Diving Lankayan Island | Borneo, Malaysia

DESTINATION OVERVIEW | This little known diving island lies an hour and a half out from the city of Sandakan in the Sulu Sea, Lankayan is a tiny spit of land ringed by a white sand beach and covered in a labyrinth of tropical green forest. Hidden under the pandan trees and palms is a simple resort whose charm lies in it's healthy respect for the natural environment.

Surrounding the island is a reef system of flat plateaus that gradually drop off into a shallow series of coral reefs. There are no great walls and the slopes are covered primarily in hard corals, which are a haven for the many species who take refuge in the cracks and crevices. There are baby nurse sharks, leaffish, giant jawfish, all sorts of crustaceans and even the rare and elusive weedy scorpionfish.

A special feature for divers are three small shipwrecks including one that is just below the jetty. This is a fantastic dive that meanders across the sandy seabed past a few handmade features and ends at the small wreck. The other two small wrecks are a little way from the island but both are older and covered in more growth.

PROS AND CONS | This island resort is a nature lover's retreat: there is a tiny turtle hatchery to protect the creatures that sometimes nest here and the warm beach waters are a nursery to baby blacktip sharks. You can stand ankle deep with dozens of 12 inch long sharks swimming around you. Another pro is that nearby Sandakan is also the location of the stunning orang-utan sanctuary at Sepilok. However, dive conditions are variable depending on the season and the resort is comfortable but really quite rustic.

SCUBA DIVING | The underwater topography between Lankyan and the Borneo coast is very flat and, during the rainy season, there can be a lot of run off from the Kinabatangan River delta at Sandakan. Visibility becomes reminiscent of a quarry dive on a bad day although you can still dive as the critters are always there. Whalesharks are sometimes seen around May.

OPINION | Elements of Lankayan Island were delightful and we are glad to have dived there, but we were very unlucky with the visibility. If we ever have the chance to revisit the orang-utan sanctuary we would stop for a few days on the island but serious divers would probably feel like we did, that the variety and calibre of dive sites are more extensive on Kapalai. If you have time, combining both areas would be perfect.

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