Sipadan any good ?

[grandebleu]

As a qualified novice Im off there with better half this August. Is it still the untouched paradise that Cousteau talked about or will it be a case of overtouristed "has-been". Any experiences ?

Oh and one further thing - what's the best wetsuit 3/5/7 to wear there in August (diving 5 days). Thanks to all fellow divers in advance.

Graham

 

[frogfish]

Sipadan is definitly not untouched - there are 3 or 4 diver lodges on the island and people based in Mabul and Kapalai come also for the day. However, it is one of the top dive locations in Asia and you can expect lots of turtles & pelagics, do some amazing night dives and actually have a great time.

Wet suit: 3mm max (expect water temperature to be around 28 C

 

[Lonely Boy]

Yes, 3mm is enough.

I went there last year and I was using an old 3/2mm fullsuit and it was OK even for 4 dives/day.

You can come to my web to check my dive log and photos in Sipadan which you will know more about the water temperature and condition there.

http://www.geocities.com/hmlai88/

 

[Lonely Boy]

By the way,

You are also welcome to download the Sipadan underwater photo screensaver in my web.

 

[grandebleu]

I saw the pictures on Sipadan -looks really good.

I started diving in Egypt where the visibility was really good (in August). From the pictures the visibility in Sipadan doesn`t look as good. Is this true ?

G

 

[Purofino]

I just got back from a week in Sipadan and the dives were excellent. Vis was 20-30 meters on all dives. Lots of sharks, barracudas, bumphead parrotfish, etc, etc. Of course there were a ton of turtles and all the small stuff too.
The island is not untouched, but as said before it is some of the best diving in Asia. A lot of your trip will depend on where you stay. There are five resorts on the island now. I would only recommend the two furthest east Borneo Divers or Pulau Sipadan Resort. I am only judging the others by location and appearance. Some of them were trashy and looked pretty run down.
It is great diving, but I wouldn’t recommend all the dives for beginners/novices. We had several with severe currents. The depth there is a little disconcerting to some. The north side of the island drops off from five meters straight down to 600 meters and the south drops to 1200 meters. No lie, so a down current can cause some anxiety.
The area is protected and they do some interesting things there. You can watch them release baby turtles into the setting sun and at night, with a guide, you can go search for turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. It is an amazing sight.

 

[Lonely Boy]

To Grandebleu,

The visibility is good at Sipadan. I agree with Purofino that there is 20-30m visibility. However, depending on the current, I found that there were always some large suspended particles in the water. Some of them are caused by the divers above my head near the top of the wall.

 

[diverkim]

Sipadan is no longer pristine but I'm sure the diving is still great. 3 mm is sufficient and the viz is usually quite good there. :mean:

 

[gemma]

Just two weeks ago I came back from Sipadan, dives are very good with vis 20/30 mts, full of tortles, sharks, jackfish, frogfih, corals etc etc.

we have some underwater photos in our web site www.oceansub.com , dives really are very good and the nigth dive at the drop off is specially good, water is arround 30ºC it means that is enought with 3 mm. suit, we were living at Abdillah Sipadan Paradise , good people and good food, you can make 6 dives by day.

Good luck and happy dives.

gemma & Josep
:hi: :hi:

 

[Christian]

Costeau said it was "an untouched piece of art". But it was in 1988. I have been to Sipadan a few times, my latest visit was in 2000 and the diving was certainly very, very good then, but maybe not untouched. My brother in law visited Sipadan in february 2003 and said that the reef section on and near the drop off had deteriated a bit since 2000, but that the diving still was very good.

On contrary to some of the previous posts, I'd say that you shouldn't count on crystal clear visibility. Judging visibilty is apparantly tricky, but if you ask Borneo Divers they say it avarages 12 meters, which is accurate with my estimations and experiences. 25-30 meters happen, but are rare; if you have that you are very lucky.

The diving is not beginner, but not really advanced either. There are currents, but dive guides will accompany you on all boatdives and you will drift with the current along the wall. The boat will follow your bubbles.

A 3 mm will most certainly be sufficient, most divers are ok with a shortie even for 4 dives a day. However a full suit is reccomended for protection.

good luck

Christian