sangalaki or sipadan

[suphacha]

I am thinking about going to Sipadan or Sangalaki in mid-July. Any opinions on either place for July - but particularly Sangalaki - would be appreciated.

In particular:

1. Is Sipadan overcrowded?

2. What would be the viz at Sangalaki? I think it would be in the 10 to 20 metre range. Not amazing but OK?

Thanks very much. This will be my honeymoon - so quite keen to make it special...

S

 

[Rickg]

suphacha,

Both are good but Sangalaki would get my vote for a honeymoon because there is only a single resort on the island and they are limited to a maximum of 25 guests at any one time.

Sipadan had 5 resorts on the island the last time I was there in '01 so many more people on an island of similar size to Sangalaki.

I think you'll find you have more quality time (read privacy) on Sangalaki.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Rickg

 

[suphacha]

Thanks Rick - I agree and like the idea of an uncrowded island - especially for my honeymoon

My only concern re: sangalaki is the viz. I just read your report on this site - the viz you had fluctuated between 10 and 20m. I understand this is what I could expect in July. How did you find this? Does it matter that the viz isn't great?

Any thoughts are most welcome...

S

 

[Peter Lim]

suphacha once bubbled...
Thanks Rick - I agree and like the idea of an uncrowded island - especially for my honeymoon

My only concern re: sangalaki is the viz. I just read your report on this site - the viz you had fluctuated between 10 and 20m. I understand this is what I could expect in July. How did you find this? Does it matter that the viz isn't great?

Any thoughts are most welcome...

S

suphacha,

I was in Sipadan 2 weeks ago diving with a visibility of at most 12m, mostly 5m. Another group who was in Layang Lanyang 2 weeks ago told me the visibility there was at least 40m.

Visibility is not a problem, the dive sites are over crowded and ton of rubbish on the island is the real killer in Sipadan.

 

[Albion]

Was in Sangalaki September last year, i dont think the viz is really an issue there. You will mainly see the manta's on the surface, and to get lots of them you need food for them which means lower Viz. We saw up to 30 whilst snorkeling before one dive. Lot of good macro there as well, not to viz dependant again.
Make sure you go to Kakaban do the lake and the wall dirft dive.

Sangalaki not to well publicised, which is nice when i was there just two of us and another couple. Not much to do at night except watch the turtles laying

 

[Rickg]

suphacha once bubbled...
Thanks Rick - I agree and like the idea of an uncrowded island - especially for my honeymoon

My only concern re: sangalaki is the viz. I just read your report on this site - the viz you had fluctuated between 10 and 20m. I understand this is what I could expect in July. How did you find this? Does it matter that the viz isn't great?

Any thoughts are most welcome...

S

suphacha,

We were in Sangalaki last OCT and had horizontal visibility anywhere from 7-20+ meters. We were told on good days it will exceed 30 meters but we never saw that. Keep in mind though that mantas are there for the food (read plankton) and where there is lots of plankton the visibility will suffer. Our primary reason for going there was mantas and we saw lots of them. Also, the coral there very healthy and absolutely amazing, the best I've seen anywhere.

We've been to Sipadan 3 times ('94, '00 and '01). The visibility was best in '94 approaching 30 meters but on the last 2 trips ('00 in NOV and '01 in OCT) I doubt we ever had better than 20 meter visibility.

It all comes down to luck but we were never disappointed on any of these trips.

Hope this helps.

Rickg

 

[suphacha]

Thanks everyone. We have decided to go to Sangalaki - your posts were very useful in confirming my decision. Am very excited...

S

 

[Rickg]

suphacha once bubbled...
Thanks everyone. We have decided to go to Sangalaki - your posts were very useful in confirming my decision. Am very excited...

S

Just make sure you come up for air every once in a while so you have a chance to go scuba diving

I'm sure you will have a memorable time. Should you meet a dive guide named Andreas please tell him that Rick and Namiko said hello.

Rickg

 

[RSdiver]

What time of year has the best visibility at Sangalaki?

 

[Rickg]

RSdiver once bubbled...
What time of year has the best visibility at Sangalaki?

RS Diver,

Here is the URL to their website.

http://www.sangalaki.net/

Here are 2 quotes from the site and according to them the dry season should be better because rainfall on mainland Borneo can have a significant effect on the visibility.

"There are two seasons in Borneo, the "Rainy Season" which lasts from December to March and the "Dry Season" which lasts the rest of the year. "

"Lots of rain out here offshore doesn't affect our visibility as much as lots of rain on the mainland which increases river runoff. "

That said this is a tropics and you can get significant rainfall at times during the dry season also. As I said in an earlier post on this topic, we went in October and the visibility varied from approximately 7-20 meters (horizontal) over a period of 8 diving days.

I think it is all luck more than anything else.

Rickg