Sipadan Diving Permits

Sipadan is considered one of the worlds best dive sites (videos), made famous when diving celebrity Jacques Cousteau called it "an untouched piece of art" in 1989. It's a small island in the Malaysian province Sabah on north east coast of Borneo.

While on vacation in Borneo (pics) last week (April 2009), I spent a couple of days in the area but unfortunately did not get to dive at Sipadan because I did not get the required diving permit.

Finding information about the diving permits is a bit tricky and it is sometimes conflicting. I asked around among the staff at the Sipadan-Mabul Resort ("smart"), and though their responses were also not coherent, I'll share my experience and what I learned so far in hope that the information will benefit others.

In 2004, the Malaysian government ordered all on-site Sipadan resort operators to move their structures off the island to protect it's echo system. They also added the permit requirement for visiting Sipadan (diving or snorkeling), and there's a daily quota of 120 permits which is far less than the demand.

Permits are allocated by the local authorities using an unknown criteria. Most of the staff said that it's some form of queue, and that it's very important to apply for the permit far in advance. There are 12 resorts that can apply for permits and they should do so when you book (pay), so book in good time and make sure to give all information needed to apply for a permit.

But booking early does not guarantee permits. Those who book early and stay for 5-10 days at the resort days seemed to get about 2 or 3 days at Sipadan. For those staying only two nights, getting a Sipadan permit sounded unlikely in general.

A particularly frustrating part of this is that you wont know ahead of time whether you'll get the permit. The resort staff said they need to call the government every day to get a list of the next days permits. Luckily there's great muck diving around Mabul and Kapalai for days when you can't get a Sipadan permit.

So when do you need to book? We booked 2-3 weeks in advance and the on-site dive masters almost laughed when I asked for my chances for a Sipidan permit (although text in the booking confirmation indicated that one could expect diving at Sipadan). Common advice seemed to be booking at least 1-2 months in advance. Most dive-only tourist I talked to had booked 3-6 months before their trip.

That's my permit experience from the Sipadan-Mabul Resort, but I would recommend also looking at other resorts (good info here). I'd probably pick a different one next time as I didn't like the how the dives were organized with multiple intro dives, revisiting the same sites, and very large groups.

Nov 2009 Update: Someone with insight into this business tells me each guide service has a permit quota and that they pick who goes. Knowing the right people at the resorts allows you to dive Sipadan all days. For those who don't, the setup is a bit of a scam. The same person also tells me that the "conservation" efforts on the island is a disgrace - that island is now full of military personnel and remaining structures are falling apart.