GREAT SABAH DIVING SITES ABOVE SIPADAN

Sabah diving can be described as diverse. Whether you’re into muck diving or diving at Sipadan, this region of Malaysian Borneo will amaze you.

Sabah’s uniqueness lies in the fact that you can see large pelagics, sea fans, pygmy Seahorses, and frogfish in one dive.

Sabah Diving Guide Sipadan

This is one of the best diving vacations in the world. Most travelers only know about Sipadan Island, its barracuda tornado, and its residents.

Sipadan diving alone is enough reason to visit Sabah, but there are many other treasures in the state. Some of my favorite spots are actually outside Sipadan. For a quick guide, read on.

Si Amil Island, Sipadan Barrier Reef

Imagine if I told you there was an unspoiled island with a school of Devil Rays, far more than the rays at Sipadan Island.

It’s not only this, but it has abandoned World War II buildings scattered throughout the area and a hilly rainforest for you to admire at your surface intervals. Si Amil, welcome!

Si Amil’s nine dive spots are only an hour from Semporna. They have everything you need, including big pelagics, a great variety of sea fans, hard Corals, colorful macros, and World War II wrecks.

Even better, night dives here are exceptional. You may even see rainbow runners and bamboo sharks. Even better? Si Amil is still one of the essential frontiers in Sabah diving.

Froggy’s Lair, Near SMART, Mabul

Froggy’s is often called the muck diving capital in Mabul, Sabah. This dive site is best for macro-diving junkies with Eagle eyes. You will need a guide to help you navigate the site.

You will often see flamboyant cuttlefish, Mandarin fish, lobsters, garden eels, and legions of frogfish. This dive site is named after its resident frogfish.

It is quite a sight.

Seaventures House Reef

My stay at Seaventures Dive Resort was filled with amazement at the extraordinary marine life and artificial coral reefs underneath. This converted oil rig is home to large schools of yellowtail Trevally, small cuttlefish, adorable juvenile yellow box fish, and giant groupers.

Even glassfish schools can be seen feeding from the top of the rig’s platform!

A whole new world emerges at night: From the elusive red-orange/blue-spotted flamboyant cuttlefish, schooling pipefish, and Chevron barracudas to fat moray eels, you will be surrounded by their presence. Seeing so many schooling and macro fish in one dive was amazing.

Seaventures is a great dive site in Sabah. I was able to enjoy unlimited house reef dives throughout my stay. Take it!

Mataking Island

A beautiful mix of macro and large pelagics makes Sabah’s best dive spot. Sipadan easily overlooks Mataking Island, its neighbor to the south.

Mataking has 12 dive sites that can keep you busy for a holiday. They are located in Alice Channel, near the Malaysian-Philippine border.

Manta rays, grey reef sharks, eagle rays, and manta rays are just a few of the pelagics found in the channel 100 meters deep, attracted to the North’s strong currents. Stonefish, octopus, and ribbon eels are the only macro-life that live in this area.

Are you just going on a one-day trip?

Mataking’s most popular dive spots include Sweetlips Avenue, North Point, the offshore House Reef, Coral Garden, and the artificial reef The Shipwreck.

Layang Layang Island

Pulau Layang Layang, also known as Swallows Reef, is where the big men go! Imagine vast schools of hammerheads, reef sharks, dolphins, Manta Rays, whale sharks, and other aquatic species just a few minutes away by boat.

There are ten different dive sites. Most of them are walls. The visibility can reach up to 60m in the season. All of them have been rated five out of five stars by experienced divers.

Layang Layang can’t be reached during the rainy season, which usually runs from November to February—Sabah diving trip accordingly if you’re a maritime fan.

Panglima Reef, Mabul

There’s an unusual show at Panglima’s gentle slope of the reef. It’s as possible to spot an 80-year-old Hawksbill Turtle or Cockscomb Oyster as it is to spot a few Chromodoris or Nembrotha audible next to Crocodile Flatheads.

You never know what you might see.

One dive was a highlight for me. I saw several Hawksbill Turtles, a few peacock mantis shrimps being eaten by some schooling fish, and a massive school of traveling Trevally. I also saw several types of nudibranch (especially black worm) and the largest crocodile fish I’ve seen in 70 dives.