Sipadan, the tiny island off Malaysian Borneo, is the best-known site, "discovered" by Americans barely six or seven years ago. Now it's well known and crowded with new resorts.... Why the crowds? Imagine 20 to 30 giant turtles on every dive, sharks, jacks, schooling barracuda, and the best shore diving anywhere. While there's an abundance of turtles year-round, counts are highest in July and August....The reef in front of the resorts is showing signs of distress from the crowds. . . .The resort, Layang Layang, is in the Spratly Islands; because of their oil reserves, the islands are claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan as well as Malaysia. Schooling hammerheads and pristine reefs lure divers, but nothing lives on the flat coral atoll except birds.... Hammerhead season is March and April, but the resort operates from March to October....

Borneo/East Malysia

Borneo Divers, Sipadan, March 1998, Paul Tischler, Bethesda, MD. Great diving, worth the long trip and the rustic accommodations. Vis: 60-100 ft, water 75+ degrees. Broke up trip by stopping in Thailand. Will be good if they enforce dive number limit (people). (Ph: 011-60-88-222-226, Fax: 011-60-88-221-550,

e-mail: bdivers@po.jaring.my, Website: www.jaring.my/bdivers)

Borneo Divers/Sipadan Dive Lodge, July 1998, N.K. Tong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Third visit. New chalets with attached bathrooms. Fan operated. Fish life excellent as ever. 5 to 10 turtles on every dive. Schooling jacks, bumphead parrotfish, Barracudas, tons of fish cleaning at the drop-off, the shore dive. Even at 20 ft.! Steve Fish is the resident photo/guide pro; E-6 processing every day, excellent service for budding and serious enthusiasts. Coral definitely feeling the toll of number of divers; talk of government regulations to limit the island to 80 divers only. Vis has suffered (at least on this trip): 40-80 ft. water: 80 degrees. One hour surface intervals. Quality of food has dropped. Plentiful, but monotonous/uncreative. Accommodations still basic, but comfortable. Still, some of the best diving in Malaysia/the world. Borneo Divers do their best to minimize impact, but with 5 operators on the island it is hard to control.

Borneo Divers, August 1998, Ted and Martha Kellog, Wakefield, RI. Vis: 30-100 ft, water to 86F. Everything we had read in Undercurrent was true: diving good. Vis limited by sand stirred up by storms. Divers assigned to one boat for the duration. Our divemaster and boatman were professional and helpful. Borneo Divers had single boats serving 2-3 dive groups simultaneously, so during a dive, a group was often left unattended by a boat-a potentially hazardous situation. Rooms Spartan by Western standards; often hot and noisy; lighting too dim to read (we read by dive light.) Not unlike summer camp. Island very crowded.

Lyang-Lyang, August 1998, Ted & Martha Kellogg, Wakefield, RI. Pristine diving; healthy corals and fish, remote location. August not the season for hammerheads, but saw a variety of sharks; abundant reef fish and other critters. Three dives/day (8 a.m., 11a.m., 3p.m.) all boat dives. Divers assigned to a boat; dive tank & BC remain on the boat for your stay. Same divemaster stays with the boat. Our divemaster was attentive and helpful. All dives are drift dives along wall, ending in shallows. Current strong to none, even on the same dive. Facilities new, modern, rooms are air-conditioned; large pool area. Food good, plentiful. All meals buffet-style; primarily Asian/Malaysian menu. New American managers task is to make Lyang-Lyang a 4 star resort. Could improve check out dive; need camera rinse tanks on boats. vis: 80-100 ft. water: 86 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced: time and depth limits recommended. (Ph: 011-60-3-243-3166, Fax 011-60-3-243-3177)

Peninsular Malaysia

Redang Beach Resort, August 1997, N.K. Tong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Good: Second trip to this resort this year. Food is great! (Chinese cuisine). Affordable (approx. US $250 for 4/D/3N, full board and 7 dives) by Malaysian standards. Dive sites 5-20 minutes. Redang is a marine park. Very colorful, macro and fish. Schooling yellowtail barracudas, snappers and trevallies (jacks). Large seafans, clown fish everywhere. Mini-Mount, Maxi-Mount and Terumbu Kili are some of the best sites Malaysia has to offer. Shallow dives, max. 60-70 ft. . . . Bad: Only one speed boat for up to 8 divers. OK, since it isn't a dive resort. (If numbers increase, divers are taken on converted wooden fishing boats; More spacious but travel time is doubled.) Accommodations air-conditioned and clean, but not luxurious. No hot water showers. Overall: Great diving and a good break for those with time in Kuala Lumpur. Flights to Kuala Trengganu (where boat transfers are included in the $275 package) cost approx. US $80, two ways. Snorklers have pretty good time too, as there are many shallow sections of reef.