Sipadan Island scuba diving is recognised as being one of the greatest on the planet. Mainly because of the wide variety of fish exploring round the Island. The legendary oceanographer and explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau portrayed Sipadan Island as being an 'untouched piece of art' soon after scuba diving in the area.
The isle of Pulau Sipadan is an area of exceptional natural beauty and it has already been listed as a protected environment, and great efforts are designed to maintain the ecology of the island and surrounding waters, that incorporate tons of coral species as well as some 3,000 species of fish. Safeguard requirements employ uniformly towards natives along with holiday makers, and even turtle eggs should be remain un-tampered with.
The residents have consequently taken up the tourist trade in order to survive and the whole local economy has specialized in the scuba diving vacation industry. In an attempt to protect Sipadan, the diving resorts aren't located on Pulau Sipadan but they are on surrounding islands, only a short voyage away by speedboat.
When scuba diving off Sipadan Island you'll get, most certainly, a lot of big-fish encounters. And the big fish are there to benefit from the great deal of smaller marine life this ecology contains. Pulau Sipadanscuba diving showcases big-eye trevally, whale sharks, eagle rays and mantas to mention only the barest minimum that might swiftly grab your focus.
Barracuda can usually be located around Barracuda Point exploring in sizeable schools. Barracuda Point is probably the most well-liked diving location within the island because of sightings of several 100s of barracuda that like to hover there in considerable spirals. Oftentimes these barracuda spirals may become vortices with substantial walls. It's achievable to wind up within one of these vortices. When you do, beware of the strong currents, including down currents, that could be generated.
Pulau Sipadan South Point, positioned almost opposite Barracuda Point, stands out as the spot to look for rays, devil rays, mantas, and grey reef sharks. The majority view this as a deep dive nonetheless you certainly can't neglect the shallows here. Leaf scorpion fish will likely to be there in addition to anemone shrimp, porcelain crabs and bubble coral shrimp to mention a few. Additionally, of course, the turtles; they shall be there in profusion.
Just a few yards from the jetty is an additional favored dive site - Turtle Cavern. That is a sizeable cavern where turtles drown given that they get lost in the passageways at the back of the cavern. The cave is big enough that you can enter and examine, but you will need a cave-diving qualification to get into. Nonetheless, many of the local diving operators provide lessons in cavern diving especially for this reason.
January to March can see a lot of unsettled weather ultimately causing a reducing of visibility. However this reduction is compared to the April-to-December period, which gives remarkable scuba diving conditions. The truth is, even the January-to-March months provides you with wonderful scuba diving conditions, and the resorts in the location do not have any problem in creating bookings.
Having a profusion of underwater life including the vertical walls and overhangs in easy reach from the jetty, it is simple to discover why Pulau Sipadan is rated as among the top five diving resorts on earth.