Scuba Diving Kapalai

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Mandarin Valley Dive Site - A Giant Stride from the Resort Dive Station.


Once a vegetated Tropical Island, Kapalai is now no more than a sand bar ... a sand bar supporting a wealth of strange and wonderful critters and the luxurious Sipadan - Kapalai Resort.

Constructed with the theme of a local stilt village it is by far our first choice of residence when in the area. For more information please visit our Island Accommodation page.



Guests staying at the resort have the luxury of very short boat rides (a hand full of minutes) to all of Kapalai's dive sites, some are a simple giant stride from the dive station.

People staying on Mabul are only a 10 minute speedboat away.
Often misunderstood this is "Muck Diving at its best. There are many named sites in the region, some still to be explored, to list them all would be somewhat repetitive, instead we hope to entice the marine enthusiast with a brief introduction.

Generally shallow with a maximum depth of about 18m but an average of about 12m the entire area is made up of sandy substrate with various coral blocks, patches and sloping reef systems.

Visibility is usually quite poor 5-15m but this isn't a problem as one spends the majority of time head down searching out the very small inhabitants of the region.

Flamboyant , Reaper and Papuan Cuttlefish, Ghostpipefish, Frogfish, Crab Eye Gobies plus a number of family members, Blue Ringed Octopus, Wonder Octopus, Mandarin Fish and the list goes on and on and on ....

Unless you have a very sharp eye, know what you're looking for and where to find it, we advise making sure you visit this area with a good guide, otherwise you may leave feeling disappointed with the place and this would be a great shame as it teems with an incredible assortment of very rare creatures.



Before visiting its a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of the Marine Life found in this area as these creatures are particulary cryptic and hard to see even when pointed out.

Please peruse our Marine Biology section - links are located on the right of this page.





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