo), Sipadan have been so 'discovered' by the late Jacques Cousteau during one of his film making adventures, after which Sipadan became world-renowned for both its diversity in diving experiences and marine lives (both, again, macro and pelagic)  When diving in Sipadan is mentioned, it generally means that you'll be covering all three main islands in the archipelago namely Sipadan Island, Mabul Island and Kapalai.
As
you can see from the contoured black and white picture
above, Sipadan is a 'lone' island formed by volcanic
activities maybe millions of years ago. Hence, Sipadan
offers wall diving all around. Currents may be tricky
at times. Dive
sites in Sipadan...
Since the Malaysian government 'banned' visitors on Sipadan (read - no overnight stay at all) since January 2005, only a strip of roughly 80m by 10m is allowed for landing during surface intervals (near the Drop Off). This is to allow the Island to 'repair' itself back to its glory days (Sipadan veterans reported MORE marine life 10-15 years back), but with more than 200 divers visiting Sipadan daily, this may take some time. Mabul Island is where majority of dive resorts (and non-resort operators) are located now. With exceptions of one on Kapalai (which is really a reef rather than an island) and one on a used oil platform. For Mabul Island, types of dives offered are both wall and reef dives. It's dive sites are excellent for macro lovers. For Kapalai (which is really an extension of the Ligitan reef and is totally underwater except for the resort) is excellent for macro lovers as well and generally offers muck dives. |
