Geography

Geography

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia and it rises approximately 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea, east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of Borneo. Sipadan was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone thousands of years old. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin which is the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem. Sipadan was popularized by famed sea-explorer Jacques Cousteau and has since been rated by many dive experts as one of the top dive destinations in the world. At Sipadan, divers and snorkelers get to see marine life roaming freely and moving in great numbers. Rare diving scenes are frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan: schools of Green turtles and Hawksbill turtles feeding and mating, schools of Barracudas and Jacks in tornado-like formations, White-tip reef sharks and Gray reef sharks on the prowl and pelagic species such as Manta rays, Devil rays, Hammerhead sharks and Whale sharks. At a distance, in the deep blue in between Sipadan and Mabul you will get a good chance to encounter schools of dolphins and Pilot whales racing in the shallows too.

A limestone cave lies underneath the column of the island at around 20 meters with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that become lost and drown before finding the surface. For that the cave is called the Turtle Tomb.