My Holiday
In august 2007 I visited Sipidan, staying at the Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort. A resort build on sturdy stilts on the shallow sandbanks of the Ligitan Reefs. From here it's a couple of minutes to reach Sipadan Island and Mabul. Sipadan is a famous dive destination. Known for it's nutrient-rich currents which bring food which brings fish, which brings bigger fish in the marine food chain, which brings more and more fish, sharks and turtles.
Mabul is well known for his amazing muck-diving. The diving for small critters.
Location
Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, East Malaysia (which is on the island of Borneo). The Celebes sea is part of the Pacific ocean.
Geography
Sipadan was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world.
Language
Malaysian (but English is wel spoken too.
Climate
The islands enjoy an equatorial climate, so the temperature generally varies between 28 - 34°C during the day and drops to about 22°C during the warm evenings. The region is generally unaffected by the monsoon seasons which affect other places in this part of South East Asia, although sporadic heavy rains come down around December and January.
Being islands, Sipadan and Mabul have cooling sea breezes that make even the high humidity level of 85 - 95% quite pleasant.
Diving conditions
You can dive here all year round. Overall, the best conditions at Sipadan Island exist from April to December, especially July and August. January to March can see some unsettled weather and a decrease in visibility but the resorts still see plenty of guests at this time as the diving can still be fine.
water Temperature: 26 - 30°C
Time difference
+8 hrs GMT
