Sipadan Island

Sipadan Island

Sipadan Island

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 2,000 feet or 600m from the seabed. It is located east of Tawau (Borneo), in the Celebes Sea. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.

Rare diving scenes such as schools of greenback turtles and hawksbill turtles nesting and mating, schools of barracuda & big-eye trevally in tornado-like formations, pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks can be seen here.

A mysterious turtle tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Scuba Diving In Sipadan

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. 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 than 20 turtles on each dive. Another unique feature 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.


Barracuda Point is where a diver may experience the thrill of swimming amidst schools of barracuda and big-eye trevally, which gather in thousands forming spectacular whirlwind-like formations. With the possibility of seeing pelagic such as mantas, eagle rays and hammerhead sharks, each dive at Sipadan is a highly anticipated event.The macro life is equally mesmerizing. Garden eels, leaf scorpion fish, mantis shrimps, fire gobies and various pipefish are guaranteed at various dive sites. Sipadan also boasts a rich variety of soft and hard corals, among these Dendronephyta in delicate pastel colours and feather stars of all shades and hues.


The most popular dive spot to view these is the Coral Gardens.The diversity of the abundance of marine life found at Sipadan gives it the reputation of being one of the best dive locations in the world.. No surprise that Sipadan is praised by all diving magazines and has won several awards:


"World's Top Dive Destination"
"Repeat Performance - Places you'd return to"
"Best Overall Destination"
"Best Advanced Diving"


Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine Feb 2001 Top 100 Survey


2 comments:

Annie said...

I am fond of scuba diving.Really nice posting , I will keep visiting your blog for next update. Diving Sipadan

srisahara said...

I love the island because the place very nice for snorkeling and diving.