| Sipadan Island
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The internationally famous island
of Sipadan lies five degrees north of the equator
in the Sulawesi Sea (Celebes Sea). Lying 35km south
of Semporna, on Sabah's mainland, like many tropical
islands it is thickly forested and surrounded by sandy
beaches. Sipadan is an oceanic island and was formed
by living corals growing on top of an extinct undersea
volcano, which rises 600m from the seabed. |
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The geographic position of Sipadan puts it in the centre of the richest marine habitat in the world, the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin. More than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this richest of ecosystems. Sipadan is well known for its unusually large numbers of green and hawksbill turtles which gather there to mate and nest and it is not unusual for a diver to see more then 70 turtles on each dive. Another unique feature to divers visiting Sipadan is the turtle tomb, an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of tribes that became disoriented and then drowned.
The residential schooling
barracuda and big- eye trevally are one of the highlights
on every divers wish-list which often gather in thousands
forming spectacular tornado-like formations. With the
possibility of seeing pelagics such as mantas, eagle
rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks,
each dive at Sipadan is a highly anticipated event.
Its not only the frogfish that amaze divers coming to
Sipadan, the macro life is equally mesmerizing. Garden
eels, leaf scorpionfish. mantis shrimps, fire graces
and various pipefish are guaranteed at various dive
sites. The diversity and abundance of marine life found
at Sipadan gives it its reputation of being one of the
ten best dive locations in the world. |
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Announcement:
Presently, the island
is in the care of Wildlife Department, which has stationed
several park rangers to oversee the state of nature of the
island. To protect the world unique flora & fauna on the
island as well as the underwater world the Malaysian Government
has decided that from 2005 no more overnight facilities shall
be on Sipadan itself. This means that all dive operators on
Sipadan moved at nearby islands; diving Sipadan will be conducted
from other destinations, such as Mabul
and Kapalai.
It is likely that Sipadan will be designated a marine reserve
under Sabah Parks, and there are plans for a World Heritage
Site listing. |
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