The best dive destinations in Sabah

What it is: Malaysia's only oceanic island. It rises roughly 600 m from the Celebes Sea floor on an extinct volcanic seamount. Sabah Parks gazetted the Sipadan Island Park in 2009. The park expanded to 16,860 ha in 2015. Who it suits: Experienced divers comfortable with steep walls. You must hold an Advanced Open Water certificate or equivalent. Best months: Diving happens all year. March to October offers the best visibility. The honest limit: Sabah Parks issues 254 Sipadan permits a day. The island closes completely every November. You cannot sleep on the island.

Sipadan offers intense pelagic action. The government removed all resorts from the island by 31 Dec 2004. You travel by boat from nearby islands. The marine life includes resident green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and resident hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). A resident chevron barracuda (Sphyraena qenie) school forms a tornado often. You can see bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) herds most reliably at dawn. Grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) patrol the ledges. Deep water brings occasional reports of scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) schools. The Jacques Cousteau quote about an untouched piece of art comes from his 1989 film "Borneo: The Ghost of the Sea Turtle".

The boats run from early morning until the afternoon. There is no night diving at Sipadan. A guaranteed Sipadan permit comes with the right combination of resort, dive package and minimum number of nights. Not every resort guarantees exact dates. The exact dates depend on the resort you choose. On a properly planned trip the chance of diving Sipadan is very high. The team steers you to the combination that fits.

Barracuda Point

Skill level: Advanced This is the dive people come back for. The barracuda school tightens into a column in the current. You can hang level with the fish to watch them turn. Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) schools often mix into the blue water.

What it is: A populated island offering famous muck diving. It sits about 30 to 45 minutes by boat from Semporna. Who it suits: Macro photographers looking for tiny marine life. It suits people who want a comfortable resort base near Sipadan. Best months: All year. The honest limit: Mabul is a working village. Expect boat traffic. The visibility is softer than out in the open ocean.

You stay in resorts on the east and south-east sides. Mabul Water Bungalows offers premium water villas on the east side. Sipadan-Mabul Resort provides a diver-first beach layout on the south-east side. Borneo Divers was founded in 1983. It runs a turtle hatchery. Seaventures Dive Rig operates from a decommissioned oil platform built in Panama. It was retrofitted in Labuan and stationed off Mabul since 1997. A hydraulic lift lowers divers to the water. The macro diving here relies on careful observation. You can find flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi) and blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena spp.) on almost every dive. Frogfish (Antennarius spp.) and crocodilefish (Cymbacephalus beauforti) hide in the sand. Be sure to check the rubble for smaller subjects.

Paradise 1

Skill level: All levels This site sits roughly 300 m from the Sipadan Water Village jetty. The sandy slope hosts ghost pipefish (Solenostomus spp.). Be sure to move slowly to spot the smallest animals.

What it is: A sandbank on the Ligitan reefs. There is no island here at high tide. Who it suits: Couples and photographers wanting the sea right under their room. Best months: All year. The honest limit: The resort stands over the sea with no beach; sand appears only at low tide. You cannot walk on sand unless the tide is low.

Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort stands on stilts over the reef flat. The house reef runs under the wooden walkways. You dive it unlimited by day from the dive-centre pier. A dusk dive at 17:30 targets mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus). Night dives start at 18:30. The boat ride to Sipadan takes about 15 minutes. The visibility at Kapalai often reaches 15 to 30 m.

Mandarin Valley

Skill level: All levels This site offers shelter and shallow depths. Mandarinfish emerge at dusk to mate. You can look for Spanish dancers (Hexabranchus sanguineus) in the coral rubble.

What it is: A private island resort northeast of Semporna. A low-tide sandbar joins it to Mataking Kecil. Who it suits: Families and divers wanting a quieter beach resort. Best months: March to October. The honest limit: Sipadan is a long boat run of about 80 minutes across the Alice Channel.

Mataking Island Resort features 63 rooms in 6 categories. A sea-turtle hatchery established in 2006 protects local nests. A memorandum of understanding with WWF-Malaysia and the Sabah Wildlife Department supports resident biologists. The diving here is gentle. You can do unlimited buddy shore dives on the house reef. The resort offers small-group guiding with beginners taken in pairs.

Mataking 1 Wreck

Skill level: All levels This wreck was scuttled in March 2006. It functions as an underwater post office. The mailboxes are cleared twice a week.

What it is: A quiet coral island 45 minutes from Semporna. Who it suits: People seeking a relaxed pace away from the main dive hubs. Best months: March to October. The honest limit: The resort operates fixed transfer slots. Missing your boat incurs penalties. It is not a base for Sipadan.

Pom Pom Island Resort offers beach chalets and water villas. The island runs two sea-turtle hatcheries. The peak nesting season happens between June and September. TRACC works on active coral restoration nearby. You dive local sites directly from the jetty.

Mandarin Heaven

Skill level: All levels A shallow site near the jetty. It serves as a reliable spot for dusk dives. Expect calm waters.

What it is: The only resort on an island in the Sulu Sea. It sits 90 minutes by boat from Sandakan. Who it suits: Divers wanting wrecks and a chance to see whale sharks. Best months: March to September is the whale-shark season; the resort closes in January and February. The honest limit: This is far from Semporna. You cannot dive Sipadan from here.

Lankayan Island Dive Resort operates 25 chalets. Sixteen are beachfront chalets. Nine are over-water chalets. The area protects sea turtles through active nesting programmes. The diving focuses on named wrecks like the Mosquito Wreck and the Cement Wreck. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) pass through between March and September and are seen occasionally.

Lankayan Wreck

Skill level: All levels This sunken vessel attracts large schools of fish. It sits within the SIMCA protected zone.

What it is: A marine park gazetted in 2004 covering roughly 350 square kilometres. It contains 8 islands including Bodgaya and Bohey Dulang and Sibuan and Mantabuan. Who it suits: Snorkellers and hikers. Best months: All year. The honest limit: The trail to Bohey Dulang's 353 m viewpoint requires a guide and proper footwear. Rangers refuse entry to visitors in sandals. The trail closes after rain.

Snorkelling is the primary product at Tun Sakaran Marine Park. The coral reefs are recovering from historic blast fishing. Active coral-frame restoration takes place at Mantabuan. Bajau Laut communities live on stilt homes in the area.

What it is: The state capital offering easy access to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Who it suits: Beginners taking courses or travellers with only a half-day to spare. Best months: March to October. The honest limit: Visibility drops during the monsoon. Box jellyfish appear in certain seasons.

The reefs sit very close to the city. The diving is convenient rather than spectacular. Kota Kinabalu provides an easy start to a Sabah trip.

What it is: A federal territory hosting four verified shipwrecks. Who it suits: Wreck diving specialists. Best months: March to October. The honest limit: This is a specialist add-on rather than a primary holiday destination.

The wrecks carry verified identities. The American Wreck is the USS Salute. The Australian Wreck is the SS De Klerk. The Cement Wreck is the MV Tung Hwang. The Blue Water Wreck is the MV Mabini Padre. Labuan appeals to wreck diving specialists.

What it is: An emerging destination near Lahad Datu. Who it suits: Explorers wanting to see newly surveyed reefs. Best months: March to October. The honest limit: Tourist facilities is still developing.

The area features the Blue Ring Hole. This is a sunken coral depression rather than a true blue hole. Glen Hapirulla discovered it in 2017. A July 2026 Thalassas paper recorded 415 coral species here. You can dive the Japanese Timber Wreck. The bow sits at 24 m. The stern rises to 5 m.

What it is: An atoll roughly 300 km northwest of Kota Kinabalu. Who it suits: Advanced divers looking for scalloped hammerhead aggregations. Best months: March to September. The honest limit: The destination is seasonal. Trips are arranged on request. Logistics are confirmed at enquiry.

The atoll covers 14 square kilometres. The walls here drop to deep water over 2,000 m. Scalloped hammerheads gather during the season. Trips to Layang Layang are arranged on request. You can consider Sipadan or Lankayan as alternatives.

You can build a trip covering two or three distinct areas. Many divers spend a few days at Mabul to secure their Sipadan permits. You can then move to Mataking to enjoy the beach. A domestic flight connects Tawau to Sandakan. This allows you to add Lankayan to a Semporna itinerary. Semporna serves as the departure town for most of these islands. The district holds a population of 166,587. It functions purely as a logistics hub rather than a holiday town. The team steers you toward logistics that avoid wasted travel days. You must observe a 24-hour no-fly interval after your last dive. The Sabah Grand Dive Tour package covers multiple areas efficiently.

Sabah provides distinct practical advantages when compared to other Southeast Asian marine parks. This section compares Sabah against regional alternatives using verified 2026 data. For a deeper look you can read the guide comparing Sabah vs Similan, Komodo, Tubbataha.

The Similan Islands in Thailand close entirely from 16 May to 14 October every year. The Department of National Parks Thailand enforces this closure to let vessels avoid the monsoon. Thailand enforces a strict daily cap of 3,325 visitors. An e-ticket system requires advance registration. Coast-to-coast surveys revealed a widespread homogenisation of the reefs. The ecosystem there now relies heavily on boulder-forming Porites corals. Overnight camping is banned. The journey from Europe requires connecting through Phuket. A typical flight from Bordeaux takes 16.5 hours. From Phuket you travel 2 hours north by road to Khao Lak to board vessels.

Komodo National Park in Indonesia enforces a hard quota of 1,000 visitors per day. You must pre-book days in advance via the SiOra application. The diving involves blistering currents. Cold upwellings drop water temperatures down to 22 C. You need advanced drift diving experience to handle the sudden down-drafts. The Global Park Defense programme launched in 2025. It uses VTOL drones to intercept unauthorised vessels. The park levies a base entry fee alongside a conservation fee and a diving surcharge. Travelling from Europe requires flying to Jakarta or Bali before taking a domestic flight to Labuan Bajo. The total transit time from Europe reaches 22 to 28 hours.

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Philippines operates entirely on liveaboards. The 97,030-hectare park sits under the Tubbataha Management Office. The park closes from roughly mid-June to mid-March due to dangerous monsoon sea states. A Tubbataha liveaboard calls for a substantial budget. You face a 10 to 12-hour open-ocean crossing across the Sulu Sea from Puerto Princesa. The reefs retain extensive intact coral cover. You can explore vast staghorn fields. The park imposes a strict AOW plus 50 logged dives minimum requirement. Travel from Europe takes 24 to 30 hours to Manila. You then take a domestic flight to Puerto Princesa.

Sabah offers year-round access. Sipadan is closed only in November. You sleep in comfortable land-based resorts instead of swaying liveaboards. You get excellent muck diving right next to deep pelagic walls. Sipadan's shallow corals cannot currently be marketed as untouched. The deep walls offer some thermal buffering against surface warming. European travellers usually fly into Kuala Lumpur before connecting to Tawau. The total journey takes 25 to 30 hours. Tawau connects to Semporna by road in 70 to 90 minutes. A speedboat takes you to the islands.

Diving happens all year in Sabah. Read the full guide on when to dive Sabah for detailed weather patterns. March to October offers the best visibility. Mid-February to mid-November provides good diving. The visibility is softer at the ends of that window. Mid-November to mid-February brings a mix of cloud and rain and sun. Water temperatures stay between 26 C and 30 C year-round. Sipadan itself is closed for the whole month of November.

• Sipadan
• Mabul
• Kapalai
• Lankayan
• Sabah Grand Dive Tour

Send your dates along with your party size and your certification levels. The team comes back with what can be arranged. The team handles the resort bookings and the transfer logistics from Tawau.