Lankayan Island

This tropical paradise known as Lankayan Island is the only dive resort in Malaysia’s Sulu Sea. While visiting Lankayan Island, you have a chance to experience something truly unique in this world - a completely isolated idyllic tropical island. The island is pristine, not having suffered human occupation for long. Fully covered with tropical vegetation, Lankayan features tall casuarina trees and the ubiquitous pandan screwpine and has some interesting fauna subjects. During your visit, enjoy the surreal setting while walking along stretches of the white sandy beach and enjoying the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Scuba Diving

Lankayan Island is a true Macroworld paradise. Swim along large stretches of beautiful hard and soft corals belonging to numerous genera, among which are multitudes of macroworld subjects and juvenile fishes, colorful to the extreme.

Pelagics abound from large schools of scads, yellow tail barracudas, jacks, and many more. The many schools of medium to large hump head parrotfish are always exciting to encounter. With luck you swim with large rays, guitarfish and even manatees.

For those more inclined towards the smaller denizens of the reefs, there are numerous juvenile fishes, claw anemone fishes, decorator and spider crabs, coral shrimps, nudibranchs, prawn gobies and such rarer subjects as seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish and flying gunards.

You are sure to appreciate the remaining large stretches of unspoiled lettuce and staghorn and other hard corals, the many varieties of soft corals, feather stars, sponges, and sea fans. The many different types of anemones and their different partners, the clown anemone fish, shrimp and porcelain crabs are a sight.

It's Whale Shark Season At Lankayan Island Again!!!

Whale sharks galore at Lankayan Island again this April. Sightings of one or more individuals at a time were registered on almost daily basis with boat loads of happy divers from all over the world speeding over the Sulu Sea to meet the gentle giants and swim with them right on the surface. Huge whale sharks are usually sighted by the Resort's boatmen in the early morning and alerted by radio and mobile phones - the diving boat zoom right away to meet the peaceful, enormous creatures busy feeding on plankton and skipjacks.

The location of the whale shark is usually indicated by flocks of seabirds diving and screeching high & above the placid surface, the dive masters of the Resort then slowly approach the huge shark at cruising speed and then it's diving!!

Falling into the clear blue water, divers and snorkellers can spend precious minutes just inches away from the big fish, until it freely decides to swim away. While not guaranteed every dive, the whale sharks of Lankayan Island are almost a certainty during a 2 week's stay at the island in the months of March, April and possibly May.

LANKAYAN, one of the best spots for whale shark sighting.

Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area

We wish to advise that with effect from 15th October, 2003, the State Government of Sabah, Malaysia under the Sabah Wildlife Department has appointed REEF GUARDIAN Sdn. Bhd., an associated company of Pulau Sipadan Resort & Tours Sdn Bhd as the ' Conservator ' of SIMCA (Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area) a marine conservation area comprising the islands of Lankayan, Billean and Tegaipil and most of the surrounding seas and reefs, covering an area of over 36,000 hectares.

SIMCA is proposed as a Category II MPA which prohibits any form of resource harvesting including fishing and collection of live specimens. SIMCA will be totally protected and programmes to rehabilitate and clean up the environment will be undertaken by Reef Guardian.

As demonstrated in many other locations, well managed marine ecotourism effectively contributes to the protection and preservation of marine reserves where fish biomass flourish in extraordinary numbers while the reefs are able to regenerate and bloom.

Being a Cat II MPA, the State Government imposes an entry fee on all visitors, at the rate of RM 30.00 (US$8) per adult, RM 15.00 (US$4) below 18 years. Reef Guardian, being the MPA Management Company, charges a fee of RM 20.00 (US$5.50) per visitor per night stay. This fee goes directly towards funding all the Management and Conservation programmes to be carried out in SIMCA.

Basically, it means that the SIMCA visitor directly contributes towards the Conservation and Management of the MPA, something to be considered very meaningful and innovative, where a resource is exploited in a sustainable way and in a manner conducive to its long term recovery and protection.

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