Pulau Sipadan is the only deep water oceanic island in Malaysia, standing 2,000 feet (600m) above the seabed. The coral island lies off the east coast of Malaysia on the island of Borneo, renowned for being one of the best scuba diving sites in the world. Sipadan boasts the richest marine habitat with more than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species. Its geographic location puts the island within the Indo-Pacific basin where some experts believe that the Indo-Pacific basin was earth's marine incubator.

To protect the environment and ecosystem from tourism, all resorts in Sipadan were closed since 2002. Sipadan island is only accessible during the day where divers must stay overnight on the nearby islands, such as Mabul or Semporna, and board a boat onto the island for diving. Sipadan is surrounded by both hard and soft coral as well as various reef fish. Encountering sea turtles and white tip reef sharks is common and hammerhead and leopard sharks can also be seen on occasions.

The rate for three dives at Pulau Sipadan is around RM260 including RM40 for equipment renting. Price is inclusive of boat transfers and packed lunch. Moreover, diver operators must obtain a permit from Sabah Parks to access the island, which costs RM40. You should verify that your diver operator is diving at Sipadan Island with permits.

Snorkelling is also a great alternative for non-divers. From the Sipadan sandy beach, the reef is easily reached and some parts of the reef further out are accessible by boat. The all-inclusive rate for a snorkelling trip is around RM170 which can be arranged by any dive operators.

Choosing the right dive operators is important - read diver reviews beforehand.

Dive Shops on Mabul Island
- Sipadan Water Village
- Sipadan-Mabul Resort
- Uncle Chang's Sipadan Mabul Dive Lodge

Dive Shops on Semporna Island.
- Blue Sea Divers
- North Borneo Dive & Sea Sports Scuba Junkie
- Sipadan Scuba

Getting There :
Visitors from Kuala Lumpur should take a flight to Tawau (3 hours) and visitors from Singapore, Taipei or Hong Kong should take a flight to Kota Kinabalu and catch a connecting flight to Tawau. Usually the resort operators will meet you at the Tawau airport and take you to the port town of Semporna by private van which takes about an hour or two (Taxi fare is RM80). From there, add another one hour boat journey to Sipadan itself.