Sipidan & Layang Layang

Day 1 . Depart London

Overnight flight to Kota Kinabalu, changing planes in Kuala Lumpur.

Day 2. Tawau & Semporna [D]

Fly onward to Tawau, followed by a short road and boat journey to Mabul Island. Spend five nights at the Sipadan Water Village Resort.

Days 3 to 6. Sipadan Water Village, Mabul [FB]

The Resort consists of individual, en-suite cottages perched on stilts only three feet above the sea. Three times a day boats leave for the offshore dive sites, only a few minutes away at Mabul and Kapalai, or to Sipadan a little further afield. Shore diving is available on the house reef with permission from the duty dive master and for those with more than 30 logged dives, night diving is available every evening except Sunday.

Day 7. Kota Kinabalu [B]

Back to Tawau to catch your flight to Kota Kinabalu, where you overnight at the Hyatt or similar hotel.

Days 8 to 14. Layang Layang [FB]

Comprising 86 en-suite, air-conditioned rooms with TV, refrigerator and private terrace, and facilities including a fresh water pool, bar and a restaurant serving five meals a day on the poolside verandah, Layang Layang is the perfect dedicated dive resort. The nutrient rich ocean currents and off shore location make this an exceptional destination for pelagic encounters and for Hammerhead Sharks in particular. The outer fringes of the atoll are best for slow drift dives along the coral covered plunging walls.

At most dive sites the crests of the reefs can be found at depths of between 5 and 10 metres. The coral gardens with forests of staghorn and domes of brain coral support superb populations of invertebrates and nudibranchs. It is, however, for pelagic encounters that the remote reefs at Layang Layang are famous.

Days 15 & 16. Homeward [B (Day 15 only)]