Barracuda Point
Barracuda Point is regularly ranked amongst the top 5 dive sites in the world.
This outstanding dive site has a great barracuda shoal (thousands) often seen in a tornado-like formation.
You will see dozens of turtles in one dive, schools of whitetip sharks, batfish, jacks and barracuda. And everything from nudibranchs to hammerhead sharks.
The barracuda tornado
The site is named for one thing, and it delivers it: a resident school of chevron barracuda, thousands strong, that gathers off the point and periodically winds itself into a slow, silver cylinder. The tornado is a defence — the school tightens whenever the reef sharks take an interest — and if you hang quietly at its edge it will sometimes close around you until the surface disappears. Divers travel across the world for that one minute.
Bumpheads at dawn, grey reef sharks on the point
The barracuda are the headline, not the whole show. A normal dive here logs dozens of green and hawksbill turtles, whitetip reef sharks resting on the ledges or patrolling the wall, big schools of jacks and batfish, bumphead parrotfish in the mornings, and grey reef sharks cruising the blue. Look close between the big moments and the wall works as a macro site too — nudibranchs, leaf scorpionfish, morays in the crevices. On the lucky days, a hammerhead ghosts past out deep.
Topography
This dive starts off descending deep along the sheer wall, looking out in the blue for pelagics. Eventually, you head towards the south at about 22m deep. There the current will bring you to Barracuda Point where there is a school of thousands of barracuda. You then finish the dive in the shallows of the Coral Garden.
Current and conditions
Current is the engine of this site. It is usually moderate, occasionally strong, and it is precisely why the fish are here — slack days are quieter days. The site is rated AOW for good reason: the wall is bottomless, the current calls the plan, and buoyancy needs to be automatic. Visibility runs around 30 metres for most of the season. The point sits on Sipadan's north-east corner, a few minutes by boat from the jetty, and most operators dive it first thing in the morning when the bumpheads and the light are at their best.
Permits
Barracuda Point is inside Sipadan Island Park, so it is dived on a Sipadan permit day — 254 permits are issued per day across the operators, with 3 dives on your permit day and Advanced Open Water (or equivalent) required. Book the permit before you travel; on non-permit days you dive Mabul and Kapalai instead.
Barracuda Point is quite simply a "must dive" if you visit Sipadan.
Contact us to dive at Barracuda Point
- Depth
- 40+ metres (131+ feet)
- Visibility
- 30 metres (100 feet)
- Location
- North East of Sipadan Island.
| Dive site | Min depth | Max depth | Level | Dive Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barracuda Point | 5m 16ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef |
| Coral gardens | 10m 33ft | 23m 75ft | OW | Wall, Reef |
| Hanging Gardens | 5m 16ft | 40m 131ft | OW | Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| Lobster lairs | 25m 82ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef, Big Fishes |
| North Point | 25m 82ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Drift, Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| South Point | 20m 65ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef |
| Staghorn Crest | 20m 65ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| The Jetty | 3m 10ft | 40m 131ft | OW | Wall, Reef |
| Turtle Cavern | 14m 46ft | 23m 75ft | AOW | Cave, Reef |
| Turtle Patch | 5m 16ft | 12m 39ft | OW | Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| Turtle Tomb | 17m 56ft | 23m 75ft | Divemaster | Cave |
| West Ridge | 18m 59ft | 40m 131ft | OW | Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| Whitetip Avenue | 17m 56ft | 40m 131ft | OW | Wall, Reef, Sharks |
| Midreef | 5m 16ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef |
| The Drop Off | 5m 16ft | 40m 131ft | AOW | Wall, Reef |
Divers: book your Sipadan permits in advance!