Diving celebrity Jacques Cousteau's discovery of Sipadan Island's divers marine life turned this island into a dive mecca scuba destination in Malaysia. One of the big fish capitals of the world!

This island shared its top spot with two other destinations - the Galapagos Islands and Truk in Micronesia.

At Barracuda Point you can find yourself surrounded by a spiralling vortex of barracudas, so large the school 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.

You'll see turtles everywhere you dive in Sipadan, munching on the sponges and algae, or lazing on the wall ledges.

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.

Dive points include :

West Ridge, North Point, The Drop Off, Turtle Cavern, Barracuda Point, Barracuda Point, Cotal Gardens, Whiteip Avenue, Mid Reef, Turtle Patch, South Point, Staghorn Crest, Lobster Lair, Hanging Gardens.
 

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.

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 20 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 turtles that became disoriented and then drowned.

The residential schooling barracuda and big-eye trevally, which often gather in thousands forming spectacular tornado-like formations, are one of the highlights on every diver's wish-list. With the possibility of seeing pelagic species such as mantas, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks, each dive at Sipadan is a highly anticipated event.

It is not only the big fish that amaze divers coming to Sipadan, the macro life is equally mesmerizing. Garden eels, leaf scorpion fish, mantis shrimps, fire gobies 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.

The Government of Malaysia has decided that all existing onsite dive resort operators are to move their operations out of Sipadan Island by 31st December 2004. The move is mainly to conserve and maintain a balanced marine and land eco-systems on Sipadan and its environs. Diving will continue in Sipadan for divers to be ferried in by operators operating from the mainland or nearby islands other than the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan.

Sipadan's resorts were removed from the island as a protective measure to ensure the environmental well-being of this tiny island.

Sabah is being blessed for having many beautiful and top class islands, especially at the east coast of Sabah i.e. near Semporna, a fishing village. Sipadan is one of few really top class place for divers around the world. But recent years, there are many bad publicity about the island i.e the kidnapping case, then the state government decision to demolish all the island building structures and then later to decide to build basic amenities structures and a club house  .. then .. a barge that carried the building materials accidentally dropped its entire cargo onto the fragile sea bed of the island ...

The island of Sipadan is a must for the true diving enthusiast and is considered to be one of the best diving areas in this part of the world. What makes this island special is that it is the only oceanic island (not connected to the continental shelf) in Malaysia rising 2,000 feet (600 meters) on a limestone pinnacle that 'mushrooms' out near the surface.

Pulau Sipadan have the largest variety of soft corals in the world. Turtles swim and frolic freely in the waters around Sipadan and divers will find lobster, barracudas, beautiful coral fishes and sometimes even sharks swimming by.

Pulau Sipadan is a totally new experience for many visitors. Not only are there fascinating coral structures but marine caves.

Pulau Sipadan's waters are so clear that visibility is over a hundred feet. Coral formations 40-50 feet deep teeming with fishes can be clearly seen.

Pulau Sipadan has excellent sandy beaches with a densely wooded central core. It is the perfect venue for hours of sunning and swimming.

The evenings bring beautiful sunsets framed against a timeless horizon.

Pulau Sipadan is also a bird sanctuary and bird-watchers will be able to observe the many frigates, sea eagles, terns and sea-gulls that glide across the clear skies. Pulau Sipadan is also a stop-over point for the Nicobar pigeon which flies through from China during the colder months.