The Best Range of Scuba Diving Trips from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo
Scuba Diving in Sabah
A Great Range of Scuba Diving Trips from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo
When Divers are planning a holiday to Sabah, Borneo the scuba diving destinations that will be promoted to them are the world famous Sipadan (made famous by Jacques Cousteau) and Layang Layang. Both offer stunning diving along drop-offs, pelagics galore and muck diving.
What Divers visiting Sabah will not realise is that there are some diving treasures along the west coast of Sabah and all accessible by diving day trips from Kota Kinabalu. Alongside the more popular day trips to dive sites in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park you can also go scuba diving at Pulau Tiga, Mayne Rock, Usukan Bay WW2 wrecks and Mantanani. At these dive sites you can enjoy diving often pristine coral reefs and wreck diving. Borneo Dream is the only dive operator who runs diving day trips to all of these west coast destinations. Read on to find out more about them. Want to find out more, then contact the Dream Team.
Stunning Coral Reefs
South of Kota Kinabalu, approximately 30 nautical miles South West, is Pulau Tiga. Pulau Tiga is located in a Marine Park meaning the reefs are protected for conservation purposes by Sabah Parks. At Pulau Tiga there are around 8 dive sites (mainly South and West of the Island). The dive depths range between 6m – 20m, the visibility is generally 5m – 20m with occasional strong currents on certain dive sites. This makes dive trips to Pulau Tiga suitable for experienced leisure divers, some drift diving and lots of underwater photography!
Go Diving at Pulau Tiga
During a scuba diving trip to Pulau Tiga you will dive by large coral covered pinnacles, coral bombies and busy cleaning stations. The hard and soft corals are breath taking, including large colourful barrel sponges adorned with Feather Stars, Whip Coral, Table Coral, Gorgonian fans and more. Look out for an amazing variety of marine life including large beds of Anemones and Clown fish, large shoals of Damsel Fish and Antheas, darting Fusiliers, Nudibranches, schooling Barracuda, Blue Spotted Rays, Cuttle Fish, Lobsters and more.
Dive Round Boulders at Mayne Rock
If you fancy diving somewhere unique along the west coast of Sabah then look no further than a scuba diving trip to the ‘white rocks’ located near Mayne Rock. When you go scuba diving at Mayne Rock you will find two series of large white boulders (approximately 100m apart), raising from the sea bed from 7m – 25m, adorned in hard and soft corals. Alongside this you’ll have the chance to dive along a slightly shallower, pristine undulating coral reef. When diving at Mayne Rock you will get occasional strong currents – this makes it a dive trip suitable for experienced leisure divers. During a dive trip to Mayne Rock you can expect to spot a wide variety of marine life including shoals of Fusiliers, Barracuda, Yellow Snappers, Bat Fish, Juvenile Nurse Sharks, Lion Fish, Trumpet Fish, Nudibranches, large Puffer fish, Lobsters, Anemone Fish and much more.
Wreck Diving in Sabah
Fancy a scuba diving adventure? Then go wreck diving at one or more of the three, large Usukan Bay World War II Japanese wrecks. All of the wrecks lay in 26m – 45m of water and can have small to medium strong currents present, making them a wreck scuba diving adventure for experienced leisure divers (minimum PADI Advanced Open Water Diver) and technical divers. You can find a brief description of each wreck dive below. The three WW2 wrecks are called the Rice Bowl Wreck, the Upside-Down Wreck and the Usukan Wreck. All of the wrecks are covered in stunning soft coral gardens and hard corals, teeming with fish life and home to an amazing range of marine life. Find schooling Barracuda, Nurse Sharks, large Groupers and large shoals of Yellow Snappers and Fusiliers. The variety of marine life makes scuba diving the wrecks a fantastic dive for the experienced Scuba Diver.
Go Diving with Borneo Dream
Finally, Pulau Mantanani (Mantanani Island), located approx. 40nm North West of Kota KInabalu, is the most northern dive destination along the west coast of Sabah. Home to palm lined beaches, clear tropical waters and shallow coral reefs it is a day trip to paradise for divers and non divers. The shallow coral reefs surrounding the islands have plenty to offer, for both novice and experienced scuba divers. The visibility can be as high as 30m – amazing! Juvenile Turtles are frequently spotted around Pulau Mantanani. Many species of rays have been spotted in the waters around Mantanani Island, Sabah, Borneo – Marbled Stingray, Blue Spotted Ray and large schools of Eagle Rays. The best time to go diving the dive sites along the west coast of Sabah is from April to September (with April – June offering typically the best diving conditions). Please note that you might need flexibility on the date you go scuba diving at Pulau Mantanani as the sea state can, by exception during this period, be too rough to cross to the Islands.
Borneo Dream is the only Dive Operator, based in Kota Kinabalu, running diving day trips to all of these diving destinations. Want to find out more, then contact the Dream Team.
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