Sipadan - World Class SCUBA Diving in Malaysian Borneo!

Borneo has some of the worlds most amazing dive spots, filled with schools of fish, tiny colorful creaturs, sharks and so much more! One of those spots you have to see once in your life. Read about how to do it on a budget!

While people often mention Sipadan, the dive area is actually three islands close to each other. Sipadan, Mabul & Kapalai island are located at the East coast of Borneo, Sabah in Malaysia.

This is one of those places on earth where you can find 'everything' underwater. Shark species, lots of turtles and rays. Schools of Jacks, Trevally, Bat fish and even Bumphead parrotfish (they are soooo big!). Various muray eel and crab species, seahorses and banner fish. Giant clams, soft and hard corals plus sponges and anemones along the seabed.

If you are in to the small animals, NUDIBRANCH! you will love diving around Mabul island. Critters everywhere. Frog fish, leaf fish, sea horses, mantis shrimps and countless flatworms and nudibranches!

How to organize a dive trip to Sipadan

All three islands have amazing dive spots while Sipadan is most famous because you will find schools of fish, sharks and lots of corals. If you want to dive around Sipadan you have a few options: Day trips from Semporna (mainland), staying at one of the resorts on Mabul or Kapalai or going on a liveaboard cruise.

If you want to do it on a budget you have to shop around for the best package that suits your need regarding number of nights and dives. We got a great deal with Billabong SCUBA on Mabul island with 9 dives, 3 nights with 3 meals a day, dive equipement and park fees for about 500 USD. Still not cheap but considering the location and underwater treasures it was worth it and it was great to spend a few nights on a 'local' island.

Country	Malaysia
Dive area name	Borneo, Sabah: Sipadan, Mabul & Kapalai Island
Dive center	Billabong Scuba on Mabul
Famous for	Everything in one spot: Coral reef, macro & pelagic
Price	500 USD for 3 nights / 9 guided boat dives. Including transfers, dive equipment, park fees, room with private bathroom + full board (3 buffet meals a day).
Hotel recommendations	Dragon Inn Floating Resort (Semporna) Sipadan Dive Centre Mabul Lodge (Mabul) My Inn Hotel (Tawau)

Sipadan permits

To protect the precious ecosystem of Sipadan island the Malaysian gouvernment has relocated all resorts in 2005. You can not stay after 15:00 on Sipadan anymore, no overnight stays.

From 2006 onward a permit system was introduced to protect the highly valuably marine life ecosystems. There are only 120 daily permits for Sipadan devided over the dive centers around while there can be hundreds of guests around. Make sure to book well in advance and the longer you stay in one of the resorts the higher the change you will get a permit for Sipadan.

Comparing dive destinations

Bottom structure	Reef structure	Pelagic (big stuff in the blue)	Big reef (bigger stuff on the reef)	Macro (small stuff on the reef)	Current (stream)
Flat bottom with bumps/big rocks/pinnacles	Hard corals tree-shape (not moving)	Sharks	Turtles	Nudibranchs (snails)	No current
Slope (going down slowly)	Soft corals tree-shape (moving)	Rays	Eels/snakes	Sea horses	Small (you can easily swim against it)
Wall (steep but you see the bottom)	Table-/fan-shape	Trevally/Jacks/Tuna	Groupers	Scorpion/frog fish	Medium (you can swim against it for a little while/higher air consumption)
Drop off (steep and you can't see the bottom)	Anemones	Barracudas	Lobsters/crabs	Octopus/squid	Strong/reef hooks (you cannot swim against it)
Blue (no reference)	Sponges	Sardines/herrings	Puffers	Shrimps	Pumping/washing machine/OMG/hold your regulator (superman)

Impressions of diving around Sipadan

About the organization of Billabong SCUBA

Billabong SCUBA is a good option for the budget / backpacker range. The staff is friendly and helpful and the guides are experienced. Their location is right at the waterfront with great ocean view. The rooms are clean, the food is cooked fresh but the buffet is limited and at specific times. There is laundry service and there a lot of local convenient shops nearby, selling mainly things like soft drinks, cookies and peanuts. Alcohol might be hard to find as it is a Muslim island / country. No food or drinks are sold at Billabong itself. There's scheduled power cuts during the day (on the whole Island basically) and limited UTMS connection. No WIFI (2015).

For more information about Mabul, Semporna and Tawau (airport), things to do, restaurant and bar recommendations and a lot of useful travel tips for your holiday, visit my travel blog Crazy Dutch Abroad!




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