Dive Report: Sipadan, March 2006, 3 dives

[malaysia-islands]

Sorry for the belated dive report. Took time to edit and re-size the underwater images.

Dive #1: Mid Reef

LOCATION:
This dive site is located to the southeast of Sipadan. To get your bearing right, the only jetty in Sipadan is facing just about north. Access to Midreef is by boat for about 10 minutes from the main beach at Sipadan. Dive depth is between 15-20 metres. No noticeable current.

DESCRIPTION:
This dive site is regarded as one of the most colourful when it comes to the variety of soft and hard corals. Just as I descended to about 10 metres deep, there were already multitudes of coral variety that formed immaculate underwater gardens.

Anyway, this is probably not the place to see large pelagic, because I did see any. The hundreds of damselfish and colourful anthias (Pseudanthias sp.) did create underwater spectacles especially when combined with the coral reef scenes. Among the fish that I spotted were false clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) hiding in a beautiful colony of green anemone, Moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus), silvery sweetlip (plectorhinchus sordidus, somewhat scary-looking with that thick mouth), eastern triangular butterflyfish (Chaetodon baronessa), etc.

The collection of sea fan and soft corals was also very good to say the least. I spotted sea fans of Paracis sp. and Anella sp., cauliflower soft coral (Lemnalia sp.), variable bushy green feather of stars (Comanthina schlegelii), yellow fan coral of Villogorgia sp., crinoids of Comanthina briareus species, feather of stars of Oxycomanthus sp., soft coral of litophyton sp., etc.

Oh yes, there were about 3-4 green turtles here (Chlamydia mydas), most were barely noticing the engrossed eyes of the divers and busy grazing on the coral polyps.

Full dive report: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/mid-reef.shtml
Photo gallery: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/mid-reef/01.shtml

 

[malaysia-islands]

Dive #2: South Point

LOCATION:
This dive site is not exactly to the south of the island, but slightly to the southeast. To get your bearing right, the only jetty in Sipadan is facing just about north. Access to Midreef is by boat for about 15 minutes from the main beach at Sipadan. Dive depth is between 15-20 metres.

DESCRIPTION:
Overall, I found that the dive was somewhat less spectacular compared to Midreef or Barracuda Point. The visibility was also poor at slightly less than 10 metres.

Just as I descended to a depth of 15 metres, I was greeted by a large school of gold-band fusilier (Caesio caerulaurea) and longfin bannerfish (Heniochus acuminatus). Along the slope of the reef crest were a number of whitetip reef shark (Mano lalakea) which frequent the area. As usual, there were about 2-3 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) grazing for coral polyps on the sea floor.

There were a few spots where I could see the giant black-spotted moray eels (Gymnothoras javanicus). When it comes to tropical marine fish, South Point did offer some decent varieties, such as blue-faced angelfish (Pomacanthus xantometopon), a rare humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus, or also known as Napoleon wrasse), spotted unicornfish (Naso vlamingii) with the male one having distinguished elongated caudal rays, blacktail butterflyfish (Chaetodon austriacus), sleek/black-tongue unicornfish (Naso hexacanthus), horned bannerfish (Heniochus varius), redfin soldierfish (Myripritis violacea), gold saddle rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus), etc.

The coral variety too was rather subpar. The bulk of the reef scenes was made of hard corals from Acropora sp., Montipora sp., Millepora sp., Bennett's feather of stars (Oxycomanthus bennetti), spiral wire coral of Cirrhipathes sp., some dendronephthya soft corals, sea fans, etc.

Full dive report: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/south-point.shtml
Photo gallery: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/south-point/01.shtml

 

[malaysia-islands]

Dive #3: Barracuda Point

LOCATION:
This dive site is located to the northeast of Sipadan. To get your bearing right, the only jetty in Sipadan is facing just about north. Access to Barracuda Point is by boat for about 2-3 minutes from the main beach at Sipadan. Dive depth is between 15-20 metres. Some noticeable current, but occasionally could be strong.

DESCRIPTION:
The name should conjure what this dive site is all about. Yes, the world-famous barracuda by the hundreds, if not thousands. If you are lucky, you can also witness the much-coveted barracuda tornado which is endemic to this area. Unfortunately, I did not see any barracuda tornado, but I did ran across more than a few great barracudas (Sphyraena barracuda) lurking a few feet, or sometimes inches, before me. Usually, when you see one of this kind, you will probably see more. Just get your view around, most likely you will witness a school of them trooping like stealthy soldiers to a certain congregation point.

Enough of barracudas. There are more of this dive site than one particular species. Oddly, I only saw one green turtle (Chelonia mydas) here, but honestly, I couldn't be bothered because I've seen dozens of them just by snorkeling at the Jetty Drop-Off as well as diving at Midreef and South Point.

The variety of soft and hard corals here are quite good, comparable to those of Midreef I must say. I spotted stinging lace hydroids (Gymnangium gracilicaule), variable bushy feather of stars (Comanthina schlegelli), sea whips of Manella sp., pale green feather hydroids (Aglaophenia sp.), crinoid of Comantheria briareus species, antler coral of Pocillopora sp., tube sponge (Theonella swinhoei) surrounded by Heteroxenia sp. soft coral, as well as the most common of Acropora sp. and Montipora sp. hard corals.

How could I forget the sharks? I spotted about 3-4 blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) here. They were basically just frolicking on the sea bottom at about 15 meters. According to my Japanese dive master, the area is known as a "shark cleaning station" which body cleansing is done by small cleaner fish of remora sp. Generally, the sharks were rather timid but getting close to them was quite easy to a certain point. If you have a camera, take as many photos as your heart please when you are approaching the sharks because you will never know when they would decide to swim away.

The fish variety was also very good. I saw stocky anthias (Pseudanthias hypselosoma, pink-red-silvery, very spectacular when seeing a school of them), pyramid butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis), moray eel of unidentified species, a big school of orbicular batfish (Platax orbicularis), clown triggerfish (Balistoides conspicilum, quite rare to find one), six-banded angelfish (Pornacanthus sextriatus), etc.

Apart from the rather poor visibility (at most, 10 metres I think), it was a very fulfilling dive!

Full dive report: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/barracuda-point.shtml
Photo gallery: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/sipadan/dive/barracuda-point/01.shtml

 

[malaysia-islands]

For this trip, I decided to stay in Semporna and make the day-trip to Sipadan. If you are leaving around 800 or 900 am, there is plenty of time to do 3 dives including a nice safety stop break at Sipadan Beach Jetty.

This time around, I stayed at Seafest Hotel, which was surprisingly nice and comfortable for the RM88 that I paid per night.

I've also stayed at Dragon Inn Floating Resort when visiting the area a few years back. Also not a bad option. Price range about the same.