Sipadan and Mabul Island Diving Report (Parts 1,2,3,4)

[JonnieB]

Sipadan and Mabul Island Diving Report

Key Words: Scuba Diving Malaysia, Sipadan Island, Mabul Island, Kapalai Island, Sipadan Water Village


INTRODUCTION

This author spent the week of October 19-25, 2004 scuba diving at “Sipadan Island” in Malaysia. Accommodation and diving were with Sipadan Water Village (SWV) on Mabul Island. The following are impressions of the diving at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai islands (collectively referred to as Sipadan), the dive staff of SWV, and the accommodations, food, and amenities at SWV. The week was spent with a group of 7 other divers (all expatriates) who, along with the author, reside in Thailand. It was the first time diving at Sipadan for everyone, which included men and women with dive ratings from OW to Rescue. The number of previous dives for group members ranged from 15-100.

LOCATION

Sipadan is located on the island of Borneo, which is shared by Malaysia and Indonesia. It also includes the tiny independent sultanate of Brunei. Borneo is a vary large island sitting southeast of Singapore, a few degrees above the equator. The Malaysian portion is divided into the states of Sarawak and Sabah. Sipadan is a short distance off the coast of Sabah, on it’s south-eastern coast. The area faces out towards the Celebes Sea (Indonesia)to the southeast and the Sulu Sea (Philippines) to the northeast.

WEATHER/WATER CONDITIONS

The weather during the trip was ideal. The days were clear and hot (33-34 Celsius) and the nights were warm, with slight to moderate cooling breezes. There was no rain during our stay. We were informed (and the literature confirms) that being far enough south, Sipadan escapes most of the strong winds and rain of the monsoon season that effects areas further to the north from October through about March. In fact, the name “Borneo” means “below the wind” in the Malay language. Extreme weather conditions effecting Japan, southern China and the Philippines will have some affect on Sipadan but in general, it is a year-round diving destination. The surface water conditions during our stay were calm (“like glass”). There was minimal to no chop, swell, or surf during entry and exit from the water and the boat rides to both local and distant dive sites were smooth and comfortable. The water temperature on all dives was between 28-29 degrees Celsius.

GETTING THERE

The route from Bangkok to Sipadan was as follows: Bangkok to Kaula Lumpur on Air Asia; transit to Tawau (Air Asia) - nearest domestic airport to Sipadan; minivan transfer from Tawau to Semporna - closest mainland town to Sipadan; overnight in Semporna; speedboat transfer to Sipadan. We left Bangkok 10 a.m. and arrived at SWV around 10 a.m. the next day. With the overnight stay in Semporna, we arrived at SWV relaxed and ready to dive. Air Asia now (didn’t when booking was made) has a direct flight from Bangkok to Kota Kinabalu. From Kota Kinabalu, one can transit to Tawau and then onto Semporna. Overnight in Semporna would likely again be necessary but the overall flight and layover time times would be about half. For the return, we left SWV at 1 p.m. and arrived back in Bangkok at midnight of the same day, with routing from Semporna to Tawau, Tawau to Kota Kinabalu on Malaysian Airlines, and Kota Kinabalu to Bangkok on Air Asia. On both our outgoing and return flights on Air Asia and Malaysian Air, we were not charged excess baggage fees for our equipment bags.

Travel time, therefore, was approximately 24 hours from Bangkok to Sipadan, and about 12 hours from Sipadan to Bangkok. From outside Malaysia, most visitors to Sipadan would likely travel via Bangkok or Singapore. From these gateways, one would go to Kota Kinabalu {nearest Malaysian international airport to Sipadan} and then by domestic land or air transport to Semporna, and finally boat transit to Sipadan. (The flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau is about 50 minutes and the ground transport from Tawau to Semporna is about 1-hour. However, actual travel time will depend on the wait in between connecting flights.) If one was already in Malaysia, say Kaula Lumpur or Penang, one could fly on a domestic flight directly to Tawau, and from there be in Sipadan in 2-3 hours. For any jetsetters, helicopter transfer from Kota Kinabalu directly to SWV is available.

Marine Pro Travel, a Bangkok based travel agency specializing in scuba diving safaris, made all our travel arrangements. All of our transportation and connections went off without a hitch. The director of the Agency accompanied our group to Sipadan and made our stay both professionally (the diving portion) and socially enjoyable.

End Part One

 

[JonnieB]

Mabul Island/Sipadan Water Village


As stated previously, it takes about one hour to travel by speedboat from Semporna to SWV/Mabul Island. Mabul Island is a speck of an island surrounded by a shallow fringing reef and narrow white sandy beach. One could walk around the island in an hour. There is a small native fishing village on the island and four diving resorts. Two are built on stilts over the fringing reef (including SWV). The others are Borneo Divers, located on the island itself, and Seaventures Diving Resort, an oil-drilling rig that has been converted into a dive-resort. It sits in shallow water about 500 meters from the shore. (In front of SWV, somewhat spoiling the view in that direction but not effecting the overall ambience in any way. On a positive note, one of the better “muck” diving sites on Mabul is directly under this rig.)

On arrival at SWV, we were warmly greeted by the resort manager and provided with refreshing welcome drinks and cold towels. Several of the resort’s dive-masters gave an introduction to SWV and our certifications were checked. SWV is entirely build of wooden structures over a portion of the reef on Mabul Island, with connecting walkways between various points within the resort and also to the beach/island itself. We were then shown to our rooms to unpack and prepare for our checkout dives.

We stayed in standard bungalows. They (and all the rest of SWV) are designed in an open tropical style. The interiors are about 30-35 sq. meters and have 2 twin beds (a third can be added), bathroom (with hot and cold shower, basin, storage area, and laundry line), closet, writing desk, and small “living room” area (with a comfortable sofa and chairs and coffee table). There is a small mini-bar stocked with sodas, beer, mineral water, and a few snacks. There is no air conditioner but there is a ceiling fan. (Though it was warm, it was never uncomfortably hot during the day or night.) There are large wooden slat windows and deck doors that can be opened to let in the breeze. However, during a really humid period, one might be uncomfortable during the night with only a ceiling fan. A hair dryer, electric mosquito pad warmer (and pad refills), and local magazines on Sabah tourism activities and diving (in English) were provided. There is also a large deck with space for drying gear and clothes and two padded deck-recliners for resting and enjoying the sunrise, sunset, or evening sky views. The bungalows were clean and daily maid and turndown service were provided. There are mosquitoes present, mostly at dusk, but they are not a major annoyance and are easily avoided by use of effective repellant (DEET 15-25%).

The bungalows were big enough for 2 people sharing and felt spacious with their open design and large deck/lounging area. SWV itself is small enough that walking from one’s room to the restaurant or dive-deck areas is never more than a minute or two away.

SWV has one dining facility where all meals are taken. Three meals are provided per day as follows: 6:30-9:00 breakfast; 12:00-14:00 lunch; and 19:30-21:30 dinner. These times are coordinated with the resort’s diving schedule. You need not worry about missing a meal because you are out on a dive. There is plenty of time to eat before the first dive, you will be back in time for a nourishing lunch, and return from the last afternoon dive and any sunset/night dives in plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely dinner.

While the cooking is hardly gourmet, it is tasty and nourishing and there is plenty of it. At each meal, a buffet style mixture of local Malaysian, Asian, and Western dishes is offered. At breakfast, there is usually a hot egg station. For lunch and dinner, this station converts to some type of barbeque, frying or roast station for various meats (beef, chicken, or lamb). On one night, there was a large outdoor barbeque of seafood, chicken, and lamb. With Islam being the official State religion of Malaysia, no pork or pork product is offered on the menu. There is no ham, bacon, or sausage/hotdog. Any “pork” meat will be a beef or turkey meat substitute and in this author’s opinion will not be worth eating. As for alcohol, it is available. Beer is offered with meals and other spirits are available at the resort’s bar. There are multiple dishes offered at each meal and the author (a finicky eater to be sure) never had a problem finding plenty of tasty and nourishing items with which to fill his plate.

SWV has a small store/boutique, where a small selection of snacks, drinks, and toiletries are available. (There is nothing to buy on the island itself save for local trinkets, seashells, and toiletries.) The usual selection of dive resort souvenirs (i.e., t-shirts, seashell jewelry, native handicrafts, etc.) is also available. There is also a small selection of dive accessories. However, don’t forget a piece of gear at home and expect to be able to by it at SWV (or anywhere else in Sipadan). The area is quite remote and the author doesn’t believe the area has a dive shop. One should arrive at Sipadan with all of the dive gear and accessories they plan to use for their dives. Don’t expect to buy gear or spare/replacement parts there.

DIVING FACILITIES

After unpacking, we assembled at the dive-deck area to gear-up for our checkout dive. This consists of properly assembling your dive gear (attaching BCD and regulator to the tank), weighting oneself correctly, and in the water, clearing a flooded mask and retrieving an expelled regulator second-stage. The dive-deck area is spacious and contains plenty of writing tables, chairs, indoor and outdoor showers, restrooms, fish identity book library (English and Japanese texts) refreshment station, and secured storage area for BCDs and regulators, dunk/cleaning tanks, and personal storage lockers. It is here where the diving boards are located with information on your group’s dive time and locations for the day and assigned dive master. During the week, there were 50-75 guests and 8-10 dive masters. The dive deck was spacious enough to handle everyone using these facilities at the same time to gear-up, relieve oneself, or take a shower without undue waiting.

There is plenty of storage space for one’s personal dive gear in the provided secured storage locker. It is recommended that cameras and dive computers not be stored in the lockers but kept with their owners’ overnight.

As a group of eight, we dived together and were assigned one DM per dive. Sometimes, another couple that had come to SWV on their own was assigned to dive with our group. There were 9 dive masters at SWV at the time of our stay (3 Malays, 3 Japanese, and 3 Filipinos). No European/North American dive masters were present. English and Japanese were the languages spoken. You may need to check with SWV if you do not speak English or Japanese. The DMs are rotated daily, so you dive with many of them. However, this precludes building-up a rapport (i.e. good working relationship) with any single one of them. Our group dived with Jimmy (Filipino), Duong (Malay), Miki (Japanese), and Alex (Filipino). All were professional. The only problem was a personality conflict on our last day (unfortunately) with Alex. Alex is one of the senior DMs and for some reason took offense to our group being 5-10 minutes late in gearing-up for the day’s dives and was not shy about verbally letting us know this. This put a slight damper on people’s spirits during the morning but things chilled-out as the day wore on. However, Alex was skilled in leading the dives and finding and pointing-out the many small and camouflaged inhabitants of the reef.

As mentioned above, our group of 8-10 divers was assigned one DM per day. Some in our group felt that another DM or DMT should have been provided to “bring up the rear” or assist if there was a danger of separation from the group. This would be a particular concern with a group of less experienced divers. This was not a particular concern of the author, but could be for others. The feeling was that Sipadan, being a “world-class” site and somewhat off the beaten dive-path, would attract mostly experienced divers. Therefore, SWV does not feel the need to provide more than one DM per group/boat. Diving conditions and visibility were good enough that our group only suffered a lost diver on one occasion (accidentally joined another group and was retrieved during the dive by the DM) and never had to prematurely abort a dive.

Access to the dive sites is by speedboats. The boats comfortably hold 10-15 divers and are covered, providing protection from the sun. Scuba tanks, BCDs, and regulators are loaded onto the boats by SWV staff. Wetsuits, masks, fins, weights, and any other assorted dive gear/accessories {what you have stored in your personal gear locker} are the responsibility of the individual diver. The off-loading of gear is the same. Boat staff also change gear to new tanks on multi-dive trips.

 

[JonnieB]

THE DIVING

The islands of Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai, and Mataking are all located in the same general vicinity. From SWV [Mabul Island], Sipadan is reached in 25-30 minutes and Kapalai in 15 minutes. The author did not dive Mataking Island (30 minutes from SWV). The dive sites off Mabul are reached in 5-10 minutes. Just about all types of diving are available at Sipadan: open water (palegic), wall, drift, cave, deep/technical, and muck/macro. The main one missing is wreck diving. To the author’s knowledge, nitrox/mixed-gas diving is not available at SWV.

SWV offers three boat dives for each diving group per day, along with unlimited house-reef dives. Where to dive is left up to the group, with input from the DM if the site might be unsuitable due to current or visibility issues. In practice, most groups request the DM pick the best site for the day or request to view something in particular and the DM will choose a site where it might be found. Sunset (to see mating Mandarin fish) and night dives are offered daily, if enough people join in (min. 3), and are limited to 8 people in total. There is a supplementary charge of RM 35.00 per person (about $9.00) for sunset/night dives, along with a charge of RM 25.00 for dive-light rental (if needed). All dives must be followed by a minimum surface interval of 1 hour. [If one is caught in violation of this rule {e.g., doing a house-reef dive shortly after returning from a boat dive}, all diving privileges “will be suspended for the remainder of [one’s] stay.” How religiously this rule is enforced in practice the author doesn’t know but it seems it could be costly to test it!

In practice, this schedule allows for 2 dives at Sipadan and 1 dive at Mabul per day, or the reverse. After the last boat dive, and following the mandatory 1-hour surface interval, there is also time for a 45-60 minute dive on the house reef. Another dive is possible (sunset or night) if the last boat dive was at Mabul and the house-reef dive was of a duration allowing the 1-hour surface interval before the start of the sunset/night dive. So, in theory, up to 5 dives per day are possible. However, a normal schedule would be 3 boat dives and a dive on the house-reef or sunset/night dive (4 dives per day). During the author’s 4-day stay, 11 dives were done.

When 2-dives are done at Sipadan, the surface interval is taken at the boat jetty on Sipadan Island itself, where shower and restroom facilities are available. SWV also provides hot tea/coffee, milo, and water, along with some type of snack (sandwiches often), free for it’s divers.

There are two house-reefs at SWV. One is part of the fringing reef surrounding the island and the other is a sandy bottom area (muck dive) site. Dives on these sites are to be completed by 18:00. Solo diving on the house-reef is allowed.

At all dive sites gloves are allowed.

The nearest recompression chamber is on Sipadan Island and the nearest hospital is in Semporna.

The Dive Sites

The author has done over 100 dives in South-East Asia (Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia). Sipadan is definitely the best to date. A good dive day at Sipadan easily equals a good week of diving in Thailand or the Philippines. The profusion of marine life at Sipadan is incredible. Not only is the variety of marine life immense but the quantity is too. During the week, however, no large open water palegics were sighted, e.g., whale or hammerhead sharks (not really common at Sipadan) or Manta Rays. Another conspicuous absence was any sea snakes.

Sipadan is not called “Turtle Alley” or “Turtle City” for nothing – they are everywhere! In diving around Thailand or the Philippines, one or two turtle sightings on a dive would make it a good dive. The author’s personal limit is 3 on a dive in Phuket. On most dives they are never seen, and if they are, they are most likely to flee immediately. On the first dive at Sipadan Island, we entered the water and immediately saw a large Green turtle resting on a ledge in the reef-wall. Everyone was excitingly pointing it out because who knew, maybe all the talk about turtles being everywhere is just that and we would actually see only a few. Well, after the first dive, it was clear it was the truth. Turtles (primarily Green and Hawksbill) are indeed everywhere around Sipadan island. They are also found in smaller numbers at Mabul Island (including the SWV house reef) and Kapalai. Some of Greens are huge, measuring up to 2 meters(+).

At most of the Sipadan island sites, 20-25 turtle are easily seen per dive. (In reality, there are so many you quickly stop counting. The number seen at some sites could be up to 40.) The group actually made-up a game in trying to go through a dive WITHOUT seeing any turtles and managed 2 or 3 such dives during the week (at some of the muck diving sites). The turtles are doing everything turtles do in their natural habitat: resting, sleeping, eating, swimming-around, being cleaned, grooming themselves, and mating. They are “tame” in the sense that they do not overly fear humans so go about their normal activities and can therefore be observed at length at close range without disturbing them or causing them to flee. Their abundance is such that after the first day or so, divers start to ignore them and search about the reef for other more interesting and “rare” creatures. No physical contact between divers and turtles is allowed by SWV (i.e., touching or riding). If the DM observes such behavior, again, one’s diving privileges are suspended for the duration.

In addition to turtles, the smaller common reef sharks (white-tip and grey-reef) are present in great numbers at Sipadan Island. Several leopard sharks were also seen. [Nurse, whale, and hammerhead sharks are also seen our group was told.] The white-tips are again seen on almost every dive at Sipadan Island, patrolling the reef edge and cliff and resting on the sandy bottom shallows. At one location, 7 of them were seen resting in the same sandy area. Larger grey-reef sharks were seen patrolling the waters at some of the deeper sites (25-35 meters at Barracuda Point and Hanging Gardens).

One other interesting spectacle at Sipadan Island is the resident “herd” of Bumphead (Humphead, Double-headed) parrotfish. There are one or two schools of them. (They were observed at 2 different sites on the same day). Bumpheads are the largest member of the parrotfish family, bearing a resemblance to the giant Napoleon wrasse (only smaller). The ones at Sipadan are about a meter in length and the school contains 25-30 of them. To see this many in one place is quite a dramatic site. We were fortunate to see them twice…once they were stationary and we could approach closely and examine them. The second time, we were near the end of a dive and the herd came swimming through. After seeing this, it is easy to see why some books describe seeing a school of Bumpheads on the move as like watching a herd of bison on the run.

One of the most unique features of diving at Sipadan Island is the dramatic drop-off wall found there. Literally just a few meters from the beach shoreline is the 500-600 meter (1500-1800 foot) drop-off of the reef wall. It is quite a site to see. During surface intervals, when the dive boats are moored on the shoreline edge, the bow will be nudged in the sand and the stern will be floating near or just over the pitch-black water of the drop-off. In fact, when our group pulled-up to the beach at Sipadan island for the first time, someone asked the DM where this famous drop-off was. The DM casually pointed his finger over the side of the boat and said “here.” Everyone thought he was kidding…how could this be when the boat had just pulled-up on shore? People peered over the side and were amazed to see with one eye the sandy shoreline in half-meter of water and the other staring into the endless depth of blue/black water.

The dive sites at Sipadan Island are primarily wall/drift dives. Visibility during our stay was between 3-25 meters. Some of the sites had moderate to medium currents. The practice of SWV DM’s was not to fight any strong currents but to just reverse direction and “go with the flow.” Being that visibility was generally good and currents mild, our group’s more junior divers encountered no substantial difficulties.

The diving at Mabul and Kapalai islands is primarily low to medium visibility “muck” diving. However, the muck here contains many interesting critters. Visibility was zero to 10 meters with no to moderate currents.

The following is a description of the sites dived during the week and the marine life observed. The list of marine life is in no way exhaustive, but only the highlights, unusual, or hard to find specimens. Most of the sites also team with all manner of hard and soft corals, large schools of sweetlips and fusiliers, and innumerable number of the small colorful fish seen at any decent dive site.

 

[JonnieB]

Sipadan Water Village House Reef


Paradise One, Mabul

There are two house reefs at SWV (Paradise 1 and Paradise 2). Both are directly in front of the resort and accessed directly from the dive-deck. Paradise 1 is a sandy bottom low visibility more or less muck diving site. Initial checkout dives are done at this site. As a group, we only dived this site once (checkout dive) and this was the author’s only dive at this site. Visibility was 3-5 meters, with minimal currents. The following were recalled after the dive: Dwarf lionfish (many), Red lionfish (1), White-eye moray (2-3), Ghost pipefish (2), large schools of catfish, Black-fin snake eels (several), squid-egg pods, Flute fish (many), Trumpet fish (many), Long-snout pipefish (several), schools of Shrimp fish.

Paradise Two, Mabul

Paradise 2 was the author’s only self-dive on the house reef (with buddy, no DM) and only sunset/night dive. In contrast to Paradise 1, this site is directly over a portion of the fringing reef adjacent to SWV. Again, it is basically muck. Visibility was 2-3 meters, with no current. The following were seen: Green turtle (1), juvenile Reticulated batfish (one of the week’s highlights…black with beautiful red/orange outline), moray eel, White-eye moray, Shrimp fish, Variegated lizardfish, Flute fish, White-speckled grouper, juvenile Napoleon wrasse or Bumphead fish, Beaked coral fish, anemone fish, Giant trigger fish, Long-nose file fish, Bubble-coral pipefish, Fine-spotted pufferfish, Banded pipefish, Rubble pipefish, juvenile Clown (Many-spotted) sweetlips (2). [Others who took the DM led sunset dive reported seeing mating Mandarin fish at this site.]

Hanging Gardens, Sipadan

This site is a drift dive along a portion of the wall at Sipadan Island. Visibility was 4-5 meters, with a slight current. The following were seen: White-tip reef sharks (2-3), Green turtles (several), large Marble ray, Hawksbill turtles (many), large Giant barracuda (several).

Barracuda Point, Sipadan

Drift divesite with visibility of 2-5 meters and a slight current. White-tip sharks (swimming and resting)(many), Grey-reef shark (2), Blue-fin trevaly, large school of Big-eye barracuda, Hawksbill and Green turtles.

Staghorn Garden, Sipadan

Visibility 3-7 meters, with mild to moderate current. Crocodile fish, Green turtles.

Seaventures Resort, Mabul

This divesite is directly under the converted oil-rig about 500 meters from shore. It is a typical muck diving site, with very limited visibility and a slight current. Crocodile fish (4), Scorpion fish, nudibranchs (several), male and female pair of Large frogfish, Giant moral eel, schools of batfish, Flying gurnard (2).

Stingray City, Mabul

Located on the opposite side of Mabul from SWV. This is where the resident pygmy seahorse resides. Currents can be strong here so sometimes it cannot be dived. Green turtles, Crocodile fish (2-3), Blue-ribbon eel (2), large cuttlefish, nudibranchs (3-4), Green mantis shrimp (1), Giant mantis shrimp (3-4), scorpion fish, squat lobster (1), Pygmy seahorse (another highlight).

Ribbon Valley 2, Mabul

A good site for unusual scorpion fish and frogfish. 3-7 meter visibility and a moderate current. Fire-dart fish, lizardfish, nudibranchs (3-4), crocodile fish, Blue ribbon eel, yellow-edged moray, mantis shrimp, White-leaf scorpion fish, Clown frogfish, Giant Blue frogfish, Clown triggerfish, White-lined lionfish, Scribbled pufferfish.

Turtle Cove, Sipadan

Green turtles, Giant barracuda (2), Leopard shark, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, Black boxfish, False-eyed pufferfish, Scribbled pufferfish, Black-spotted pufferfish, Blotched porcupine fish, Spotted boxfish (male), Longnose hawk fish.

Barracuda Point, Sipadan

White-tip reef sharks (many), Green turtles, Black/Green-Leaf scorpion fish, garden of Garden eels, school of Bumphead parrotfish, Grey-reef sharks (several), Giant barracuda, school of Big-eye barracuda, Red-fire goby (pair).

Boat Jetty, Sipadan

These were observed while snorkeling under the boat jetty during a surface interval. Shrimp fish, juvenile Longfinned batfish (4-5), large resident Napoleon wrasse

South Point, Sipadan

Large school of Bumphead parrotfish, Green turtles, White-tip reef sharks (many), Unicorn fish, Blue-faced angelfish, Scribbled filefish,
Yellow boxfish, Black-spotted pufferfish, Blue-fin trevally.

Ken Point, Kapalai

One dive was done at Kapalai Island. A semi-drift muck dive. The reef here is quite damaged from dynamite fishing and trash from the resort on Kapalai. However, many interesting specimens are still to be found. Ghost pipefish (1), Squat lobster, Fairy shrimp, Mushroom-coral pipefish, Giant Black frogfish, juvenile Clown sweetlips, Moray eel, Banded pipefish, Messmate (Ringed) pipefish, Pennant bannerfish, Vrolick’s wrasse, Humphead parrotfish, Crowned pufferfish, blotched porcupinefish, nudibranch (1), crocodile fish (several).

Conclusion

Without a doubt, the Sipadan area is the best diving the author has done in 3 years of diving in Southeast Asia. While bits and pieces of what is seen at Sipadan can be seen at other sites, at Sipadan, they are all in one place and in large numbers. As an example, frogfish are many divers’ favorites to see. Most sites don’t have any and a “good” dive area may have one or two. At Sipadan, during the week, we saw 5-6 spread-out between several different divesites. For those who love turtles, observing them engaging in natural behaviors from eating, to rubbing themselves against coral (cleaning), to mating is worth the trip to Sipadan itself. Seeing some of the absurd sleeping positions they get themselves into (hanging vertically from corals, hiding under and “crash-landing” into rocks and corals, and observing their sad faces up close makes a trip here so special. The service, food, and accommodations at SWV were very good and excellent value for money. All in all, it is an fine place to combine excellent diving and a comfortable stay. This author will certainly be making many a return visit.

 

[Tim Wong]

Sipadan Water Village House Reef


Paradise One, Mabul

There are two house reefs at SWV (Paradise 1 and Paradise 2). Both are directly in front of the resort and accessed directly from the dive-deck. Paradise 1 is a sandy bottom low visibility more or less muck diving site. Initial checkout dives are done at this site. As a group, we only dived this site once (checkout dive) and this was the author’s only dive at this site. Visibility was 3-5 meters, with minimal currents. The following were recalled after the dive: Dwarf lionfish (many), Red lionfish (1), White-eye moray (2-3), Ghost pipefish (2), large schools of catfish, Black-fin snake eels (several), squid-egg pods, Flute fish (many), Trumpet fish (many), Long-snout pipefish (several), schools of Shrimp fish.

Paradise Two, Mabul

Paradise 2 was the author’s only self-dive on the house reef (with buddy, no DM) and only sunset/night dive. In contrast to Paradise 1, this site is directly over a portion of the fringing reef adjacent to SWV. Again, it is basically muck. Visibility was 2-3 meters, with no current. The following were seen: Green turtle (1), juvenile Reticulated batfish (one of the week’s highlights…black with beautiful red/orange outline), moray eel, White-eye moray, Shrimp fish, Variegated lizardfish, Flute fish, White-speckled grouper, juvenile Napoleon wrasse or Bumphead fish, Beaked coral fish, anemone fish, Giant trigger fish, Long-nose file fish, Bubble-coral pipefish, Fine-spotted pufferfish, Banded pipefish, Rubble pipefish, juvenile Clown (Many-spotted) sweetlips (2). [Others who took the DM led sunset dive reported seeing mating Mandarin fish at this site.]

Hanging Gardens, Sipadan

This site is a drift dive along a portion of the wall at Sipadan Island. Visibility was 4-5 meters, with a slight current. The following were seen: White-tip reef sharks (2-3), Green turtles (several), large Marble ray, Hawksbill turtles (many), large Giant barracuda (several).

Barracuda Point, Sipadan

Drift divesite with visibility of 2-5 meters and a slight current. White-tip sharks (swimming and resting)(many), Grey-reef shark (2), Blue-fin trevaly, large school of Big-eye barracuda, Hawksbill and Green turtles.

Staghorn Garden, Sipadan

Visibility 3-7 meters, with mild to moderate current. Crocodile fish, Green turtles.

Seaventures Resort, Mabul

This divesite is directly under the converted oil-rig about 500 meters from shore. It is a typical muck diving site, with very limited visibility and a slight current. Crocodile fish (4), Scorpion fish, nudibranchs (several), male and female pair of Large frogfish, Giant moral eel, schools of batfish, Flying gurnard (2).

Stingray City, Mabul

Located on the opposite side of Mabul from SWV. This is where the resident pygmy seahorse resides. Currents can be strong here so sometimes it cannot be dived. Green turtles, Crocodile fish (2-3), Blue-ribbon eel (2), large cuttlefish, nudibranchs (3-4), Green mantis shrimp (1), Giant mantis shrimp (3-4), scorpion fish, squat lobster (1), Pygmy seahorse (another highlight).

Ribbon Valley 2, Mabul

A good site for unusual scorpion fish and frogfish. 3-7 meter visibility and a moderate current. Fire-dart fish, lizardfish, nudibranchs (3-4), crocodile fish, Blue ribbon eel, yellow-edged moray, mantis shrimp, White-leaf scorpion fish, Clown frogfish, Giant Blue frogfish, Clown triggerfish, White-lined lionfish, Scribbled pufferfish.

Turtle Cove, Sipadan

Green turtles, Giant barracuda (2), Leopard shark, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, Black boxfish, False-eyed pufferfish, Scribbled pufferfish, Black-spotted pufferfish, Blotched porcupine fish, Spotted boxfish (male), Longnose hawk fish.

Barracuda Point, Sipadan

White-tip reef sharks (many), Green turtles, Black/Green-Leaf scorpion fish, garden of Garden eels, school of Bumphead parrotfish, Grey-reef sharks (several), Giant barracuda, school of Big-eye barracuda, Red-fire goby (pair).

Boat Jetty, Sipadan

These were observed while snorkeling under the boat jetty during a surface interval. Shrimp fish, juvenile Longfinned batfish (4-5), large resident Napoleon wrasse

South Point, Sipadan

Large school of Bumphead parrotfish, Green turtles, White-tip reef sharks (many), Unicorn fish, Blue-faced angelfish, Scribbled filefish,
Yellow boxfish, Black-spotted pufferfish, Blue-fin trevally.

Ken Point, Kapalai

One dive was done at Kapalai Island. A semi-drift muck dive. The reef here is quite damaged from dynamite fishing and trash from the resort on Kapalai. However, many interesting specimens are still to be found. Ghost pipefish (1), Squat lobster, Fairy shrimp, Mushroom-coral pipefish, Giant Black frogfish, juvenile Clown sweetlips, Moray eel, Banded pipefish, Messmate (Ringed) pipefish, Pennant bannerfish, Vrolick’s wrasse, Humphead parrotfish, Crowned pufferfish, blotched porcupinefish, nudibranch (1), crocodile fish (several).

Conclusion

Without a doubt, the Sipadan area is the best diving the author has done in 3 years of diving in Southeast Asia. While bits and pieces of what is seen at Sipadan can be seen at other sites, at Sipadan, they are all in one place and in large numbers. As an example, frogfish are many divers’ favorites to see. Most sites don’t have any and a “good” dive area may have one or two. At Sipadan, during the week, we saw 5-6 spread-out between several different divesites. For those who love turtles, observing them engaging in natural behaviors from eating, to rubbing themselves against coral (cleaning), to mating is worth the trip to Sipadan itself. Seeing some of the absurd sleeping positions they get themselves into (hanging vertically from corals, hiding under and “crash-landing” into rocks and corals, and observing their sad faces up close makes a trip here so special. The service, food, and accommodations at SWV were very good and excellent value for money. All in all, it is an fine place to combine excellent diving and a comfortable stay. This author will certainly be making many a return visit.

Lucky you. As a Malaysian I have yet to dive Mabul/Sipadan. Still working on the budget.

 

[JonnieB]

Lucky you. As a Malaysian I have yet to dive Mabul/Sipadan. Still working on the budget.

Wish I lived there...Sipadan would be closer. But Thailand is not bad either.

 

[Symbion]

Thanx for posting this JonnieB. The small group I dive with will be staying at Sipadan Water Village in Mabul in June 2005, and diving Mabul, Sipadan and Kapalai. Looking forward to some great muck diving!

 

[moraygirl]

Sipadan Water Village House Reef


Paradise One, Mabul [....] The service, food, and accommodations at SWV were very good and excellent value for money. All in all, it is an fine place to combine excellent diving and a comfortable stay. This author will certainly be making many a return visit.

wow, a wonderful write up - thankyou for taking the time to share it in such detail. I am off to Sipadan in December and can't wait, even more so now after reading your posts!

 

[nipi]

In part 3 JohnnieB remarks that "at all dive sites gloves are allowed". I was in Sipadan recently and was horrified to see divers from other resorts hanging on the the reef during their safety stop. There was minimal current. They're mainly Japanese wearing pink or other neon gloves. We asked our guides at Borneo Divers & they said they'd told the divemasters about it but to no avail. Why do the Japs do that? Samson at Borneo Divers told me he thought it was a good thing the island was being closed to overnighters as it might save it from such operators - trouble is they're either from Mabul or the mainland. I understand one diver who died in the chamber was a Jap with 350 feet on his computer - when asked why he was allowed to dive so deep the guides from the other resort said they didn't want to jeopardise their tips by not allowing him to go so deep. Maybe it's the same thing with the gloves.

 

[catbrown]

I was diving with Pulau Sipadan resort and staying on the island in September and was also shocked about what the Japanese divers were allowed to get away with by the dive masters.
1. hanging on the coral
2. trying to ride a turtle! can you believe it
3. not knowing anything about how to be a buddy
4. wandering off on their own in a search of whatever ruining the dive for others who stop to look for them
In Australia they would be sent to the surface and not allowed to dive again that day.
Maybe the training in Japan is different but i found these divers to be the most selfish divers I had ever shared the ocean with. I know I know I should never generalise there are most surely exceptions ( so please don't yell at me) but not in the groups we were in. I was shocked in general about how the dive masters took no action but then they didn't do lot of things I have grown to expect from divemasters.

The diving and dive sites were wonderful in Sipadan but i am glad they are closing the island hotels as well, it is sad to see those huge turtles trying to dig their nests between the villas at night and also you just know the damage that waste must be doing to such an unique place.

Dive gloves (and knives) are banned here in the National Park in Mexico and I hope this trend widens to other poorer countries whose economy depends on tourism to their natural sites.