Scuba diving in Kudat and around Sabah

Tip of Borneo, Kudat.

Sabah waters has a huge variety of marine life all around the coast, from the South islands of Pulau Tiga all the way  to the northern tip of Borneo as well as the east coast  island off the Semporna. Whether your a hardcore diver or even a beginner, Sabah offers a diversity of dive sites, from deep wall dives, wrecks  to muck diving.

Light House Reef

Kudat, Simpang Mengayau, Tip Of Borneo.

Kudat located right at the Northern regions of Borneo. Many places are still unexplored in this region. Most divers head to Tip of Borneo, Light house and the occasional Balambangan or Banggi island.

Dive sites in these areas are usually along the coast and the few Islands around the area. currents can be strong in certain dive sites but it has many dive sites for beginners and conducting courses. Kudat is mostly shallower dives, not many places you can go beyond 30m.

Macro life is abundant in the Tip of Borneo region like Nudibranch, Frogfish, Seahorse etc. There are many wrecks around Kudat aswell but its mostly unxplored by recreational divers or too deep for advanced divers. Borneo Surfers Watersport are still searching for a accessible wrecks nearby. 

Light House alone theres about 5 dive points. Big Rock located south of light house is a very nice dive site. 5-10m has alot of hard corals with many reef fishes. Deeper end has many huge rock formation mix with soft and hard corals. Lots of schooling snappers, Jacks, groupers and turtles. Sometimes currents here can be strong. 

Diving In Tengku Abdul Rahman Parks

TAR park offers more than 20 different dive sites in and around its area. The reefs are mostly made up of hard corals starting at a depth of 5m if not shallower and gradually decends to a sandy bottom between 10-30m depending on the dive site. Average visibility around TARP is around 10 metres but it does get better or worst during certain months.

You expect to see alot more macro around the TARP reefs such as frogfish, Cockatoo Leaf Fish, tons of nudibranch, pipefishes and etc. Dont expect too much big fish action although occasionally you do get to see some schools of Barracudas, Jacks or a Turtle. Between the month of January till March if you're lucky you might get to see the Whalesharks which has been a yearly event for the K.K folks.   Best time to dive would be during the southwest monsoon from April to August. Water temperature throughout the year is between 30c although it does go down to 24c during the months of January and February. If you like muck diving and macro photography or even you are a novice diver who just want to get more experience on your belt,  you will love diving in K.K. Currents are normally very mild to none in most of the dive sites.

Frogfish at Sapi Island

Stargazer at Mamutik Island

There are certain sites preferably for Advanced divers like Agil's Reef and Edgell Patches where currents can get really strong and the top of the reef starts at 10-12m. It quite difficult to locate these sites, unless you have a GPS or a good captain. Here when the currents pick up, you can see alot more big stuff like barracudas. I personally have seen pygmy devil rays and eagle rays, while others say they have seen black tip reef sharks, although I must say these sightings are rare. Normally you would see schools of Fusilliers, Yellow snappers, Yellowtail Barracudas and many other common reef fish. The corals on Agil's reef especially are really good. Lots of beautiful hard & soft corals, huge seafans and barrel sponges.

These are some of names of dive sites around TARP that we know of. Note that sometimes different names are given to the reefs depending on individual Dive center.

Sulug Island 

1.North Sulug/ Sulman

2. Batu Keramat

Mamutik Island

1. The Rock

2. Pyramid Reef

3. Mamutik House Reef

Manukan Island

1. Mid Reef

Sapi Island

1. House Reef

2 .Coral Garden

3. Clement's Reef

4. Ron's Reef

5. Ram's reef

Gaya Island

1. Padang Point

2. HQ

3. Rubber Reef 

4. Hanging Garden

5. Agil's Reef

6. Bulijong 

7. Hornbill beach

Nearby reefs that are outside the Park area - 

1. Edgell Patches

2. Lighthouse / Black Coral

3. Situmai 

4. Gaya Wreck

Pulau Kapalai Resort, Mabul and Sipadan
 

If you going to Sipadan one of the best Resort to stay in my opinion is Kapalai Resort. I had a chance to stay here for a couple of nights together with some of my students and friends. The service, food, accommodation and diving was excellent. As an instructor we teach and assist divers, and I was totally not accustomed to having someone putting my fins on for me.This is the kind of service you get at Kapalai.

The kapalai house reef is a great place to take macro photos.I highly recommend you do the sunset dive to watch the sunset dancers, the Mandarin Fish. Its very popular for divers to watch these lovebirds mating so sometimes it can be quite busy down there so you might have to take turns. Mandarin's are also very shy to bright lights so divers have limited time to watch them in action. Ask your Divemaster when is the best time to go in the water.

The Resort created an artificial reef  made out of wood and metal in a shape of scaffolding, a few sunken fishing vessel which now houses numerous marine life. Large groupers like to live and hide in these vessels. The downside is the reefs does not have many live corals.

Layang Layang Island 

An atoll located in South China Sea, approximately 300km out from Kota Kinabalu. About 1 hour flight form K.K airport you will land on a small man made island. The most stunning dives await divers. Average visibility here is between 20-30m and on good days it can reach up to 40m or more. 
 
Stunning wall dives covered in soft and hard corals, you will be amazed by the amount of marine life that lives on the coral reefs. On the shallow end many species of coral reef fish lives here. Frogfish, Ghost Pipe fish, Pygmy Seahorse have been sighted here as well.
Layang Layang is well known for big pelagic such as Barracudas, Manta Rays, different species of sharks including the Hammerheads and the rare Thresher shark. Dolphins and whales are also occasional visitors here. Sightings may vary depending on time of the year.
All dive sites are located very close to the island from 5 minutes to 25 minutes boat ride to the furthest point. Divers get to go back to the resort after each dive for a hot shower and meals. Diving in Layang Layang will be one of you’re most comfortable and amazing dive holiday package.