Sipadan

The bottom conditions are probably good, but at 600 meters down, you shouldn't check them out. An abundance of turtles, jacks, white tips and leopards. My first dive after checkout, incredible! But Danny at SDR is *not* the best DM with newbies ... so have a babysitter if you need one. Sipadan is incredible.

Staying at Borneo Diver's where the drop-off is located is an unforgettable experience. Just 10m from the Dive Centre and the wall plunges 650m to the bottom. At the drop-off, schools of jacks, batfish, turtles and white-tip sharks are seen cruising. At Barracuda Point, jacks & barracudas so thick they look like a swirling tornado from far. The most number of turtles in any single location! Check out my Sipadan trip diary and photos on my Redang Island Rendezvous website (http://www.designius.com/redang/).

What a place to begin diving! I was just certified and visited friends in Malaysia. We spent a week on Sipidan with Borneo Divers. Accommodations were simple but comfortable. The food and service was excellent. What could I say about the diving? I was dazzled by the variety of life on this reef. In the Caribbean one may spot a couple of turtles on a dive. Here you try to keep from swimming into them. During our stay about 5 turtles came ashore each night to lay eggs. Sipidan is one large wall dive! Once off the reef edge the slope plunges precipitously to the Celebes plain several thousands of feet below. Shore diving was delightful. I have not been anywhere else where one may wall dive just a short swim out. The currents around the island may be very swift, so shore diving away from the resorts is problematic. Drift dive these spots instead. Shore diving at night here was a real treat. First, you have to keep from bumping into the lion fish being attracted to your light. Along the wall, we saw nearly a dozen bumphead parrotfish tucked into the reef for the night.

What a place to begin diving! I was just certified and visited friends in Malaysia. We spent a week on Sipidan with Borneo Divers. Accommodations were simple but comfortable. The food and service was excellent. What could I say about the diving? I was dazzled by the variety of life on this reef. In the Caribbean one may spot a couple of turtles on a dive. Here you try to keep from swimming into them. During our stay about 5 turtles came ashore each night to lay eggs. Sipidan is one large wall dive! Once off the reef edge the slope plunges precipitously to the Celebes plain several thousands of feet below. Shore diving was delightful. I have not been anywhere else where one may wall dive just a short swim out. The currents around the island may be very swift, so shore diving away from the resorts is problematic. Drift dive these spots instead. Shore diving at night here was a real treat. First, you have to keep from bumping into the lion fish being attracted to your light. Along the wall, we saw nearly a dozen bumphead parrotfish tucked into the reef for the night.