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Daerah Semporna,
Sabah dianugerahkan dengan 5 tapak menyelam bertaraf antarabangsa.
Tapak-tapak menyelam ini bakal memuaskan hati para pencinta samudera,
penyelam skuba dan malahan kepada pasangan yang mencari tempat untuk
berbulan madu. Sila skrol ke bawah untuk mendapatkan maklumat
mengenai Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Mabul,
Pulau Kappalai, Pulau Mataking and Pulau Sibuan.
Semporna is blessed with 5 top diving sites.
These sites will entertain scubas, divers, oceanographers and even
couples seeking for a honeymoon vacation. Feel free to
scroll-down this page for the information of
Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Mabul, Pulau Kappalai,
Pulau Mataking and Pulau Sibuan.
Situated in the
middle of the Celebes Sea, the island itself is 40 acres and was
once described as looking like a mushroom shooting upwards. Just
30km from mainland Semporna lays this tiny island.
Sipadan is the most
famous of Semporna's islands. Rated as one of the world's top ten
dive destinations, many come here to indulge in the island's
opulence. For the true diving enthusiast, the island nees no
introduction. Sipadan is unique as the only oceanic island in
Malaysia. Its geographical position in the heart of the Indo-Pacific
basin, places Sipadan in the centre of the richest marine habitat in
the world.
More than 3,000
species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified
in this rich ecosystem. Trigger fish, moray eels and anemone fish
mingle copiously. Sipadan was internationally recognized as a native
reserved in 1919. In 1933 it was pronounced as a bird sanctuary.
Large flights of Imperial pigeons, swallows and sea eagles often
crowds the sky in spectacular swirls.
This ravishing island
is protected by regulations imposed on islanders and visitors alike,
in an effort to preserve its natural life. No one is allowed to
collect turtle eggs here, even the natives. This island is also
renowned for its spectacular large population of the ever graceful
green and hawksbill turtle, which gather to mate and nest. Another
unique find is the turtle tomb where many skeletal remains of
turtles are found.
Rising 600 meters
from the seabed, this island provides fantastic wall dives and
features hundreds of underwater gardens. Unusually large schools of
barracuda and big-eye trevally invade the water, placing themselves
in whirlpool-like formations. Mantas, eagle-rays and whale sharks
are aplenty. The creatures of the sea here incredibly varied.
SIPADANS'
SECRETS
The natural treasures
of this island are its greatest assets. Here, you can still find
wild deer in secluded coves. Dugongs, a cousin of the American
manatees were known to swim the tides. Now they are hardly ever seen
but are still held as one of Semporna's secrets.
Diving Sipadan's
reefs, Jacques Cousteau was spellbound. "Go to Sipadan to see the
schooling barracuda, to Mabul to see the seahorses and the erodes
reefs of Kapalai to marvel at the detrius-like leaf fish" divers
were told. Still today you will find turtles nesting under your
beach hut on stilts and giant coconut crabs climbing the branches of
a coconut palm. It has been said that the number of creatures on
these reef surpass that of the tropical rainforest.
The coconut palm
which grows in abundance here is precious to the people. The flesh
and juice of a young fruit quenches the thirst. Sugar is made from
the palm nectar and its wood is excellent for construction. Palms
are thatched for roofing and leaves are weaved into baskets.
The natural glory of
Sipadan remains. An arising awareness of the frailty of its natural
wonders has rallied the defence of the island.
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ATTRACTIONS
Sipadan jetty /
drop-off: Steep wall with overhangs. If
you stay at Sipadan you can jump right off the jetty and there is
one of the nicest dive sites right there. You always encounter large
schools of fish like mackerels or barracudas or groups of batfish.
On one dive here we were lucky to see a large leopard shark.
Turtle Cavern:
Some meter to the right of the jetty is also the entrance to a large
cave. Without a certificate in cave diving (most dive operators
offer cave diving courses) you can't go inside. I have seen photos,
and there are skeletons of turtles inside the cave, that haven't
found their way out anymore and died there. If you make a
nightdive, be cautious not to dive down to the level of the cave
(18m), you might enter it by mistake like a dive buddy of mine did.
She said it was the scariest dive ever, because she didn't realize
she was inside the cave until she already was well in the back of
it. Luckily she didn't panic and managed to get out again!
Sipadan South Point:
Steep wall, ledge and then drop-off. Divers
liked this site a lot, because they had seen a group of hammerhead
sharks there at about 55m depth. I went down as well, but actually
you have to swim out first to the ledge and then go down, otherwise
you don't have enough bottom time.
Sipadan Barracuda point:
Wall, then flat valley on about 20m. The dive site has suffered some
though, and there are a lot of broken corals because it is the dive
site everybody wants to go. Large schools of barracuda consisting of
several hundreds animals nearly always hover there, forming huge
spirals, which become vortices and form high walls. If you don't
make any abrupt movements and keep level in the water you might end
up in the middle of a circular wall of huge adult barracudas. An
exhilarating feeling! Currents can be strong here at times with down
currents possible.
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A Brief
History of Pulau Sipadan
1800s - On Dinawan Island, the tribal leaders
celebrate (in 19th century Borneo style) the fact that they have
just received from the Sultan of Sulu exclusive rights to collect
and trade in sea-turtle eggs from nearby Sipadan Island.
1933 - Sipadan is declared by the British as a bird
sanctuary, being an important stopover for migratory birds like the
greater sand plover, common sandpiper and wood sandpiper.
1964 - Pulau Sipadan becomes part of the turtle egg
native reserve of Sabah - an important step in protecting the very
species that would make Sipadan famous. Although dive trips to the
island were being run by Borneo Divers as early as 1983, Jacques
Cousteau's film, 'Ghost of the Sea Turtles' brought international
fame to Malaysia's only truly oceanic island. When the charismatic
Frenchman announced, "I have seen other places like Sipadan, 45
years ago, but now no more. Now we have found an untouched piece of
art", marketing bods all over the world took note and have duly been
repeating the mantra ad nauseum ever since.
1990 - Now world-famous Sipadan Island, a mere half km
in length and 200 metres in width has five resorts rubbing shoulders
on its northern beaches. Sipadan's fame is bringing divers in their
droves to its reefs every day, lusting to gorge themselves on the
underwater smorgasbord of marine excess that are Sipadan's waters.
But would this greed come at some expense?
1992 - Dr Elizabeth Wood, a coral reef conservation
officer with Britain's Marine Conservation Society begins her
constant watch and monitoring of the state of Sipadan and notes an
obvious deterioration of the quality of the reefs over the years.
While pronouncing the reefs generally healthy, she does sound a note
of caution that they are not exactly pristine. Careless diving and
snorkelling activity is causing increasingly obvious coral damage
and, where there is a lot of boat and diver traffic, silt and
sediment have been stirred up, choking and suffocating coral polyps.
1996 - Sipadan is lashed by the vicious tropical storm
Greg which demolishes some shallower parts of its reefs. This rubble
can still be seen today - unable to recover due to further abuse by
global warming and increased water temperatures (leading to the
great coral bleaching phenomenon of 1998). Another sign that the
writing was on the wall for Sipadan's dive resorts was the sight of
nutrient-indicator algae on this rubble, proof of untreated wastes
filtering into the sea from the island's sanitation activities.
1997 - Pulau Sipadan is now well recognised as not
only a major tourist draw for Malaysia but also a place of
outstanding natural beauty under threat. The Malaysian government
announced restrictions on the number of tourists visiting the island
but fail to follow up on this with any sort of enforcement or master
plan and no-one takes much notice.
2000 - Quite a lot of people take notice of Sipadan
for the wrong reasons when Abu Sayaff guerrillas raid the island and
kidnap 21 dive tourists and resort staff. Most are held for a year,
and then slowly ransomed off for millions of dollars. Divers stayed
away in the aftermath of this event, slowly regaining confidence
that they are becoming increasingly well protected by a reassuring
Malaysian army and navy presence.
2002 - "Sipadan is part of Malaysia!" declares
the International Court of Justice. The court awarded
territorial ownership to Malaysia rather than Indonesia, based on
"effective occupation".
2004 - The Government of Malaysia orders all on-site
dive and resort operators of Sipadan to move their structures off
the island by the 31st of December 2004, and this time they mean it!
The move is declared as a victory for conservation over greed.
However some operators with no alternatives are left with very
little in the way of compensation. Others hurry to improve their
resorts on nearby islands realising that these would now become the
places to stay and from which to dive Sipadan. Many express doubts
that Sipadan will remain free of resorts for long and fear that
someone with 'connections' might come from nowhere to be awarded
rights to operate a dive resort on the island.
2007+ - What does the future hold in store for Sipadan
Island? Will someone suddenly arrive and start building a resort on
the island despite all the assurances to the contrary? What other
measures will be put into place to protect the environment and will
they be enforced?
No-one really knows, or at least, no-one is saying. What is sure is
that there will be more ups and downs for this incredible little
island and the countless sea creatures that call it home. Through it
all: violent weather, thousands of visitors and several acts of
human lunacy, it remains an exceptionally rich and fascinating spot
which should continue to be protected and enjoyed for generations to
come.
The Long Term
The long term goal is twofold:
- To have Sipadan recognised
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This bid, supported
by PADI and driven by a number of groups within the
Malaysian government and the tourism industry, would
guarantee more funding and protection for the island should
it succeed.
- To have Sipadan gazetted as
a national or state marine protected area/marine park under
the management of Sabah Parks.
So it seems that the
twin issues of recreational diving and marine conservation have
combined to bring this tiny, remote island well and truly into the
modern world in the hope that its future could turn out to be a
little less turbulent than its past.
Most people go to
Mabul to dive Sipadan, that great pelagic sea mount made famous by
Jacques Cousteau, home to the turtle tomb, thousands of live turtles
and millions of schooling pelagics.
The island of Mabul is a 20 minute boat ride from Sipadan.
Closer to the mainland, it houses a military base, large sea gypsy
village and a few dive resorts. Uniquely, the undawater setting here
is different from that of Sipadan. Mabul is recognized as one of the
world's best muck-diving sites, with one of the riches seas in
exotic small marine life. Here you will see an intriguing array of
reefs and more unusual creatures like mimic octopus, mandarin fish,
snake eels, juvenile batfish, frog fish and razor fish.
Sipadan is no
discovery, it's been around for a while now, but the real discovery
is the diving around Mabul itself, home to the world's best "muck
diving". "Muck diving" is an expression that was coined in Papua New
Guinea to describe the diving to be had under a liveboard boat while
it is on safe anchor for the night. Usually a protected inlet
somewhere, the water underneath the boat is shallow and the bottom
is either silt, sand, dead coral or clumps of dirty coral on a silty
bottom. The visibility is almost always limited.
Mabul is the esteemed
spot for macro photographers who came here to take in the bizarre
sea life. Mabul is a definate magical macro site!
For non-divers,
couples and newly-weds - Pulau Mabul of Semporna, Sabah is one of
the top 'honeymoon destination' in Malaysia.
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ATTRACTIONS
Mabul, Crocodile Avenue:
Flat sandy area from 5m to 20m. Remains of some palmtrees. Some
divers hate this dive site, I love it. It is a sandy area, so there
are empty stretches of sand with oases of life. Our diveguide found
some seahorses there every time. The absolute record were 8
seahorses found by Ben. Then there are sand eels, double-ended
pipefish, crocodilefish, special tube anemones, ghostpipefish (Harlekin-
and Seagrass-), cowfish etc. I even saw some turtles, humpback
parrotfish, barracudas, mackerels and a small eagle ray there.
Night dives are also very good here. We
found lots of sepias, cuttlefish and special nudibranchs (for
example the Spanish Dancer, Asteronotus c.) and lots of crabs. One
of the highlights was a small boxer crab, that Alex found on some
rubble.
Mabul, Seaventure Platform:
Flat sandy area on about 17m. Some
coral blocks, pillars of concrete, piles of metal rods. This is a
old oil platform that has been converted into a hotel owned by
Seaventures Dive Resort. It stands on huge pillars. You dive
underneath in 17m of water (Deco after more than 60min dive!). An
amazing dive site! There are several piles of metal rods,
look close, and there are always several frogfish (yellow to red,
black and gray) sitting on them. Inside the largest pile there is a
huge moray eel. His head must have a diameter of about 15cm! I
couldn't make out the tail, but it must be several meter long. Then
we also found: ghostpipefish (Harlekin and seagrass), waspfish,
nudibranchs (Halgerda, Cromodoris etc.), stonefish, flying gunard
and close to the pillars always lots of batfish and flutefish.
Mabul, Lobster Wall:
Wall, some small caverns. Lot's of hydroids. The
place is not that nice to look at, but it is again a place for many
nudibranchs, anemones, shrimps and in a small cave I even found a
babycowfish. Great nightdives.
A few minutes by boat
from the island of Sipadan and Mabul but a full world away from it
lays the exhilarating Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort, sitting on its
sturdy stilts on the shallow sandbanks of the Ligitan Reefs. Planned
and built in full style as an airy, comfortable, sunny water village
with no land in sught, it boasts a mile-long sandbank of powdery
white sand where one can suntan at complete leisure while gazing out
to the miles of brilliant turquoise stretching into the horizon
offering the purest image of natural serenity.
Dive spots are
extremely close and can be reached in just a few minutes by
speedboat and some of them, actually, just by swimming from the dive
center pier. For those who are ready to venture more and aside from
the tiny marvels of the macro life of Kapalai can, in just a few
minutes, dive in Sipadan (where big fish and turtles abound) or in
Mabul (where silky and muddy bottoms offer different and equally
pleasant experience and opportunities to the lovers of "muck
diving").
If you've never tried
macro diving before, then you're in for a treat - what a place to
start! Shore diving at Kapalai is free of charge, as is the
wonderful snorkeling, where you can watch the spectacularly
colourful mating mandarin fish, right under the resort jetty. It's
easy to fall in love with macro diving when it's this simple!
With a combination of
sun and water in a unique and serene setting, Kapalai is an ideal
destination for diver and non-diver alike seeking a great holiday
experience!
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ATTRACTIONS
Kapalai is similar to
Mabul, but there is no actual island, only a large sandbank. The
most well known dive site here is Manadrin valley, but several of
the other dives sites are well worth a visit.
Kapalai, Mandarin Valley:
Slope to about 20m. Hard corals, then sand. Small underwater
mound. This dive site has its name from a dragonet that can be found
there and that has a beautiful color like the clothes of the Chinese
mandarins. It lives during the day under the spines of sea urchins.
Also very interesting were the that I found there. Go out to the
small underwater mound - there were several leaf fish there last
time. Leaf fish can shed their skin and in such a way adjust to the
surrounding reef. I saw one, where some yellow ascidians were
growing on his skin right over the eye. There is also a mushroom
coral (Heliofungia a.) on the sand with some white anemone pipefish
(Siokunichthys n.) living inside. Check it out.
Kapalai, Ray Channel:
This is a sandy channel with the reef on one side. The special
fish, you find here and nowhere else in Mabul is the dragonfish
(Pegasus). This small animal lives in pairs on sand and feeds on
invertebrates. Actually, I have spent half an hour at just one coral
block here. There are some leaffish here, a spiny devilfish lives
close by, and there is a small baby-anglerfish here. I observed, how
it changed from gray to red in only 4 days.
Mataking Island sits an hour and a
half from Sipadan Island. East of Semporna, this island is about 40
acres in size. Lying on the edge of the continental shelf, Mataking
is surrounded by fringing reef of hard and soft corals. Sharing the
same Alice Channel as Sipadan Island, it offers just as much magical
and tropical underwater treasure.
The waters here are inhabited by exclusive species of corals such as
staghorn, brain and many more. Rainbow runners, leaf fish, sweetlips,
gobies and the occasional whale shark on their migration route roam
the water here.
The island is sheltered by exotic trees. This sanctuary is where
birds and butterflies choose to rest. Coconut crabs scurry around
busily on the white sands. The barracuda point, turtle playground
and picturesque reef make every veteran diver's list.
 
Famed for its beauty even before the
days of Sipadan, Sibuan Island is incomparable where underworld
splendor is concerned. This small island situated 30 minutes away
from Semporna mainland is best known for its untouched magnificence.
Regal coconut trees border the island and entice you from afar.
This snorkeling heaven is second to none when sought after by sun
bathers and leisure seekers. Bestowed with abundant water
attractions above and below, the isle's crystal blue waters are a
sight for sore eyes. The water is crystal clear and its visibility
will stretch your gaze into its lively depths. Corals and fishes
will glimmer and flicker at you as you watch from above.
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