The island looks pretty much like any other island found in our waters but the only difference is that, millions of years ago, Sipadan was formed by an undersea volcano, which means that it is a deepwater oceanic island. In fact, it's the only one of its kind in Malaysia. Dropping to a depth of 600m or 2,000ft to seabed, it can be daunting for new divers. A narrow shelf, lining the island and then a sudden drop into darkness, is not for all divers.
Just below the surface is an alien world, a bizarre backdrop for a wondrous dream. The coral reef skirts Sipadan just below the surface and as far as 164feet down, providing one of the best wall dive experience.
Sipadan is located some 35km(22miles) south of Semporna, on the southeastern side of Sabah in Borneo. It was first gazetted a bird sanctuary in 1933 and was left pretty much alone until the late 70's when recreational divers rediscovered this new dive eden. Only a handful of the privileged were allowed into this secret garden.
Its geographic location puts the island within the Indo-Pacific basin, the richest marine bio-diversity area in the world. Some experts believe that the Indo-Pacific basin was earth's marine incubator. Nowhere in the world can we find such diversity and researchers are still discovering new species as new places and depths are discovered.
In 1989, Jacques Cousteau and his crew anchored his research vessel,'Calypso'. Cousteau was so taken by its virgin beauty , ' I have seen other places like Sipadan, 45 years ago, but now no more. Now we have found an untouched piece of art', he quipped.
But perhaps that one statement, that one documentary has changed the serenity and beauty of Sipadan forever.
Today, Sipadan is on a slow but hopefully progressive road to recovery. In just 15years what was a dream destination for divers was going to the dumps. By 2005, the Sabah Marine Parks closed the island off to resorts. There were several resorts stationed on the tiny island itself and as many as 80 to 120 divers were on the island at any one time. This caused a toll on many of the more frequented dive spots like barracuda point and south point. Divers , rumours had it, were diving as many as 10dives a day!!!
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| Water Chalets at Kapalai |
Having now closed the island off to overnight stays, divers now stay at resorts on nearby islands such as Pulau Mabul, Kapalai and Mataking Island. Staying on these islands, divers can dive either in the morning or after lunch or opt to stay the entire day on Sipadan but sign up at your respective dive centres for separate dive groups. for the morning and the afternoon session. This will indicate to the dive masters that you wish to stay on the island for both dive times. However not all resorts have boats going to and fro Sipadan twice a day especially during low seasons. The boat rides can take from 25mins (from Mabul), 18mins (from Kapalai), and 80mins (from Mataking). One thing about the boat rides - slap on lots on sunblock as its gonna be a ride in hot sun and clear blue skies. well most times anyway.
Since the closing of the island, guests are not allowed to wander too far from the jetty. The jetty is the converging point and rest area for all guests. Sabah parks have stationed personnel on the island to safeguard the area. A few of the abandoned resorts are used by the guards as posts. The rest are left to the jungle..
