Marine life
Sipadan is more than a beautiful island lined with white sandy beaches, it is also one of the most famous diving destinations in the world. This island has been created byiving corals that have developed for thousands of years on top of an extinct volcano culminating at 600 meters and is one of the richest marine habitats in the world. In this natural reserve, there are nearly 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of soft and hard corals. The notoriety of the place comes partly from the fact that Comandant Cousteau explored the coral reefs and reported on the mysterious labyrinthine cemetery of sea turtles.
Accessible from Kota Kinabalu or Tawau, many dive shops offer a day trip to the many dive sites scattered around the island. Today, the number of divers who can visit the Sipadan reserve is limited to 120 and the entry fee is also expensive. It is therefore imperative that you plan your dive in advance in order to avoid to be obliged to only dive around Mabul and Kapalai. For many divers, Sipadan has the best scuba diving sites in the world with the undisputed star Barracuda Point, famous for its gigantic barracuda tornados. Coral garden, south point, turtle cave, turtle tomb and whitetip avenue are also favored by divers.
Best time to go diving in Sipadan ?
You can dive all year round in Sipadan although the best moment of the year is from April to August when the sea conditions are the most favorable. The months of December to February are rather to avoid given the heavy rains.
Scuba Diving conditions
Visibility is good or excellent. Count between 15 meters and 40 meters depending on the season.
The current is low or non existent on the majority of diving sites. Becarful, however, on the most famous of them: Barracuda Point, the current can be very strong.
Difficulties: The diving spots of Sipadan are perfect to start scuba diving. Advanced divers will also find numerous sites offering an interesting challenge.
The temperature of the water oscillates between 27 to 31° Celsius.
Diving cruise in Sipidan
Enjoy your dive stay at Sidipan by booking a diving cruise. To discover a wide choice of cruises, we invite you to visit the website of our partner liveaboard. You will have the chance to observe different species such as manta ray, barracuda, grouper and many others. You can discover throughout your cruise various diving spots, for some accessible only by cruising. You can book your next trip to Sidipan by booking on liveaboard. You will be able thanks to our partner to dive to observe the coral garden, the Barracuda Point, the Turtle Tomb.
What can you see while diving?
Sipadan looks a giant aquarium in which the incessant ballet of fish leaves you speechless. You will certainly encounter the species you have always dreamed of seeing or photographing such as reef sharks, leopard sharks, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, sea turtles and humpback parrots fishes. You will also be able to spot tiny species such as nudibranchs, frog fish, leaf fish or pygmy seahorses. As for the Sipadan underwater garden, they are colorful and full of hard corals, soft corals, sponges and magnificent gorgons. Sipadan is undoubtedly one of the best dive sites in the world.
