Pulau Sipadan

Pulau Sipadan
Pulau Sipadan

Overview

The exclusive Pulau Sipadan (Sipadan Island) is located in the Celebes Sea. The island was formed thousands of years ago on top of and extinct volcanic cone. From there, corals started to grow there and that was the precursor of the island.

Slowly and gradually, it grew and grew to 600 meters from the seabed. The marine life here is the reason why the Sipadan Island is so famous. It has the most diverse marine life in the world and is also known as a top diving site among diving enthusiasts.

Sipadan Island's waters are so clear that visibility is over a hundred feet. Coral formations 40-50 feet deep teeming with fishes can be clearly seen. Sipadan Island has excellent sandy beaches with a densely wooded central core. It is the perfect venue for hours of sunning and swimming. The evenings bring beautiful sunsets framed against a timeless horizon.

Accommodations

Since January 1st 2005, for environmental reason, the resorts in Sipadan Island has been ordered to closed and moved to nearby islands of Mabul and Kapalai. Listed below is some of resorts and budget longhouse in nearby islands.

 - Sipadan Mabul Resort
 - Sipadan Water Village Resort
 - Mabul Water Bungalows
 - Mabul Budget Longhouse

Attractions

The main attraction in Sipadan Island is it's shallow water! You can swim with your hands touching the ground! While you do not see a lot of swimming fish, but the variety of smaller corals and colorful seaweeds made up for it.

While snorkeling, you can see saucer leaf algae (Tubinaria species), finger leather coral (Sinularia species) with a bright orange ascidians (Polycarpa aurata) on it, mushroom leather coral (Sarcophyton species, often mistaken as a budding sea anemone), brown sea whips (Menella species), and some variety of fishes, if not much.

The attractions of underwater life in Sipadan does offer different theme as compared to Mabul Island, Kapalai Island and Mataking Island.

Dining

Since January 1st 2005, for environmental reason, the resorts in Sipadan Island has been ordered to closed and moved to nearby islands of Kapalai and Mabul. A delicious and sumptuous meal served in buffet style at the open central restaurant in nearby islands.

Most resorts in Kapalai and Mabul should be able to accommodate the dietary needs of vegetarians as long as they have advance notice. For other special dietary requirements, check with the resort first.

There is a large sundeck sitting area perfect for sipping a drink while enjoying the tropical sunset.

Diving

With no typhoons and no monsoon, weather in Sipadan is suitable for scuba diving year round and the best conditions are between March and October. There are more than ten established dive spots which can be found in Sipadan Island. Few of these spots are named after the captivating encounters divers such as the Hanging Garden, Barracuda Point, White-Tip Avenue, Coral Garden and Turtle Patch. The most popular diving spot in Sipadan is Barracuda point where divers normally came across the big school of barracudas swimming near the area.

Transportation

You can take a flight to Tawau and then get on a bus or taxi to reach to Semporna where the jetty depart to Sipadan Island located. At the jetty, the speedboat ride to Sipadan Island will take about an hour plus. If you do not want to wait for the bus from Tawau town to Semporna, you can also take a taxi there from the Tawau Airport to Semporna.



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