The Best Of Borneo Diving: 5 World-Class Spots
Borneo is famous as an island where nature is at the heart of everything. From the luscious green rainforests to rare species of leopard, the list of reasons to visit Borneo is unending. In this post, we'll be looking at the best Borneo diving sites to give you an extra reason to book a ticket.
Largely untouched by the western world, tourists seem to favor Asian destinations such as the Philippines, Thailand, or Bali, but skipping over Borneo is a fool's error.
Passing over beaches that look like they belong on the front cover of Condé Nast, you’ll find more species of shark than you could shake a stick at, and mangroves that hide an entire world within them. It’s a joy to discover that life in the ocean is as exotic as life on land.
There are dozens of places to see not just schools but entire universities of fish in every color under the sun, turtles galore, and rays aplenty, but in this post, we've rounded up 5 of the best.
About Borneo
Borneo can be found in South East Asia, in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
It is the third-largest island in the world and is partially owned by 3 countries - Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia.
The island is split into 4 regions, Sabah and Sarawak which make up Malaysian Borneo, Kalimantan which belongs to Indonesia, and the state of Brunei which can be found on the north coast, and only makes up around 1% of the landmass of the island.
The island is 743,000 km² / 287,000 square miles and is known as a haven of abundant rainforest and howling monkeys, which is why it's often surprising to people to find out that Borneo is an underwater paradise too. The only islands in the world that are larger than Borneo are Greenland and New Guinea, and a lot of its landmass is taken up with mountainous areas and rainforests.
18 million people live in Borneo, which compared with other Asian islands is considered practically empty, compared to its size. The next largest island in Asia, Sumatra, is just over half the size of Borneo and houses around 50 million inhabitants. Two-thirds of the population of Borneo live in the Indonesian region of Kalimantan.
Borneo is perfectly safe to travel solo, and you’ll meet lots of fantastic and interesting locals as you travel throughout the country, but there’s no reason that solo has to mean lonely. Our community brings female travelers together so that even if you’re on a deserted island a couple of hundred kilometers from the mainland of Borneo, you’ll be in good company. Share your finds under the water with others who love diving too, and swap stories of your most incredible experience. Find out more about our community here.
What Can You See?
Borneo is known to be a diverse country that is teaming with life, both in terms of flora and fauna. But it doesn't stop there. Life flourishes under the water too, and you can expect to see many different species of fish when diving in Borneo, including tuna, barracuda, giant groupers, and schools of jacks and surgeons. In fact, there are at least 872 species of fish and 507 different types of coral in the East Kalimantan region alone!
Moving on from fish to the big boys, scalloped hammerhead sharks, leopard sharks, grey reef sharks, and silvertip sharks can all be spotted roaming the ocean. Friendly stingrays and manta rays can also be seen gliding through the water, as well as green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and harmless jellyfish.
Diving in Borneo does not disappoint, and the sights under the water are simply enthralling. As well as the plentiful sea creatures, the sea bed itself is a sight to behold, with an abundance of coral, sea fans, and sea sponges adding vibrant colors to the ocean floor.
The Japanese WW2 wrecks are another spectacle to behold, and you can explore them at the sites of Katori Manu and Hiyoshi Maru. There is a third wreckage site, of the Japanese ship Sagiri, however, this has been largely untouched due to its inaccessibility to all but the most advanced divers.
When Is The Best Time For Diving In Borneo?
With such an array of species filling the waters, there is no bad time for Borneo Diving. The diving season is year-round, however, the calmest conditions can be found between April and November, which coincides with the dry season.
If you choose to visit outside of these months, you can expect more rain and less visibility, but you can still experience world-class diving.
In fact, depending on what species you're most excited to see, you might choose to travel in the wet season as, for example, when diving in Sipadan, just off the east coast of Borneo, hammerhead sharks are only seen between November and February.
The Layang Layang diving spot is only open to divers between March and August, and this reef to the north of Borneo provides a home to hammerhead sharks during the months of April and May.
Where To Stay In Borneo
Sipadan island is the most well-known spot for divers, but many are disappointed to find out that you can't stay on the island. There are strict rules around diving off the coast of the island of Sipadan and there are limited diving permits given out every day, in order to protect the reef and marine life.
Before 2004, diving in Sipadan was a free for all, but life under the sea was affected too much by the influx of scuba divers and had to be limited. 176 permits are issued per day to resorts on the surrounding islands, and are offered on a rotation system, rather than a first come first serve basis, which enables everyone to enjoy the natural beauty to be found all around Sipadan.
If you want to base yourself near Sipadan, you can stay on either Mabul Island or Kapalai Island, which are both approximately an hour away by boat. Both of these islands also have excellent scuba diving.
Best Borneo Diving Spots
Sipadan Island
We've teased you with little snippets of this famous diving spot throughout this post, but Sipadan island is well-loved for a reason.
The island is home to some of the richest and most biologically diverse waters in the world, and there are steep and dramatic drop-off points of over 600 meters on one side of the island, practically as you step foot in the ocean.
The marine life around Sipadan island is not shy, and you'll be able to spot schools of vibrant fish including anthias and nudibranchs, as well as octopus, eels, several species of sharks, and common appearances of sea turtles floating by.
If you're playing diving bingo and want to be able to tick off some more rare species, Sipadan is the place for it, with blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus, ribbon eels, and frogfish all making appearances, as well as other uncommon breeds of fish.
Layang Layang
Layang Layang may limit divers to just 6 months of the year, but if you time it just right, you can catch some of the best hammerhead shark sightings in the whole of Asia.
Layang Layang is part of the Malaysian Spratly Islands and is located around 300km / 186 miles northwest of Kota Kinabalu, in the South China Sea. The Name Layang Layang means "place of swallows" in Malay.
The waters of Layang Layang are over 2,000 meters deep, and although the frequent sightings of hammerheads, sometimes in droves of over 100, is what pulls divers to the island, there is plenty more marine diversity to behold. You can expect to see leopard sharks, pygmy seahorses, trevally, snappers, and eagle rays. If you're EXTREMELY lucky, you may even witness an orca or a melon-headed whale lurking in the deep waters.
Mabul And Kapalai
Those in Malaysian Borneo who are heading to the dive site of Sipadan and may be disappointed by the limited accessibility of the island will delight in the knowledge that the surrounding islands of Mabul and Kapalai, where most visitors stay to dive in Sipadan, are also fantastic dive sites in their own right.
While the waters aren't as deep as neighboring Sipadan, and you won't find sharks surrounding the islands, you will be able to spot turtles, rare octopus species, seahorses, unusual crabs, seahorses, exotic nudibranchs, and artificial reefs.
These two islands are known as "muck" sites due to the sediment on the seafloor which affects visibility, but that's no reason to write them off, as plenty of marine diversity can be experienced here.
Kakaban
Over on the Indonesian side of the island, there is a different but equally exciting type of scuba diving happening. Just off the northeast coast of Kalimantan is where you'll find the best diving in the area, and the unique dive site of Kakaban, which is a coral island with a lake that is 18 meters deep. That might not be very impressive when compared to the 2,000-meter depths of Layang Layang, but you'll find different creatures lurking in this lake. With visibility reaching around 10-12 meters, you'll easily be able to spot at least one of the four species of non-stinging jellyfish. These jellyfish include the moon jellyfish, box jellyfish, spotted jellyfish, and the upside-down jellyfish (yes, that's a real thing).
Not only are the mangroves that surround the lake stunning visually, but they also harbor some magnificent beasts, from the file snake to the blue flatworm.
Sangalaki
Sangalaki is the place to go if turtles and rays are what you're wanting to see. What makes Sangalaki unique is that it's one of the only places in the world where you'll see manta rays in the water all year round.
It's worth popping your head out of the water to see the turtle hatchlings, and depending on the time of year, you may be able to watch the babies embark on their first great voyage into the ocean.
The coral at Sangalaki is unspoiled, making it an excellent home for all types of sea life, and you might even see giant squid in the waters at this dive spot.
More Dive Sites In Borneo
If you're looking for even more Borneo Diving spots, here are 7 more to fill you with wonder and awe.
Maratua
Louisa Reef
Derawan
Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park
Miri, Sarawak
Labuan
Kuching, Sarawak
Final Thoughts On Borneo Diving
Although not as famous for diving as some of its other Asian counterparts, such as Raja Ampat, Koh Tao, or Boracay, Borneo is well-deserving of a place among them for some of the best diving, not only in Asia but in the world.
Paired with untold beauty to be seen on land as well as underwater, Borneo is the perfect destination for divers and adventurers alike.
If diving is what makes you come alive and fills you with joy, find out more about diving in The Azores, for a completely different diving experience.