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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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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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Sapi Island together with Gaya Island, Mamutik Island, Manukan Island and Sulug Island made up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, which is located just off the shore of Kota Kinabalu City. With an area of 0.1 sq km, Sapi island is dwarfed in size compares with the near by Gaya Island, the largest of the five islands. Over the years a good rivalry has built up between Manukan Island and Sapi Island, where visitors have to choose between better facilities and bigger Manukan Island or the small but rich in nature beauty of Sapi Island.

The moment one arrives at the jetty of Sapi Island the crystal clear water of the sea is clearly seen. School of fish numbering in thousand, ranging from harmless small fish to the more dangerous sword fish, can be seen swimming around the jetty. Sometime Napoleon fish and Parrot fish can be spotted too. After passing through the park entrance, most visitors will ahead off to the short white sandy beach which stretches from the jetty to the western rocky cliff. Wooden tables and seats are provided put there are not many, some visitors might have to use floor mate to settle down their belongings. For those who choose to settle down under the trees that are near to the forest, do keep an watchful eyes on the macaque monkeys which are known to prey on visitors’ belongings.

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