johnnyafrica
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- 26
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Hi all,
I've been wanting to go to Sipadan for ages and finally pulled the trigger a few months ago. Here are some of my observations:
- Not the easiest place to get to. Best way is to fly from KL to Tawau, take a taxi to Semporna, and then another ferry to a dive resort further into the Celebes sea. There are places to stay in Semporna but that town is a bit of a hole and not the nicest place to relax. From your dive resort, another boat ride is needed to get to Sipadan
- Sipadan is beautiful. The island resembles something out of a Robinson Cruesoe book. It's the quintessential deserted island. Except that it is totally occupied by the Malaysia military at all times. There are guys here with enough firepower to take over a city. ALl that is for good reason as danger still exists from the Filipino terrorist group called Abu Sayyaf. A decade ago, a bunch of tourists were taken hostage (all survived except some local guides). two years back, a Chinese tourist was killed and his wife held captive. Did I think it was safe? I actually found out AFTER I left about all the terrorist activity. I figured Sipadan being the place it is, and how special it is for tourism in Malaysia, that it should be well guarded. I didn't feel in danger at all at any point during the trip.
- I stayed at Scuba Junkie in Mabul. Great shop that really cares about the environment. Great resort, and solid group of DMs and instructors. I stayed in a dorm as it was just me and had no complaints. Their bungalows were a great deal as well.
- Diving Sipadan requires permits. No ifs and buts. There's only 120 permits a day issued among the competing dive shops and SJ is allotted 7 permits per day. Given how many divers there were, it was a minimum of 4 days diving around Mabul and 1 day of Sipadan. The diving around Mabul was not bad. Nothing spectacular. Great for macro and muck dives however. Sipadan on the other hand was a real treat. Barracuda point is its claim to fame and the tornadoes of barracuda and jackfish were mind blowing. There was so much to see on that one dive site but I coulda spent the entire hour hanging around the jackfish. ALso, Sipadan is home to the largest and least scared of humans parrotfish I've ever seen. I felt like I could touch them as they couldn't be less bothered as I swam near them. Corals are still in beautiful condition although I've heard that it's a shell of its former self. Oh well, that is the way of the world these days sadly. Nevertheless, excellent diving overall.
- Diving Sipadan isn't expensive per se compared to most of the diving in the Caribbean but it's pricier in comparison to other SE asia spots. I paid about 2500 MYR (~$600 at the time of booking) for 4 days of diving (3 days in Mabul, 1 day in SIpdan) for a total of 13 dives, food and lodging all included.
- Would I go back? Well the diving is certainly one of the best I've done but only being able to dive Sipadan 1 day out of 4 is a deal breaker for me to go back. The diving around Mabul is great for the first time but I wouldn't go out of the way to go back to do that. This is especially after I went to Komodo immediately afterwards and every dive site there was on par with Sipadan imo.
Anyway, I wrote about my trip in detail with lots of pics and videos for those interested!
Diving in Sipadan, Malaysia - Johnny Africa
I've been wanting to go to Sipadan for ages and finally pulled the trigger a few months ago. Here are some of my observations:
- Not the easiest place to get to. Best way is to fly from KL to Tawau, take a taxi to Semporna, and then another ferry to a dive resort further into the Celebes sea. There are places to stay in Semporna but that town is a bit of a hole and not the nicest place to relax. From your dive resort, another boat ride is needed to get to Sipadan
- Sipadan is beautiful. The island resembles something out of a Robinson Cruesoe book. It's the quintessential deserted island. Except that it is totally occupied by the Malaysia military at all times. There are guys here with enough firepower to take over a city. ALl that is for good reason as danger still exists from the Filipino terrorist group called Abu Sayyaf. A decade ago, a bunch of tourists were taken hostage (all survived except some local guides). two years back, a Chinese tourist was killed and his wife held captive. Did I think it was safe? I actually found out AFTER I left about all the terrorist activity. I figured Sipadan being the place it is, and how special it is for tourism in Malaysia, that it should be well guarded. I didn't feel in danger at all at any point during the trip.
- I stayed at Scuba Junkie in Mabul. Great shop that really cares about the environment. Great resort, and solid group of DMs and instructors. I stayed in a dorm as it was just me and had no complaints. Their bungalows were a great deal as well.
- Diving Sipadan requires permits. No ifs and buts. There's only 120 permits a day issued among the competing dive shops and SJ is allotted 7 permits per day. Given how many divers there were, it was a minimum of 4 days diving around Mabul and 1 day of Sipadan. The diving around Mabul was not bad. Nothing spectacular. Great for macro and muck dives however. Sipadan on the other hand was a real treat. Barracuda point is its claim to fame and the tornadoes of barracuda and jackfish were mind blowing. There was so much to see on that one dive site but I coulda spent the entire hour hanging around the jackfish. ALso, Sipadan is home to the largest and least scared of humans parrotfish I've ever seen. I felt like I could touch them as they couldn't be less bothered as I swam near them. Corals are still in beautiful condition although I've heard that it's a shell of its former self. Oh well, that is the way of the world these days sadly. Nevertheless, excellent diving overall.
- Diving Sipadan isn't expensive per se compared to most of the diving in the Caribbean but it's pricier in comparison to other SE asia spots. I paid about 2500 MYR (~$600 at the time of booking) for 4 days of diving (3 days in Mabul, 1 day in SIpdan) for a total of 13 dives, food and lodging all included.
- Would I go back? Well the diving is certainly one of the best I've done but only being able to dive Sipadan 1 day out of 4 is a deal breaker for me to go back. The diving around Mabul is great for the first time but I wouldn't go out of the way to go back to do that. This is especially after I went to Komodo immediately afterwards and every dive site there was on par with Sipadan imo.
Anyway, I wrote about my trip in detail with lots of pics and videos for those interested!
Diving in Sipadan, Malaysia - Johnny Africa
