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The Bay Islands of Borneo offer of the best diving all year round. Located off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia, and consisting of hundreds of reefs and islands seperating the Celebes Sea from the Sulu Sea in the north, Borneo's Bay Islands are with some very famous exceptions mostly unknown to the diving community.  Dive Resort activities are limited to the islands of Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai and Pandanan while some of the best diving can be found right in the no-man's land off Borneo. The diversity of the dive spots here is enormous, drop offs, slopes and plateaus in depths ranging from 2 meters to 60 meters. The visibilty at the border islands easlily reaches as much as 40m, currents can be extremely strong. Marine life varies from island to island, from reef to reef. Mandarin fish can be found at many islands hiding behind sea urgins, large crocodile fish under staghorn coral. Invertibrates like sea slugs, giant sea cucumber and many kinds of shells are aboundent. Sea turtles are common at most reefs, at some islands they can be seen on every dive. Sharks, giant groupers and schools of travelly's and barracudas can be seen in greater depth while eagle rays and manta rays pass by overhead. There is also a large ship wreck near our Lahad Datu base. This cargo vessel went down in 23m of water with its shallowest part in only 5m. This wreck offers perfect conditions for penetration dives to certified wreck divers. Fishing opportunities are great for those who prefer to stay on the surface. Big game fish like yellow fin tuna, bonito, sailfish and marlin are common here.
 

Sipadan Island, the most famous island off Borneo, is a diver's dream destination. For those who wish to visit Sipadan, North Borneo Dive & Sea Sports S/B offers day trips from Semporna to this truly remarkable island that sticks out of the 600m deep Celebes Sea. At Sipadan turtles can be seen on every dive but even while snorkeling there is a good chance to see some of these breathtaking creatures. The active SCUBA diver might see as many as 7 different kinds of sharks as well as schools barracudas, travelleys, humphead parrotfish, and many more. For experienced divers we also offer dives to the famous turtle tomb, a 70m long cave system with several skeletons of turtles that got lost in the cave while looking for a place to rest. The boat trip from our base in Semporna takes little more than 1 hour by speed boat and we offer 2 or 3 tank dives at various dive sites in Sipadan.

Sibuan Island, also called "Battleship Island" for its shiluette that much assembles a WW2 battleship, is located about 30 minutes by speed boat from Semporna. Sibuan is one of the smallest islands in the whole bay but it is very popular for swimmers and snorkelers. Only Sibuan Island got a gentle falling, white sandy beach that is perfect for swimmers and non swimmers alike, someone can play in the shallows without being worried about stepping on any sharp coral. Further outside, at the drop off, there are beautiful coral formations to discover with plenty of fish hiding in between. The unique cuttlefish as well as turtles and sting rays can be seen here quite often. With its combination of shallow plateaus and steep slopes Sibuan Island is perfect for Open Water Diver Courses and experienced diver programs alike. Ask us for our program of PADI courses or snorkeling and fishing trips to this little treasure island.

Boheyan Island, one of the last islands before reaching the Philippine' border from Semporna and with 1h30min even further out than Sipadan offers some great visibility and marine life that can easily compare with Sipadan. Turtles are very common here, stingrays at certain points are plentiful. At our favorite dive site massive schools of red snapper, large grouper, giant travelley and very often eagle rays and manta rays can be seen. Different kinds of sharks wait at the deep end of the wall but often come up to shallower depth to look for prey. In the shallows there are plenty of rare fish like ghostpipe fish, frogfish and blue ribbon eel. By many divers Boheyan is rated better than Sipadan due to its visibility and great diversity of marine life.   There is no accommodation on Boheyan, however the adventurous ones can camp on the island for a few days (just like Robinson Crusoe). The island is covered with coconut & pandanut trees and there is even a freshwater well in the center of the island. Boheyan Island is only accessible through Semporna.

Mabul Island, just 20 minutes north of Sipadan Island and the last island still on the Borneo shelf before the ocean floor drops to some 800m, has been named in many diving magazines for it's popularity amongst macro photographers who look for the really are creatures. Multicolored nudibranches, flamboyant cuttlefish, large anglerfish, seahorses, blue ribbon eel, ghost pipefish, bluering octopus and many more are waiting to be discovered at the 8 dive spots around Mabul. Those who went to all these sites already also have a choice to combine dives at Mabul with a short hop to Kapalai, just about 10min from Mabul where another 6 dive sites wait to be discovered.

Mataking Island acatually consists of two islands only seperated at high tide by a few meters. The islands of Mataking are just north of Boheyan and just as close to the Philippine border. The islands became really famous in 1998 when a Scandinavian film crew stayed on the islands for several month to produce a "Robinson" TV serie. No one lives on Mataking except a small, friendly police unit that watches the nearby border. These islands are another ideal place for camping activities if you bring all necessary camping equipment. Not many islands around Borneo have such a clean, white sandy beach and swaying coconut trees as Big Mataking Island and Little Mataking Island. Both islands are surrounded by a large, very long coral reef that slopes from kneedeep to about 50m. Groupers and large travellys, schools of barracudas and lots of spotted rays can be seen at the various dive sites around here.

How to get to those islands?
Our speed boats are ready to take you to any of the islands below:

North Borneo Dive & Sea Sports S/B offers the whole range of PADI dive courses from beginner level to professional level. Scuba diving classes start every week and are thaught by professional, multilingual instructors. We also offer Medic First Aid courses and a wide range of Specialty Diver courses from Wreck Diver, Deep Diver, Underwater Photographer, Equipment Specialist and many more.
The dives in the ocean can be done at either one of the islands and reefs out of Semporna including Sipadan, Pandanan, Mabul and Roach Reef. All students will be certified by PADI after completing their training. For those who don't wish to take a course right away but would like to try breathing compressed air under water we offer discover scuba courses once a week in a swimming pool. Our prices for diving courses are amongst the very best you can find anywhere in Borneo and include rental of diving equipment, swimming pool fee, certification costs, a log book and great memories nobody will ever forget.