Pulau Sipadan (the name means 'Border island' in Malay) has the world's best beach diving, with a deep drop-off only a few swimming strokes from the beach.

Lava from a volcanic eruption millions of years ago piled to form a volcanic cone some 2600ft high from the bottom of the Celebes Sea. Situated 35km south of Semporna, off the southeast coast of Sabah, Pulau Sipadan lies just north of the equator in the Celebes (Sulawasi) Sea. It is 10km south of the Borneo continental shelf and is the peak of volcanic base that rises steeply from depth of 600m (2000ft). The island is covered in tropical rainforest and ringed with a narrow, white sandy beach. You can walk right round this perimeter beach in 15 to 20 mins!

The water is warm and calm, with the furthest dive site only a mere 10 minutes away. Marine life is abundant and varied. Sea turtles are so prolific one gets to see them virtually on every dive. Large schools of barracuda, sharks, jacks, tuna and humphead wrasse are sighted daily. There is an underwater limestone cave complete with stalactites and stalagmites known as Turtle Cavern where skeletons of turtles can be found there. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) describes Sipadan as having "more marine life than any other spot on the surface of this planet".

The sheer walls dropping to some 2600 feet has been rated one of the top five in the world for wall diving. Just 15 feet from the beach to the north, the water turns a deep blue as the depth drops abruptly. This famous feature won it the "Best Beach Dive in the World" awarded in 1993 by In Depth Magazine.

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