Turtle Patch
Turtle Patch is a shallow drift dive at Sipadan's south-east corner, north-east of South Point, over terraces at the top of the eastern wall. Many giant turtles rest on the sand or feed on sponges, and the reef is covered in staghorn and leather corals. Sweetlips, pufferfish, moray eels and anemonefish are easy to find. The shallows get sun all day, but the wall is best in the morning.
Facts
- Region: Malaysia – Sipadan & Semporna
- Area: Sipadan Island
- Depth: 5–12 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: moderate
- Type: reef, drift
- Coordinates: 4.113, 118.6314 (approximate)
- Highlights: green turtle, turtle, sweetlips, pufferfish, moray eel, anemonefish, staghorn coral
- 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.
- Tips: Drift with the current; the east side is best in the morning.