The best dive sites in the Semporna Region

By Borneo from Below presenter, Bertie

Let’s not sugar coat it: Semporna isn’t the most beautiful of towns. Rough around the edges, maybe. Hot, definitely. Congested, certainly. But Paris it ain’t. Which makes it all the more surprising when you consider this region is home to some of the top dive spots on the planet.

I was lucky enough to spend 2015 filming the web series Borneo from Below in conjunction with our good friends at Scuba Junkie. During this period we went in search of the area’s most colourful coral reefs, mesmerising macro, pleasing pelagic life and sumptuous schools of fish.

From the shrimpiest of shrimp to a non-stop turtle highway, paradise islands to mucky sandbanks, this region has a little something for everyone. Here’s a countdown to my 5 favourite dive sites around Semporna.

5) Sibuan

What do you get if you cross your classic paradise island, with a small community of sea gypsies and a heap of frogfish? You get Sibuan, a tiny dollop of loveliness just a short hop, skip and a dive away from Scuba Junkie’s base in Semporna.

Known locally as ‘Battleship Island’ due to its distinct shape, above the waves Sibuan is all palm trees and white sandy beaches, along with a small scattering of huts built by the Bajau Laut. These ‘sea gypsies’ are known for their incredible freediving skills and their children are often found frolicking in the shallows, offering great photo opportunities. 

Underwater, Sibuan offers both muck diving and great reefs – most notably at dive site Hawksbill Highway; a blanket of cabbage coral that provides the perfect ampitheatre for turtles and cuttlefish. Plenty of frogfish can be found wallowing in the muck, as well as the usual suspects: snake eels, seahorses, spiny devilfish and more.

4) Awas, Mabul

Whilst Sipadan grabs most of the diving headlines around here, the diving right off Scuba Junkie’s jetty in Mabul is surprisingly fishy. Dive site Awas plays host to dozens of green turtles - some the largest I’ve ever encountered. On artificial reef structures they endure divers with good grace, whilst wrasse pluck parasites off them.

On and around these structures are broadclub cuttlefish the size of rugby balls, frogfish, schools of snapper, ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp and flamboyant cuttlefish. Easy diving, fabulously fishy - and all located no more than a couple of minutes swim from the jetty: Not. Too. Shabby.

You can see Awas in the following Borneo from Below episode.

3) Kapalai

Kapalai, which lies a short 15-minute boat ride from Mabul, is a sandbar with a luxury hotel plonked on top. Kapalai is all about the macro. At around 20m are a series of artificial structures covered in coral and some of the coolest nudibranchs you will ever lay eyes on. One of Scuba Junkie’s DM’s, Nas, even found one with two heads – a world first!

The sloping reef is also one of the best places to spot blue-ringed octopus in the entire region. If you’re lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the resident giant moray eel, Elvis. Elvis’ head is as big as yours.

Elsewhere keep an eye out for waspfish, frogfish, Indian walkmen, leaffish, stonefish and more funky critters. As the sun sets over this delightful sandbar, divers can even see manadarinfish performing their famous ‘love dance’: a mating ritual and one of the most mesmerising experiences a diver will ever have, anywhere.

View the two-headed nudibranch here.

2) Mantabuan

If you enjoy small, jaw-droppingly stunning, seldom-visited sites with water the colour of Frank Sinatra’s eyes, then Mantabuan is the place to dive. Along with its impossibly pretty exterior, this volcanically-formed island is renowned for its black coral: a rare species that’s worth more than gold on the black market. Found at around 25m, these swaying bushes are actually white in colour – the term ‘black’ comes from their skeleton.

Whilst it might not have the variety of fish life that Sibuan does, Joseph has thrown his technioloured dreamcoat over these reefs. Within the coral folds, flaps and fingers lurk plenty of unusual nudibraches. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the blue - in visibility often in excess of 20m - for schools of barracuda and snapper.

1) Sipadan

Formed as a result of living corals growing on top of an extinct volcano cone, Sipadan was famously referred to as “an untouched piece of art” by Jacques Cousteau. Whilst our oceans are plundered at an alarming rate, rendering once-famous dive destinations fishless and broken, Sipadan has changed little in the 30 years since Cousteau made these remarks.

This, in part, is due to protection offered by the Malaysian authorities who have banned fishing around the island and only hand out 120 dive permits a day. Because of this, divers must book their trip here well in advance.

A shoe-in on lists dedicated to the world’s top dive spots, divers travel from all over to spend time Sipadan’s resident schools of barracuda, bumphead parrotfish, jackfish and sharks, along with giant turtle populations. In diving terms, it doesn’t get much better.

What’s it like to spend a day diving at Sipadan? See here!

To keep up with SZtv’s Borneo from Below, please like: https://www.facebook.com/Scubazoo/

And subscribe to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScubazooVideo