"Top 3 scuba diving sites in the world " a Pulau Sipadan Travel Page by Sambawalk

Ever since diving celebrity Jacques Cousteau raved about Sipadan's diversity of marine life, this dive mecca has been indisputably the most famous scuba destination in Malaysia. It is located off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia's eastern most state, and lies on the north-eastern corner of Borneo, the world's third largest island.

The Sipadan diving legend has passed through the world's dive community to the extent that all divers with an interest in visiting the best sites in the world, have this small island near the top of their wish list.

You can dive here all year round. Overall, the best conditions at Sipadan Island exist from April to December, especially July and August. January to March can see some unsettled weather and a decrease in visibility but the resorts still see plenty of guests at this time as the diving can still be fine.

I stayed in Semporna for 5 days and took speed boat and dived at Sipadan island for 3 days and dived in most of the dive sites around the island, except for the turtle cave. Dives sites include:
• Barracuda Point, Coral Garden, The Drop Off, Hanging Gardens, Sipidan Midreef, South Point, Staghorn Crest, Turtle Cavern, Turtle Patch, Whitetip Avenue.

I dived with Sipadan Scuba, a PADI 5 star dive shop and National Geographic dive centre. It is located in Semporna and the dive master and instructors are professional. They have 2 cavern instructors (I think out of 3 in Sabah) who can bring divers to go in turtle caves. Without licenced cavern instructor, divers should not go in.

As for permit, it is true that only 120 is granted on daily basis. Upon arrival the island, all divers must registered with the Sabah National Parks official on the island. The official will check the name against the permit already registered. Due to high demand, supposingly, divers have to register months before the exact dive days. Based on my observation, a lot of divers just turn up their dive shops a day or two before the dive day and the dive shop manageed to get their names on the list. However, if you know your schedule, it is advisable to register early with your dive shop, as supply and demand can be varied according to the season or holiday period.

There are 2 more known dive shops in Semporna, Scuba-Junkie and Blue Sea divers. I have no idea of their quality, so not appropriate to comment on them. In addition, there is 1 budget accommodation in Mabul island - Uncle Chang. I think they all operate in a similar manner in terms of getting the permit.

The list of attractions is quite staggering and all the more exceptional as it involves plenty of big fish encounters - at Barracuda Point you can find yourself surrounded by a spiralling vortex of barracudas, so large that the sunlight is often clouded out. At South Point there are scores of reef sharks, large schools of passing trevally and herds of massive marauding bumphead parrotfish. This is one of the big fish capitals of the world!

AMAZING!

When diving in Sipadan everywhere you turn you'll see turtles, munching on the sponges and algae, or lazing on the wall ledges. If you take the time to look closely at the walls you'll see a wealth of macro life and fish species to rival most destinations, although this is often overlooked due to the other major attractions vying for your attention.