All Sipadan dive sites
The full index with depths and conditions.
Site indexThe most exposed corner of the island and the one that occasionally produces hammerheads. Dived less often than the north side, and the site experienced divers ask about by name.
South Point sits at the southern tip of Sipadan, facing open Celebes Sea with nothing between it and deep water. That exposure is why it produces what it produces, and why it gets dived less than the sheltered north side.
The profile is a drift along the wall, typically between 20 and 30 metres, with the reef on one shoulder and open blue on the other. The dive finishes shallow on the reef flat. Run times are often shorter here than elsewhere on the island because current and depth combine to burn gas.
Visibility is frequently the best at Sipadan — clean oceanic water arriving with nothing upstream to cloud it. On a good day you see a long way into the blue, which matters at a site where the point is what passes through it.
South Point is Sipadan's best chance of large pelagics. Scalloped hammerheads pass here, usually early and usually deep, most often as a single animal or a small group rather than the schooling aggregations of Cocos or Malpelo. Whale sharks appear occasionally. Eagle rays and the odd manta cross the blue.
Being direct about the probability: most divers who dive South Point do not see a hammerhead. It is a genuine possibility rather than a feature of the dive, and any operator implying otherwise is selling you something. Whale sharks are rarer still.
What you will reliably get is grey reef sharks along the deeper edge, big schools of jacks and barracuda, turtles throughout, and bumphead parrotfish on the shallow finish. It is a strong dive on its own terms before anything larger shows up — see the marine life guide for what is resident versus what is luck.
Go early and look out. Hammerhead encounters cluster on the first dive of the morning, in the blue rather than on the reef. Divers examining the wall face at South Point are looking in the wrong direction.
Alongside Barracuda Point, this is the most demanding site at Sipadan. Current is frequently strong and, being an exposed corner, can run in unexpected directions including downward. Down-currents are the specific hazard here and the reason guides skip the site when conditions look wrong.
You need: confident drift technique, negative entry capability, SMB deployment from depth, and gas management that accounts for working at 30 metres in moving water. Nitrox is worth having if you are certified, since the profile sits deep for longer than elsewhere on the island.
If a down-current takes you, the standard response applies — swim out and away from the wall into open water rather than fighting upward against it, then ascend once clear. Brief this with your guide before the dive rather than working it out at 35 metres.
Advanced Open Water is the minimum and newly certified divers will not be brought here first. See diving requirements.
South Point is skipped more often than any other named site, because the conditions that make it worth diving also make it unsafe more frequently. On a single permit day, there is a fair chance you never see it.
Book two permit days. A 6D5N package gives two Sipadan days on different tides, which is the only meaningful way to increase the chance of the south side being workable during your trip.
Travel March to May. Calmest surface conditions of the year, so fewer sites ruled out on the morning. See best time to dive Sipadan.
Demonstrate competence early. Guides put stronger divers on demanding sites. Your check dive on arrival day is where that assessment happens.
Take the first slot. If the boat offers an early departure, take it. Pelagic activity and workable current both favour the start of the morning.
Yes, but not reliably. Scalloped hammerheads pass here, usually early and deep, most often singly. Most divers who dive South Point do not see one.
5 to 40 metres, with most of the dive between 20 and 30. The profile sits deeper for longer than elsewhere at Sipadan.
No. Advanced Open Water is the minimum and confident current experience is expected. Newly certified divers are placed on the gentler north-side sites.
Water moving vertically downward along the wall, a known hazard at exposed corners. The standard response is to swim out and away from the wall into open water rather than upward against it, then ascend once clear. Brief it with your guide beforehand.
No. It is skipped more often than any other named site because of exposure and current. Two permit days improves your chances.
Grey reef sharks on the deeper edge, large schools of jacks and barracuda, turtles throughout and bumphead parrotfish on the shallow finish.
Send your dates and we will check whether a second Sipadan day is available for your week.
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