Island & Beaches

Sabah, Malaysian Borneo has several dive sites which are rated to be amongst the top ten in the world. The amazing wonders of the underwater world in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo are due to the pristine condition of the islands with sandy beaches, blue waters and magnificent coral reefs. In fact, there are still many more islands yet to be discovered and explored.


Divers from all over the world who come to Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, are fascinated by the high concentration of rare and endangered marine-life in Sabah’s waters; it is not unusual to witness species such as hawksbill turtles, giant clams, napoleon wrasse, sharks, barracuda and jacks.


Sabah, Malaysian Borneo is also gaining popularity for being a ‘muck diving’ paradise - a term used to describe diving enthusiasts who seek for rarities or bizarre marine-life such as pelagics, fans and soft coral trees, mantis shrimp, mimic octopus, sea cucumber, blue moray eels, pipefish, seahorse, pegasus, scorpion fish, cuttlefish, mandarine fish, frogfish, nudibranchs and the list goes on.


Most divers go to the East Coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo to dive, predominantly to islands off Samporna such as Mabul, Sipadan, Kapalai, Mataking and some other less popular islands yet they are offering high quality of diving experience in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo such as Mantabuan, Gaia, Pandanan, Sibuan, Si-Amil, Bum Bum, Ligitan, Pom Pom, Timba Timba, etc. The geographical location of those islands on the East Coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (within Indo-Pacific basin area) is in the region of the richest marine ecosystem in the world, with more than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species.


The West Coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo is also becoming quite popular amongst ‘Wrack Divers’; there are four World War Two wrecks which have been identified and perfect for scuba diving. All of the wrecks are Japanese huge cargo ships and have been at the bottom of the sea for more than 65 years. Now they are covered with corals and home to a wide and interesting range of tropical marine-life. There are three wrack diving spots at Usuakn Bay (Rice Bowl Wreck, Upside-Down Wreck, Usukan Wreck) and one at Gaya Island (Gaya Wreck). Other dive spots on the West Coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo which offer conventional diving experience are located at islands such as Sapi and Gaya of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Pulau Tiga, Mantanani and Layang Layang.

The World’s Highest Marine Biodiversity

Posted by Borneo Responsible Tourism on Tuesday, October 4, 2011
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Evidence by a team of 18 Dutch, American and Malaysian marine scientists point to Semporna having the world's highest marine biodiversity - more than in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the hitherto top spots.
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Long Waiting List For Sipadan Visit

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KOTA KINABALU: Sipadan Island remains the favourite dive spot for tourists with a waiting list that stretches up to seven months, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun said.
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New Dive Spots In Sabah

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Sipadan Island in Sabah needs little introduction as a diving site of extraordinary appeal and is especially renowned for big fish encounters, wall diving and drift dives. However, the popularity of this “untouched piece of art” as Jacques Costeau once remarked, has overshadowed other equally fascinating dive sites in the area.
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New Fame Brings Danger To Semporna

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KOTA KINABALU: Professional divers in Sabah are ecstatic over Semporna’s newly-discovered status as the richest marine biodiversity spot on earth but worries over the fate of the eco-system of the region.
“We need to protect Semporna and Darvel Bay even more now, resources permitting, and not just rely on the government,” said American diver Randy Davies who, along with some locals, pioneered the now famous Borneo Divers in Labuan.
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Tourism Threatens Islands In Sabah

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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s islands are popular with tourists because of their pristine waters, according to Masidi Manjun, minister of tourism, culture and environment. More than half a million tourists make a beeline for the islands of Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi, Sulug and Gaya which make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. They are attracted to the stunningly colourful corals, fish and other marine animals. But pollution from rising plastic trash, lavish feeding of fish with commercial fish food and tourists’ penchant for eating shark fins are killing corals and other marine life.
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Sabah, Borneo Is Safe For Tourists

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To the more than two million tourists who visit Sabah every year, the east Malaysian north Borneo island state is a safe and peaceful paradise. There has never been any hostage taking since the 2000 kidnapping of more than 21 people, including 10 foreigners, on Sipadan and Pandanan islands by the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf militant group which is linked to al Qaeda. Thus the American government’s January 15 warning to its citizens to stay away from the eastern Semporna town and resort islands of Mabul and Sipadan is not only uncalled for, but silly.
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Air Travel Booms In Sabah, Borneo

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Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is Malaysia’s second busiest after Kuala Lumpur's. It serves almost 5m passengers a year compared with Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s 30m. And it’s getting busier: national carrier Malaysia Airlines will make its eastern operational hub there in November which will see more flights from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Thousands of cheap air tickets were snapped up at a recent travel fair in Kota Kinabalu that has signalled a travel boom buoyed by a stronger ringgit against the American dollar and other currencies.
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