The SIPADAN Blog
Guides written from the water: permits and planning, dive sites, marine life, courses and the islands around Sipadan — by people who dive them for a living.
Sipadan Diving Guide 2026: Permits, Seasons & Planning
How to plan a Sipadan dive trip in 2026 — how the daily permit quota works, when to go, the certification you need, and how to guarantee your dive day.
Read the article →The Marine Life of Sipadan: What You’ll Actually See
Green vs hawksbill turtles, sharks on every dive, the barracuda tornado, dawn bumpheads and the rare visitors — what you'll actually see at Sipadan.
Read the article →The Best Dive Sites in Semporna & Sabah — Beyond Sipadan
A local shortlist of the Semporna region's best dives: Sipadan's walls plus the Mabul, Kapalai, Si Amil and Mataking sites that fill your week.
Read the article →Muck Diving in Mabul: A Macro Diver’s Field Guide
Why Mabul is the muck-diving Mecca — what lives on its sandy slopes, how night dives change everything, and camera setups that work there.
Read the article →Learning to Dive in Borneo: First Breath to Sipadan
Try diving with Discover Scuba, certify with Open Water, then go Advanced — the course path that ends with you diving Sipadan.
Read the article →How Sipadan Stays Alive: Conservation That Actually Works?
Why Sipadan's reefs still thrive — the permit quota, the November closure, turtle protection, cleanups and the mangrove connection.
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