Diving in Kota Belud
At Bigfin Divers we dive up to 4 times daily, with 3 day dives and a night dive. Fast speed boat trips to our dive sites take a between 5 to 45 minutes only. Dive sites can be arranged upon request with prior notice.
We are open all year round for diving, weather dependent. Our best dive season is from FEBURARY – JUNE. The rest of the year dive conditions are down to luck! Sabah does not have distinct seasons and anytime of year we can experience glorious sunshine or tropical storms. The weather here is very difficult to predict!
Occasionally trips may be cancelled due to rough weather at sea, especially during the months of December - January (monsoon season) and August-September (pacific typhoon season).
We are open all year round for diving, weather dependent. Our best dive season is from FEBURARY – JUNE. The rest of the year dive conditions are down to luck! Sabah does not have distinct seasons and anytime of year we can experience glorious sunshine or tropical storms. The weather here is very difficult to predict!
Occasionally trips may be cancelled due to rough weather at sea, especially during the months of December - January (monsoon season) and August-September (pacific typhoon season).
Dive Site Map Kota Belud
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MAYNE ROCK
Our most popular dive site. With its huge rock formations, this site has a very interesting and varied topography which divers want to explore again and again! The giant boulders are covered with pink soft coral and brightly coloured feather stars and tube worms. Fusiliers, snapper and sardines swarm over the rocky contours of the reef where larger jacks and mackerel dart in to catch prey. In the sandy patches we often spy leopard sharks and marble rays hanging out. This is also a great macro site with critters such as ghost pipefish, scorpionfish, frogfish, juvenile reef fish, spider crabs, cowries, colourful nudibranchs and tiny shrimps to search for. Depth: 7 - 30 meters Distance: 25 mins by boat MAYNE REEF
Mayne Reef is a huge extensive stretch of very colourful hard coral reef. Drift effortlessly over sandy valleys, huge coral bommies and rivers of neon fusiliers and bright yellow snappers. This is the best place to count numerous stingrays and see how many sharks you can find sleeping under the coral! Depth: 7 - 30 meters Distance: 25 mins by boat ELLA'S GARDEN
Descent into a sandy channel and encounter schooling barracudas or hunting trevally. Swim out to the big boulder rocks where giant cuttlefish, octopus and bigfin reef squid make home. Drift over huge flat table corals and round barrel sponges and perhaps sight an eagle ray gliding by. As you reach the shallow rocky area you will encounter an explosion of life, as shimmering schools of fish gather to feed in the current. Depth: 8 - 26 meters Distance: 25 mins by boat NORTH HILL
A relaxing drift dive north over stunning coral stretching across the landscape. This site exhibits our most beautiful and healthy coral coverage. A variety of coral bommies, table corals, brain corals, staghorn reefs, whip corals, cabbages, barrel sponges and pink soft corals make this our favorite reef. Depth: 7 - 25 meters Distance: 25 mins by boat Apex Avenue
Another extensive drift dive over stunning reef, stretches of white sand and colourful soft corals. Spot sharks resting on the sandy bottom and look out for huge patrolling Spanish mackerel, the Apex predators of the reef. Depth: 10-25 meters Distance: 30 minutes by boat FISH BOWL
Fish Bowl is so called because of the millions of juvenile fish which shelter here on the reef. Black coral thrives here, a particularly unusual type of coral which is actually only black when dried, but under water appears like big pale white, green and yellow bushes. This type of coral is usually only found at depths of 30 meters and below yet here it grows at 14-18 meters deep. A very busy dive site, with schools of barracudas, sardines and juvinelle scat sheltering amongst the black coral trees. Also be sure to take time to hunt in the sand as this can be a great critter dive, with seahorses, pygmy squid, saw-blade and whip coral shrimp to search for. Depth: 5 - 25 meters Distance: 15 mins by boat SALVAGE POINT
This is the site where the famous Japanese USUKAN WW2 Wrecks previously lay; Merchant Tankers Kolusei Maru, Hiyori Maru and Higane Maru. The ships were sunk by deadly torpedoes fired by American Submarine USS Hammerhead back in 1944. Sadly, they were very recently salvaged for valuable steel and a pile of scrap metal on the sea bed is now all that remains of the ships. Nonetheless, this is still a great site to explore for the artificial reef that has thrived around the structures and the huge schools of fish which shelter here. Watch out for predatory tuna and jacks hunting in the blue. Schools of barracuda and snapper blanket the top of the wreck and a chance to encounter large pelagic fish makes this a spectacular site. Keep a look out for eagle rays, huge marble rays and giant groupers that live under the remains of the wreck. Bare in mind that over 128 passengers and crew lost their lives here. Viewing the ghostly wreck remains in the dark blue deep makes for an especially eerie dive. Please note this site is for Advanced divers or above only with minimum 20 dives. We recommend diving Salvage Point as part of your Advanced Open Water course, or dive deeper as part of your Deep Specialty course! Depth: 26 - 40 meters Distance: 30 mins by boat LEOPARD REEF
This pinnacle dive site is another great place to look for sharks, with many bamboo sharks, cat sharks and possibly leopard sharks resting on the sandy bottom and sleeping between rocky crevices. This is also a great macro site with nudibranchs galore. Depth: 14-25 meters Distance: 30 mins by boat PURPLE REEF
A stunning reef covered in gorgeous pinkish purple soft coral. This site is situated further out towards open ocean, therefore expect excellent visibility, often over 30 to 50 meters! Expect to see lots of nudibranchs, small sharks, moray eels, cephalopods and larger pelagic fish passing by such as dorado, wahoo and tuna. Depth: 18-40 meters Distance: 45 mins by boat PULAU PANDAN PANDAN
This tiny uninhabited island is a perfect location for beginner divers and snorkelers. A great easy dive site, this island has a shallow beach and a sloping coral reef which extends all the way around the island with healthy coral gardens and tropical reef fish. Pulau Pandan Pandan is also a great location for night dives, where you can experience the nocturnal creatures of the reef hunting in the darkness. See strange sponge and decorator crabs, morays eels, barchfin scorpionfish, cat sharks, lobsters and minute critters such as pygmy and bobtail squid. Remember to turn off your torch for a minute to experience the incredible bioluminescence glowing in the darkness! Depth: 3 - 16 meters Distance: 2 mins by boat LOCAL SITES
Only 2-20 minutes away, our local reefs are perfect for beginners; safe, shallow with moderate currents. Local reefs are comprised of hard and soft corals with schools of colourful reef fish. On a dive here you will encounter many different marine species such as lionfish, scorpionfish, stingrays, turtles, lobsters, cuttlefish, squid, giant grouper, moray eels and of course NEMO! Theses are perfect sites to begin your underwater adventure! Depth: 5 - 18 meters Distance: 5 - 10 mins by boat |
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