Diving Sipadan and area

[Terryb]

Hi All

My buddy and I are going to be in Thailand for the month of February and are looking for some diving outside of Thailand. Sipidan was suggested to me. Does anyone have a preference for places to stay and dive operators. Also what is diving like in the rainy season, which, I'm told, is February.

Cheers,

 

[Wisnu]

Terry,
Sipadan is not (longer) part of Indonesia. You'll find lot of info and trip report of Sipadan in Malaysia & Singapore forum. We just back from Sipadan comined wit mt. kinabalu trip last month - here the report; http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/358067-mt-kinabalu-sipadan-family-trip-report-oct-2010-a.html

There's plenty choice of accommodation and dive center depend on your preference/style and budget. We chose the cheapest one there and still happy with that.

 

[Terryb]

Thanks Wisnu,

We are also looking for any possilbe dive sites in Indonesia. Good trip report, from the sounds of it Benakan looks like a great place to go. Do you know of the best flights out of Thailand to get there?

Cheers,

 

[downunder diver]

Last time i wnet we flew with silk air( singapore airlines carrier) to Kota Kinabulu, then a flight to Tawau, then a bus to semporna, then a boat out. Air asia is really cheap atm with lots of connections too. North Sulawesi in Indo is amazing and even bali is good if you get the right operators. Hope it helps a bit

 

[Wisnu]

terry,
to sipadan from Thailand, you can use AA to KL then KL to tawau.
to Bunaken - go to singapore then use Silk Air to Manado, then by boat to Bunaken the island, mostly budget accomodation. You can also stay in mainland to dive bunaken - more luxury accommodation available.
I notice in other thread you ask about muck diving - Lembeh, one hour drive from Manado is the muck diving capital of the world where you can find the weirdest critters on Roger Steene book - such as mimic octopus, blue ringed, flamboyan, stargazer, hairy frogfish, rhinopia, decoator crab, bobbit worm ect.
I personally prefer Lembeh than Bunaken; will spend more time in Lembeh.

cheers

 

[Terryb]

Thanks again for the info all.

Getting the urge to go and the snow hasn't started flying here yet, well at least staying longer than a day.

Cheers,

 

[bgfspeedy]

I would defnitely recommend Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort......
Diving at Kapalai
I stayed there... (and met my future wife) everything is amazing.... food, service, diving.....They are the closest to Sipadan Island. They equipment they have is great.... The house reef is beautiful, it is a cleaning station for giant barracudas....
We saw Hammerheads.....
I will definitely go back.....

Cheers