Scuba Travel Guide - Kapalai Dive Resort

Kapalai Dive Resort

A few minutes by boat from Sipadan but a full world away from it lies the exhilarating Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort , sitting on its sturdy stilts on the shallow sandbanks of the Ligitan Reefs. Planned and built in full style as an airy, comfortable, sunny water village with no land in sight, it boasts a mile-long sandbank of powdery and blindingly white sand where one can suntan at complete leisure.

The resort offers great food, surprisingly roomy and elegant twin-sharing wooden chalets with huge private balconies and attached bathrooms and a couple of miles of walkways for those who like to take their morning jog while looking at thousands of fish just a few feet beneath. Meals are served in the terraced, open central structure, while a big western sundeck allows divers to have an evening drink or an after-dive chat with a view of Kapalai’s fabulous tropical sunset.
Diving around Kapalai is exceedingly easy and shallow but quite spectacular: the sandy bottom and the spare coral heads host an amazing array of small, often yet-to-be-classified, shamelessly colorful subjects, making the diving here an unforgettable experience for any discerning photographers. The resort offers three dives a day plus, if requested, day trips around Sipadan..