Story: Palau Sipadan - Diving Heaven

Malaysia's only oceanic island springs out of crystal clear waters. It beckons to divers and snorkellers alike as if a siren from an old mariner’s tales. Palau Sipadan was, for years, ranked as one of the best shore dives in the world. While no longer fitting into this category, it is still a place where normally rare diving scenes become common place.

Sipadan is located off the eastern coast of Malaysian Borneo. Most divers will use Semporna as a base as it’s only a couple of hours by boat to the island. In the past, Sipandan was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. The matter was brought for adjudication before the International Court of Justice at the end of 2002. But since being awarded to Malaysia, the government has taken considerable steps to ensure it remains one of the richest marine habitats in the world. In 2004, the government ordered all on-site dive and resort operators of Sipadan to move their structures out of the island. Meaning that underwater enthusiasts can no longer use the island itself as a base.

The wonders the move has been trying to protect are plenty. Schools of greenback turtles and hawksbill turtles use the area for nesting and mating. Turtle sitings are more than just guaranteed. And due to heavy penalties for interferring with them, they turtles are quite at ease around their sub-marine visitors. Of course there are also schools of barracuda & big-eye trevally in tornado-like formations, pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks. The list is endless. There is also a a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that have become lost and drown before finding the surface.

The park area offers a wide array of accomodation to sort every budget and preference. Everything from backpacker hostels to luxury resorts to a converted ocean oil platform vie for customers patronage. The same can be said of tour operators. Most offer a variety of dive sites with excellent service and equipment. And snorkellers are more than welcome to join as a large percentage of the reefs are only a few feet below the surface.

Palau Sipadan is a rare maritime jewel that will enthrawl even the most seasoned of divers. Coming face to face with a turtle, staring down sharks or catching a glimse of the giant whale shark are unforgetable encounters. There is nowhere better to experience all of these in one place than in Palau Sipadan.