DIVING SIPADAN

Sipadan is one of "those" destinations, a must-see place to put on your dive list. But the island never made it to our personal list. Too popular? Heard too much about it? Who knows. So when we finally dived there it was only because we were on nearby Kapalai.

The island is pretty, and in the past there were several dive resorts clustered together on an arc of pure white sand. However, in late 2005 all accommodation was closed in the hope that one day the island would achieve World Heritage status. Now, there are several programmes being enforced to encourage rehabilitation of both the land and marine environments.

You can still dive there though and when you see the way the turquoise water changes sharply to deep blue, you see why Sipadan is so famous. Her house wall slips away to incredible depths and the currents that sweep across it support some impressive life. Turtles are so prolific you see them on every dive. If anything, they get to be rather annoying as there are so many. Their curiosity can be frustrating, especially when they decide to chew a flash!

Considering how endangered they are, that may sound churlish - and it is a pleasure to see so many. Equally impressive are the schools of pelagic fish. Huge numbers of barracuda, jacks and tuna are also all over the reef wall. Reef sharks are common and hammerheads can be spotted at certain times of year.