Lankayan Island Dive Resort

The island sits at the centre of the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA). This 46,317-hectare zone was gazetted in December 2001 to halt destructive fishing practices including commercial deep-water trawling. The Sabah State Government leased the management to a private non-profit organisation named Reef Guardian in May 2003 on a 30-year agreement. The team manages the sanctuary using advanced land-based radar tracking and high-speed sea patrols staffed by Honorary Wildlife Wardens. Every guest pays a daily conservation fee to fund these operations. The enforcement has led to an immense recovery in fish biomass and sea turtle populations over the last two decades. The sanctuary became the first marine site in Malaysia to achieve IUCN Green List status in May 2022. Choosing this island directly finances one of the most successful marine enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia.

The property maintains a low-impact footprint with 25 chalets. You can choose between 16 beachfront units and 9 over-water chalets. The water chalets sit along a curved wooden boardwalk over the shallows. These modern units feature large ocean windows, separate spacious shower rooms and private verandas equipped with swinging chairs. They do not have direct ladder access to the sea in order to protect the fragile coral beneath them so guests enter the water from the dive centre jetty. The beachfront chalets are traditional wooden structures tucked among the tropical greenery directly behind the sand line.

Every room has air conditioning and an en-suite bathroom with hot water. The accommodation is simple and well-appointed rather than opulent. The resort serves all meals full-board and buffet-style in the central open-air restaurant. The food leans heavily towards local Malaysian dishes and fresh seafood. Long-stay guests often note the menu becomes repetitive after 4 or 5 nights. The island encourages a digital detox. Wi-Fi works in the central buildings; most guests are glad of the excuse to leave the phone in the room. The resort closes annually in January and February due to the regional monsoon season.

The shallow continental shelf of the Sulu Sea provides sandy plains that Reef Guardian augments with artificial structures. The team scuttles confiscated poaching vessels to create new habitats and block illegal trawling nets. Before any modern vessel is sunk it undergoes a rigorous internal clearing process to remove engine oils and entanglement hazards. The metal structures attract encrusting algae and hydroids drawing clouds of glassfish and sweepers followed by apex ambush predators. The diving here is typically relaxed with mild currents and visibility ranging from 3 to 15 metres. The proximity to mainland rivers causes a fine particulate backscatter requiring photographers to adjust their strobes carefully.

Lankayan Jetty and House Reef

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 5 m | Max depth: 20 m You access the house reef directly from the resort's wooden jetty. Divers take a giant stride from the lower deck and descend down a fixed guide rope. The bright sandy bottom transitions into a small artificial reef matrix centred on a sunken fishing boat. The structure hosts common lionfish, batfish and resident snappers. With luck, macro photographers find flamboyant cuttlefish and ornate ghost pipefish hiding among the debris. You must ascend on the designated line to avoid local boat traffic on the surface.

Lankayan Wreck

Skill level: Advanced Beginner | Ave depth: 15 m | Max depth: 24 m This site features an illegal fishing vessel confiscated and scuttled by the government. The Lankayan Wrecks sit a short boat ride west of the island. Giant groupers hide deep within the deteriorating wooden hull and giant marbled stingrays rest on the adjacent sand. Yellow sea perch school heavily around the highest points. The structure undergoes constant natural degradation so recreational divers stay on the outside.

Mosquito Wreck

Skill level: Intermediate | Ave depth: 15 m | Max depth: 25 m This is an authentic World War II Japanese vessel lying heavily degraded on its side. The current can be mild but the depth demands good buoyancy control. Dense schools of jacks and chevron barracuda patrol the perimeter. Resident tropical groupers claim the twisted metal crevices. The intact bow gun provides a striking focal point for wide-angle photography. The rusting bulkheads pose a collapse risk so penetration is strictly prohibited.

Jetty Wreck

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 15 m | Max depth: 20 m Located slightly offshore from the main pier, this small scuttled boat is augmented with ropes and wooden pyramids to speed up coral recruitment. Painted frogfish cling stubbornly to the auxiliary ropes while blue-spotted stingrays use the hull for cover. The site is excellent for night photography because the isolated structure lets you isolate subjects against a dark water background. You need excellent buoyancy to avoid damaging the fragile coral growth.

Jawfish Lair

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 15 m | Max depth: 28 m A short boat trip brings you to a dense hard coral garden featuring staghorn and table corals. The main attraction is the yellow jawfish population building burrows in the sandy patches. Patient photographers try to capture images of male jawfish mouth-brooding their eggs. The wider reef hosts mimic octopus, peacock mantis shrimp and leopard sharks resting motionless on the deeper flats. You must rely on neutral buoyancy rather than touching the reef to stabilise yourself.

Goby Rock

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 5 m | Max depth: 20 m This protected patch reef slopes from a shallow hard coral garden down to a flat sandy floor. The site holds a plenty of gobies sharing their burrows with nearly blind alpheid shrimp. White-tip reef sharks frequently patrol the upper reef edges. You need careful finning techniques near the bottom because blue-spotted rays often rest completely buried in the sediment and will explode upwards if startled.

Pegaso Reef

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 5 m | Max depth: 20 m Positioned north of the island, this recovering patch reef offers better visibility than the sites closer to the mainland rivers. Massive giant clams rest on the coral rubble with iridescent purple and blue mantles. Black-tip reef sharks and flashing silver fusiliers navigate the surrounding water column. The giant clams are highly sensitive to sudden changes in water pressure so you must keep a respectful distance to avoid making them snap shut.

Froggy Fort

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 10 m | Max depth: 16 m Scientific surveys document nearly 50 per cent live hard coral cover on this medium-sized patch reef about 1.6 km from the island. The site is a haven for diverse nudibranch populations and highly camouflaged frogfish. The frogfish blend completely with the encrusting sponges so you need a trained eye and a deliberately slow swimming pace to locate them.

Moray Reef

Skill level: Open Water | Ave depth: 10 m | Max depth: 25 m This site features a highly fissured reef structure containing deep crevices and small cave systems. Multiple species of moray eels heavily populate the holes across the reef making a high-lumen dive torch essential for macro shots. Reef Guardian personnel heavily patrol this isolated area after a massive illegal gill net was discovered draped across the reef in 2011.

Twin Rocks

Skill level: All levels | Ave depth: 12 m | Max depth: 15 m Two distinct coral reefs sit closely together separated by a bright sandy corridor. Gorgonians and black coral bushes cover the walls and host countless transparent shrimp. Bamboo sharks frequently shelter under the deeper overhangs at the base of the rocks. Swirling clouds of glassfish and grazing rabbitfish teem in the water column above the coral blocks.

The island serves as a vital natural foraging and nesting ground for green turtle and hawksbill populations. Reef Guardian rangers conduct nightly beach patrols to intercept nesting mothers. The rangers carefully relocate the eggs to a secure hatchery to protect them from coastal erosion and terrestrial predators. Detailed hatchery records show sea turtle nesting surged from roughly 100 nests in 2004 to over 800 nests in 2021. Guests can request a wake-up call at check-in to witness night-time nesting or hatchling releases under strict ecological supervision.

Local dive operators talk about a window between March and September for whale sharks passing through. Whale sharks pass through between March and September and are seen occasionally. Encounters are occasional and come as a bonus on any dive rather than at a fixed site. Encounters are usually incidental surface sightings or snorkelling opportunities rather than scheduled reef encounters at depth.

A standard full diving day involves 3 guided boat dives. The small island size means boat rides to the dive sites take merely 2 to 15 minutes. You spend your surface intervals back at the resort rather than waiting on a rolling deck. The on-site dive centre operates as a PADI 5 Star facility equipped with a nitrox station. Nitrox is available for certified divers though the exact supplemental fee is paid on the island.

The package allows unlimited unguided house reef diving during daylight hours. Guests must enter the water exclusively via the dive centre jetty to prevent trampling the delicate hard corals near the beach. Advanced Open Water divers can conduct unguided night dives on the house reef with a buddy to search for nocturnal crustaceans and bioluminescent plankton.

Because the island sits off the east coast, the logistics work well for travellers combining diving with terrestrial wildlife. You can spend a few days observing orangutans in Sepilok before heading up the Kinabatangan River to spot proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants. The transition from the jungle lodge back to Sandakan aligns well with the morning boat departure to the island making it easy to build Combine with Borneo itineraries.

Travellers consistently praise the profound isolation and the lack of crowds. The ability to watch sea turtles hatch and juvenile reef sharks patrol the shallows right below the dining terrace sets the property apart. The human element stands out with guests noting the warmth and ecological dedication of the local staff.

The resort fits couples, eco-tourists and dedicated macro photographers who want a slow pace and a tranquil atmosphere. It is the right choice if you enjoy exploring wrecks, hunting for jawfish and reading a book between dives. It makes an excellent addition to island honeymoon itineraries. If you want drift diving along deep oceanic walls, Sipadan is the one. Divers searching for immense schools of barracuda and steep vertical drop-offs belong in Semporna to dive Sipadan.

The journey begins at Sandakan airport. Resort staff meet you for a short 30-minute road transfer to a private mainland jetty. The single daily speedboat departs Sandakan at 10am and strictly no later than 11am. You must book a flight that lands in Sandakan by 9am to make the connection. The sea crossing takes roughly 90 minutes depending on the prevailing weather and sea state. The return boat leaves the island promptly at 7am so your departing flight from Sandakan must leave after 11am. Be sure to review the travel information guide when planning your flight segments.

• Mataking Island Resort
• Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort
• Pom Pom Island Resort
• Lankayan
• Combine with Borneo

Send your preferred travel dates, the names of everyone coming and your current dive certification levels. The team comes back with what can be arranged to match your flights and itinerary.