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The internationally famous island of Sipadan lies
five degrees north of the equator in the Sulawesi Sea (Celebes Sea).
Lying 35km south of Semporna, on Sabah's mainland, like many
tropical islands it is thickly forested and surrounded by sandy
beaches. Sipadan is an oceanic island and was formed by living
corals growing on top of an extinct undersea volcano, which rises
600m from the seabed.
The geographic position of Sipadan puts it in the centre of the
richest marine habitat in the world, the heart of the Indo-Pacific
basin. More than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species
have been classified in this richest of ecosystems. Sipadan is well
known for its unusually large numbers of green and hawksbill turtles
which gather there to mate and nest and it is not unusual for a
diver to see more then 70 turtles on each dive. Another unique
feature to divers visiting Sipadan is the turtle tomb, an underwater
limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain
many skeletal remains of tribes that became disoriented and then
drowned.
The residential schooling barracuda and big- eye trevally are one of
the highlights on every
divers wish-list which often gather in thousands forming spectacular
tornado-like formations. With the possibility of seeing pelagics
such as mantas, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale
sharks, each dive at Sipadan is a highly anticipated event. Its not
only the frogfish that amaze divers coming to Sipadan, the macro
life is equally mesmerizing. Garden eels, leaf scorpionfish. mantis
shrimps, fire graces and various pipefish are guaranteed at various
dive sites. The diversity and abundance of marine life found at
Sipadan gives it its reputation of being one of the ten best dive
locations in the
world.
Announcement:
Presently, the island is in the care of Wildlife Department, which
has stationed several park rangers to oversee the state of nature of
the island. To protect the world unique flora & fauna on the island
as well as the underwater world the Malaysian Government has decided
that from 2005 no more overnight facilities shall be on Sipadan
itself. This means that all dive operators on Sipadan have to move;
diving Sipadan will be conducted from other destinations, such as
Mabul and Kapalai. It is likely that Sipadan will be designated a
marine reserve under Sabah Parks, and there are plans for a World
Heritage Site listing.
Picture Source
- Book of "Top Nature & Dive Resorts of Borneo" by
Andrea and Anthonella Ferrari available for sale on TravelMart.
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