Sipadan, the tiny island off Malaysian Borneo, is the best-known site, "discovered" by Americans barely five or six years ago. Now, it's too well known and crowded with new resorts, and more are coming. . . . Why the crowds? 20 to 30 giant turtles on every dive, sharks, jacks, schooling barracuda, and the best shore diving anywhere. Abundance of turtles year-round, but most in July and August. . . . In the Spratley islands - they are claimed by China, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan as well as Malaysia because of the oil reserves - a new resort, Layang Layang, has opened. Schooling hammerheads and pristine reefs lure divers, but nothing but birds live on the flat coral atoll. . . . hammerhead season is March and April, but the resort operates from March to October. . . .

Layang Layang Island Resort, April 1997, William Smyth, Stuart, FL. "Three dives/day at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., night dive possible, but must get permission from Malaysian navy at least 24 hours in advance and have at least four divers. Short boat run to dive sites, furthest was 15 minutes. vis: 75­90 ft. water: 83­85 degrees. Dive boats are small and carry 10 toll divers which makes very crowded. Was told that larger boats have been ordered. Dive staff very friendly and helpful. 8.Leopard and white sharks are seen on most dive and one hammerhead. . . . Resort is pleasant, rooms are large with a/c and TV. Walls are paper thin so speak softly. Fresh water is in short supply on the island and is restricted. Water for showers in rooms is only turned on between 6 & 7 p.m. After each dive, to shower off must walk about 100 feet from the dive shop to the pool area where they have two showers working at all times. Food is plentiful and good, a mixture of Asian & Western."

Borneo

Mabul Island

SMART Divers/Sipadan Mabul Resort, March 1997, Bill MacLennan, Tualatin, OR. "Europeans, Japanese, Chinese and a few Americans. Duplex "chalets". Nice room, about 12' X 15' with A/C, tiled bathroom, hot water, shower, front porch. Food buffet style. Plentiful and good considering where you are. Breakfast boiled or fried eggs, hot dogs, Spam, cereal, fruit, toast, a noodle dish, juice, coffee and tea. Lunch was rice with chicken or fish or beef, French fries, omelet, noodle dish and fruit. Dinner chicken or fish, rice, green beans, French fries and sashimi. Between two morning dives, Ramen noodles and thin sandwiches were served. . . . Ended up diving with local guide who allowed dive freedom, Ferdie, was outstanding at pointing out critters we would have missed. 2750 to 2950 psi. Dive plan was 45 minutes, but usually 50-60 minutes. Tanks were brought to the dive locker area by the boat boys. You assemble your BC and regulator and the boys would carry them to the boat. You were responsible for your mask, fins, weight belt and suit. 2 tanks in the AM, usually leaving at 8:30 or 9:00, and one at 3 PM. The boats that we were on (there were longer boats), were about 20' to 25' long, contained 7 or 8 divers, and did not seem crowded. Ride to Sipadan took 20 minutes. Diving incredible, the best in 11 years, 380 dives. Encircled by a huge school of barracuda, the schools of jacks and bumpheaded parrotfish, the 10-15 sharks and turtles on each dive, beautiful tropicals and creatures that we hadn't seen; nudibranchs, snails, mandarin fish, peacock mantis shrimp and pipe fish. Night dive on Lobster Wall on Mabul Island was also our best ever, a rather fast drift at 70' for a while. Water 81F. Vis on Sipadan 30' to 60' and less on certain sites on Mabul and Kapali. 24 hours from Portland to Singapore. ( I was using frequent flier mileage to get that far). We spent the next 6 hours in the Airport Transit Hotel on the concourse so you do not go through customs; 2.5 hour flight to Kota Kinabalu, hour flight to Tawau, take a 1.5 hour van ride to Semporna, a 45 minute boat ride to Mabul. At each step of our journey from Kota Kinabalu on, we were met by a representative of Sipadan-Nabyl Tours."

Sipadan

Borneo Divers, April 1997, Roges Chari, NY, NY. "Water 85 degrees, surface with 500 psi. 6 hours to LA, 10 hours to Tokyo, 7 hours to Kuala Lumpur, 2 and a half hours to Kota Kinabala, 1 hour to Tawau and a 2 hour boat trip. Island beautiful but not deserted. 30-40 divers here, and same at other two dive hotels. 12 dive sites sometimes had 9 or 10 boats on them - day boats from other islands even though they are not permitted to dive the island. Other than the omnipresent turtles of all sizes the most often sighted underwater creatures were schools of divers and in a number of cases standing on or otherwise damaging the coral. That said, the diving here beats the Caribbean any day. Huge swirling school of barracuda and jacks, dozens of white tip sharks, gray sharks, an occasional leopard shark and thresher sharks, a big school of bumphead parrot fish that sleep at the reef just 50 feet off the hotel's beach, lion fish, nudibranches of all different colors, crocodile fish, leaf fish, a hanging garden of soft corals. vis often less than 30-40 feet. Dives sometimes hit or miss and after 5 days of diving you everything major that was there - it's a small island where drift diving takes you to several sites on one dive. . . . Combine with a few days at other islands nearby. Labman offers wrecks, Mabul is for photographers. Accommodations are bare basic but clean and comfortable. Hotel only has a dorm-style bathroom, but ensuite bathrooms are in the works. Good variety of food very well prepared at each meal, mostly Malaysian. Fresh fruit, fish, pork and lamb. Staff was friendly and courteous - professional in a relaxed island manner. Overall, the trip was well worth the time and expense, but go soon before the island becomes even more crowded and damaged."

Borneo Divers, June 1997, Mel Butler, Claremont, CA. "Extremely easy drifting and pick-up when out of air or at 50 minutes. Excellent beach dives in front of resort; boat dives, 3 per day, and never on the boat more than 5-15 minutes. Excellent guides, always showing things but never "pushy". Saw everything I've seen combined on all the other trips, and more on 18 dives at Sipadan and 2 dives at Mabul Island, 30 minutes away. Turtles everywhere on every dive. . . . Borneo Divers now have some rooms with bathrooms and showers. Personnel friendly, helpful and capable. Eddie the Filipino chef presented an amazing variety of standard and local foods. Great 4th of July party with traditional dances from mainland Borneo. "Turtle man" Wayne preserves the turtle eggs and releases the new born turtles as they hatch. He will take you to see egg laying at night. happy, fun island with outstanding diving."

Pulau Sipadan Resort, June 1997, Andrew Chalk. "Malaysia's only oceanic island in the Sulawesi Sea. A five hectare island; tropical rain forest vegetation surrounded by a necklace of golden sand. Monitor lizards. A leisurely walk around takes 25 minutes. Six dive operators, all offering similar accommodations: Wooden huts around a central social building, where meals, drinks and socializing take place, a deck and a beach out the front. May-October is high season. Diving is possible all year as not affected by the monsoon. . . . Upon arrival divemaster checked me in and briefed me on the island and sites. Beach extends about 25 yds at high tide before drop off. Equipped mainly with gear rented from the resort, I followed the divemaster over the drop off, a dark bottomless hole swimming with sea life. At the edge is a rich layer of coral with hundreds of small fish. A few feet above a large trevally swam. Surface temp 80 F, at 90 feet 75F, with occasional cooler current. Only a minute into the dive an eight foot leopard shark -- and I was just ten feet away. White tip sharks on nearly every dive. Web swam parallel to the wall and after 150 yards reached Turtle Tomb, a cave at 95 feet that contains the shells and bones of turtles. Off limits to divers. Ascended to reef at 20-25ft; several giant clams, a school of gars and anemone (clown) fish, a leaf fish. . . . Hanging Gardens a boat ride of five minutes; several green turtles swam up, curious but put off by our bubbles. Night dive with divemaster at Drop Off: giant bumphead parrotfish (buffalo fish) over four feet long everywhere. Octopus and lionfish. . . . Coral Gardens are drift dives. Barracuda Point features massive schools of barracuda, jacks, silver pampons and gar. Dive schedule as intensive as you wish. Two boat dives in the morning and one in afternoon. Took unguided dawn dive at 6am and a guided night dive each evening. Divemasters give you the dive plan and lead the group pointing out interesting fish. No unreasonable limits on those who wanted to dive their own profiles accompanied by a buddy. My four days/three nights did not give me enough time to cover all sites, including a two-tank morning dive to a neighboring island. . . Food consisted of a Malaysian take on an American breakfast which didn't take with me. Lunch featured Malaysian and western food such as noodles, duck, Chinese vegetables, and once included tuna sushi. Dinner featured a whole large fish. After night dive divers and staff would sit on the deck drinking Tiger beer until late. . . . Unspoiled Sipadan is coming to an end. Areas full of dead coral, the cause unknown but dynamite fishing is the prime suspect. . . . From US it is 20 hours air travel. 50% of visitors are Japanese. Had I not been visiting Malaysia or Singapore anyway, the journey would have just been too long versus that for islands in the Pacific Ocean. Involved journey from Kuala Lumpur: a two and a half hour flight to Kota Kinabalu, staying overnight in the airport hotel; 6: 10 a.m. flight to Tawau, a small town where all Sipadan resorts meet their guests. Transfer to a limo for 90 minute road journey to Semporna, for fast launch to Sipadan, 45 minutes into the South China Sea. Pulau Sipadan Resort & Tours, 1st Floor, No. 484, Block P, Bandar Sabindo, P.O. Box No. 61120, 91021 Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia; phone +60 89-765200 Fax: +60 89-763575."

Sipadan Dive Center, March 1996, Hans Nielsen, Felton, CA. "Good: Very uncrowded. Between end of monsoon and start of high seas. Showers and toilets in rooms. Great food. Bad: Very small Island with 9-11 dive sites. We were there with 7-8 other divers in a resort that can handle about 44 divers. The other two resorts on the island can handle 40+ divers also. We were lucky it was so uncrowded. Vis: 60-100 ft. water: 85 degrees. Depth limit was common, but flexible. Very accommodating divemaster. Moderate curents. On two of our twelve dives, we got a taste of conditions as usual, bubbles, divers galore, fins, low visibility. Great place to go when few others are there. I wouldn't have fun with 120-140 divers on this small island."

Sipadan Dive Resort, April 1997, Georgina Wiersma, Monster, Holland. "Island crowded but diving great! Steep walls only. Unlimited shore diving, three boat dives/day, one night dive/day. Food plentiful and good. Good divemasters. Small boats with 12 divers maximum great for photographers: turtles, sleeping, feeding, mating, playing; Good accommodations."

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