Sipadan is renowned for being the best place to dive in Borneo. This area is famous for its massive schools and schools of fish, spiraling barsracudas, large green turtles, schooling reef sharks, and pumping current. I was very lucky to have spent three months in this area, doing hundreds of dives. I hope you find this guide helpful or inspiring.
Perhentian islands, Malaysia, are great for an island vacation that includes beautiful beaches, decent snorkeling, and decent diving.
What is it that makes Sipadan so amazing?
It is a volcanic island with coral cliffs that drops 600m to the seafloor. It is difficult to accurately describe the marine life found here without sounding exaggerated. Numerous hawksbill turtles and large green turtles can be found swimming all over the place, beginning in the shallows. While passing sharks keep your camera firing, the pinnacle herds are made up of hundreds upon hundreds of massive bumphead parrotfish. There are also resident schools that have thousands of jackfish. Sipadan, home to huge resident schools barracudas, is well-known for creating a vortex of barracuda swirls around you, with some luck. It is possible to meet almost any creature on this sea mount. This is just a day.
Sipadan Island is a special spot for diving. Sipadan and Komodo are my favourite dive spots in South East Asia. I have dived at both these places many times.
Pulau Sipadan is a popular spot on the north-east coast of Malaysia Borneo. It was named by Jacques Cousteau (dive legend and ocean explorer), as one of the top dive spots in the whole world. When you travel to Borneo, I recommend that this be your first stop.
Sipadan Island is not permitted for accommodation. The majority of resorts are on Mabul and Kapalai islands which can be reached by boat in an hour. You will need a permit to dive around the island. The area is closely supervised by armed guards. There are two choices: stay in Semporna where you will find affordable accommodation; or, stay closer to Kapalai and Kabul which will be more expensive and allow you to dive from there.
Staying on nearby islands allows you to do multiple dives around Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan every day. If you are lucky, you may even be able to go to Sipadan twice a day. Excellent diving is possible around Mabul and Kapalai islands. It’s a very different experience from Sipadan but it’s also world-class.
Sipadan was an amazing place to dive. The distance from the main beach up to the top is approximately 20 metres. The majority of resorts were found on Sipadan Island from 2004 to 2004. You could easily walk out of the room, get dressed up and jump in to Drop Off!
Although it was unreal for diving, studies revealed that marine life and the reefs were not able to withstand the stress from too many divers. The Malaysian Government took the decision to protect the reefs, and instructed all resorts in Sipadan Island to move. Every diver who wishes to dive around Sipadan Island must have a permit.
Sipadan: How to Get There
The first step is to get to Semporna (on Borneo island). There are not many things to do and it is known as the gateway to other islands. You can fly from Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu to get there (IATA.KUL, BKI). Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and AirAsia have daily flights. Tawau is the best place to travel to Semporna. There are several options: a public bus, taxi or minibus transport from Tawau. You can also travel by public bus from Kota Kinabalu or Semporna.
Transfer time from Tawau, Semporna: 90 minutes. To get to Mabul Island via resort speedboat, it takes 45 minutes.
How to get a Sipadan dive permit
One hundred and twenty permits are issued each day to the 12 nearby resorts. Larger resorts get more permits. Each permit permits a diver to dive at Sipadan Island for a single day.
When the resorts are full during peak season, more than 500 guests could be in the resorts. On most days, 120 permits will not suffice. Permits cannot be issued on a “first come, first served” basis. Instead, they are issued according to a rotating system.
Here are some of the best tips for getting a permit
Stay longer at the resort (more that 3 days)
Book as soon as you can.
Avoid peak season.
My main tip: Ask at all resorts if you do not have a valid permit. Do not listen to anyone who says you will not be able to get a permit in such a short period of time. I was told by the first resort I dived with that they didn’t have permits. It would take at most two weeks. I went to Mabul and dived with them for a whole day. Then, we returned to Semporna to walk to every dive site. I had the option of choosing between three dive centers by the end, and one even offered me a job. That was my start as a 3 month-long dive instructor in Mabul.
Diving Sipadan permits for resorts and dive school.
Seaventures Tours and Travel
Sipadan Mabul Resort
Sipadan Water Village Resort
Borneo Divers and Seasport
Borneo Jungle River Island Tours
Dive Semporna
Bharman Sive Safari & Divesport – Bharman SIpadan
Celebes Explorer Liveaboard
North Borneo Dive Center and Seasports
Pulau Sipadan Resort
The Reef Dive Resort and Tours
Roach Reefs Resort
Can beginners dive Sipadan?
Many myths surround certifications for Sipadan diving. However, technically, you do not require an advanced qualification or to have done a certain number of dives. Once you have completed your openwater course, you will be certified to dive Sipadan. Barracuda is one of the attractions that requires drift diving. Because the water close to the reef is deep, it can prove dangerous for novice divers. The reef could be damaged if you lack buoyancy skills. Your openwater qualification permits you to dive deep enough (18m), so that you can see all the popular attractions in Sipadan. These include the barracudas (bumpheads), the reef sharks, and even the big eye trevally.
This is a qualified spot to dive with an open water qualification. Use your judgement to decide if you’re ready to dive in a more difficult area. Ask your instructor if he feels you are. Divers who are inexperienced will be safer if they dive with a competent leader. Some operators may require proof of 20 logged diving hours or advanced qualification. Make sure you check with your school before you sign up. You should always be able to complete your advanced course after you have completed your open water. It will allow you to gain more experience and help you develop valuable skills during specialty dives.
Sipadan Diving package
Dive centers have a limited number of Sipadan permits so you will need to stay with them for a few days to dive at different locations in order to get one. Sipadan Diving packages vary between resorts. They include Sipadan dives, accommodation, and non-Sipadan divers. Most often, you will do Sipadan dives around Mabul or Kapalai on these days. You may also dive Sipadan on one of the Sipadan days depending on availability and length.
We will tell you for most resorts the length of stay that is required in order to receive a Sipadan Permit. These reefs have some of the most unusual and beautiful creatures in the ocean. You can see many sea horses, ghost pipefishes, ghost fish, cuttle fish, ghost fish, ghost cuttle fish and more at these world-famous muck diving locations.
Sipadan Snorkeling
Sipadan is an excellent spot for snorkeling/freediving. Sipadan must have had many holiday-goers snorkeling there 15 years ago. The reef’s shallowest part is located close to Sipadan. It is less than five m deep. Here you will see giant green turtles swim close to the surface. There are also huge clams, incredible coral and massive bumphead parrotfish swimming in this shallow water. The reef is home to thousands of barracudas, reef sharks and large eye jacks. You have good chances of seeing them snorkeling.
You will find huge sharks, jacks and game fish if your freediving skills are good.
There are very few permits that can be used to snorkel. Because diving is more profitable than snorkeling, operators don’t often take snorkelers. Uncle Chang was known to often take snorkelers along.
Marine Life in Sipadan
Sipadan is high up on the bucket list of most experienced divers. It is home to more than 3,000 species fish and hundreds coral species. This site is considered one of the best protected diving sites in the entire world. A typical day will bring you many hawksbill and large green turtles. It is possible to see more than 20 on a good dive.
It’ll be strange to not see sharks in this area. The most common are white tip reef sharks, grey reef, and grey reef. But, divers often see scalloped-hammer heads when they do wall dives. Devil rays, eagles and mantas can be seen occasionally. Sipadan’s main highlight dive is the huge residential schools full of jackfish or barracudas. You will be surrounded by thousands of jackfish as you dive, and there are massive schools of Barracuda scattered all around.
Barracudas will sometimes form the classic vortex around you. To avoid this, take a reef hook. It is a long hook with a piece or rope attached. Then, when you are in the current and the barracudas approach, attach the hook (not coral!) to a rock. Hang in the current, with thousands of barracudas passing by. I enjoy watching the large numbers of bumphead parrotfish grazing the reef. These huge fish swim in straight lines eating coral and then pooping non-stop. It creates nice white sand. I was accompanied by Mabul’s divemasters when I saw a whale shark. This is an unusual occurrence, though it can happen.
People don’t notice that there are pumping currents or big animal action. But the coral, varieties of nudibrances, large reef fish, huge cucumbers and sea stars, as well as moray eels and lion fish, can be seen around Sipadan.
Whale Sharks – many divers have a bucket list item of diving with these massive creatures. While they aren’t often seen in Sipadan but some of my friends have had the opportunity to swim with them at Sipadan. To see whale sharks in the Philippines, you should visit our Whale Sharks Philippines Comparison and our Whale Sharks Of Oslob article. This article will provide more information on swimming with these massive filter feeders at this controversial location.
