The tiny islands of Sipadan, Mabul, and Kapalai are known around the world for having some of the best scuba diving anywhere on earth. Located just East of Borneo in the Sabah region of Malaysia, Sipadan Island is the only oceanic island in Malaysia.

Sipadan was first made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau when he filmed his movie “Ghost of the Sea Turtle” there in the 1980’s. More recently, BBC featured the island’s sea turtle population in an episode of “Blue Planet II.” Mabul and Kapalai are both located 30-45 minutes from Sipadan by boat, and the majority of scuba divers stay on one of the two islands. While not as well-known as the nearby Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai host some great dive sites of their own.

Hump head parrot fish, Sipadan

What you will see around Sipadan

Diving at Sipadan Island is all about the big stuff. Large pelagic species gather in huge numbers. It is common to see schools of bumphead parrotfish, jackfish and big-eyed trevally numbering in the thousands, hawksbill and green turtles seem to be everywhere you look, and white tip reef and grey reef sharks continuously patrol the perimeter of the blue on almost every dive. Sharks resting on the seafloor during the day is a typical sight in the valleys between the coral wall drop-offs. Lucky divers occasionally see scalloped hammerhead sharks, thresher sharks, and even whale sharks.

School of Barracuda, Sipadan

Barracuda Point is the most famous dive site in Sipadan for a good reason; it is home to a massive school of great barracuda. Here divers can witness a resident school of thousands of barracudas as they swirl into a tremendous plumed vortex that looks like a barracuda tornado.

Here is a map of all of the dive sites near Sipadan, courtesy of Seaventures Dive Rig.