Midreef
Midreef is a vertical wall dive where you drift with the current. Many large green turtles, soft corals, sea fans and small gobies live on the wall, and sometimes around 40 bumphead parrotfish graze the flats. Strong currents can push divers upward, especially when cold thermoclines rise, but they also bring big schools of fish. A shallow hard-coral flat at about 6 m serves as a safety stop.
Facts
- Region: Malaysia – Sipadan & Semporna
- Area: Sipadan Island
- Depth: 6–40 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: strong
- Type: drift
- Coordinates: 4.1164, 118.6312 (approximate)
- Highlights: green turtle, bumphead parrotfish, sea fans, soft coral, pygmy goby, whip goby, snapper, fusilier
- Permit: A Sabah Parks permit is required for every day on Sipadan. Independent diving is not allowed: permits are booked by licensed dive operators/resorts and issued at Sabah Parks' discretion; the daily quota is shared between operators (176 per day since 2019 per Wikipedia and Scuba Junkie; some 2026 operator notices cite about 252 – confirm). Divers need at least Advanced Open Water. Park fees on the Sabah Parks site: scuba diving RM 350 (foreigners) / RM 250 (Malaysians) plus a conservation fee of RM 100 / RM 50. Dive operators can book up to six months ahead. Sipadan was closed to divers for all of November 2023 and some operators state this is repeated every November – check before booking.
- Issuer / contact: Sabah Parks – Sipadan Island Park
- Phone: +60 88-523500
- Email: hello@sabahparks.org.my
- Website: https://www.sabahparks.org.my/contact-us
- Sabah Parks head office (Kota Kinabalu); Sipadan Island Park office in Semporna: +60 89-782039. Permits are booked by licensed dive operators, not by individual divers (https://www.sabahparks.org.my/services/diving-sipadan.
- Unverified: Published guides name this site but do not give its position; the marker is placed roughly off the island and does not show the real side or spot.
- Tips: Be ready for up-currents; end the dive on the 6 m coral flat.