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Sun bathing on a quiet powdery white sandy beach, while enjoying the gentle breeze of the tropical island, and looking out at a big blue sea that stretches to the horizon, which yields almost no sign of human civilisation, one has surely arrived at the beautiful Mantanani Island, one of the best keep secrets on the west coast of Sabah. Only recently promote as a tourists destination, Mantanani Island has miles and miles of unspoiled beaches, and the shallow coast line around the island offers a splendid snorkelling experience, with visibility around10 metre, a wide variety of tropical marines life are easily spotted on the extensive coral reef habitats.

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Mabul Island lied 35 km south east to Semporna town, a fish village on the south eastern part of Sabah. With an area of 200-hectare, the island is quiet flat and is almost completely covered with coconuts trees. Beautiful sandy beaches surround the oval shaped island, and guest can easily walk around the island in less than an hour, and during low tide Mabul Island seems to be bigger as the shoreline extends further out to the sea. Wooden houses, on stilts with atap roof top are inhabited by the Bajaus, can be seen at numerous spot on the Island. The Bajaus are traditional fishermen and with their generations of pass down knowledge on the Celebes Sea, today many of them work as boat men, ferrying divers to Sipadan Island and the other surround Islands, including Mataking Island and the Kapalai reef.

In 2005 the state government of Sabah has outlawed all resorts and accommodation in Sipadan Island in the hope that by stopping the human interaction on the island will further help preserve the island ecology system. With this directive some of the resorts have relocated to Mabul Island, about 25 minutes away from Sipadan Island by speed boats. As many as five resorts or lodges are located in and around Mabul Island. Today most divers to Sipadan will have to pass by Mabul Island, making it a sister island to Sipadan. There are no restriction on the number of persons can stay in Mabul Island at any time. (more…)

Sipadan Island was not even in the world map until in the early 80s when a group of divers from Sabah stumbled upon this magnificent underwater world. After that slowly but surely Sipadan Island is on its way to International fame. Through the few that have been here and with words of mouth, Sipadan has steadily attracted divers from all over the world. Even the great Jacques Cousteau was in awe with its beauty, especially the abundance and diversity of marine life. Because of the Island enormous economical potential, Indonesia also laid claim to this small oceanic island, and in the years 2002 the International World Court handed the dispute to Malaysia.

baby turtles going for their first swim

Located 35km south of Semporna, on the south-east of Sabah, Sipadan is unique in that it rises up 600m from the seabed. Believe to be an extinct undersea volcano, and was formed by living corals growing on top of it. The geographic position of Sipadan also put it in the centre of the richest marine habitat in the world, the heart of the Indo-Pacific region. More than 3,000 species have been classified in this richest of ecosystems.

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