Diving at Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
Only twenty minutes by boat from Kota Kinabalu, the Tunku Abdul
Rahman Marine Park, comprises an area surrounding the five islands of Pulau
Sapi, Gaya, Manukan, Sulug and Mamutik. The latter, especially, is very
popular with weekend divers. The surrounding reefs are shallow (max. 25m) with
gentle slopes with hard coral gardens, sandy bottom and coral blocks and with
little current. Coral formation on the reefs here is essentially hard corals
with sporadic sponges, coral whips and soft corals. The coral rubble is home
to a myriad of animals, from the ghost pipefish and sea horse to the octopus.
Divers may have seen the common clownfish in most dive sites elsewhere, but
the Panda clownfish is found only in this park. During November to March
plankton blooms and attracts whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Visibility is not
so good (10 to 15m). The best time to visit is from March to October.
Manukan
Manukan's dive sites are accessible to all levels of divers. You will see a
thriving underwater garden of staghorn coral in the shallows (from about 3-8m)
which then gives way to lettuce coral and brain coral. The gentle sloping reef
ends up in the sand at 15m and then gradually goes deeper up to about 20m.
Fishes you would find - trumpetfish, juvenile batfish, barracuda and large
squaretail coral groupers.
On closer inspection, the reef will reveal mating nudibranchs, shy blennies,
anemone shrimps, pufferfish and numerous species of butterflyfish, rabbitfish,
parrotfish, etc.
Sulug Island
This area is perfect for finding unusual marine critters. The sloping reef of
lettuce coral ends up on a sandy slope at 12-15m where large sargassum and
padina seaweed flourish. This is an excellent place to find various
algae-eating nudibranchs and sea hares. The seaweeds are seasonal and
generally found only from April to September. Lurking unobserved in the sand
are panther flounders, mantis shrimps and gobies. Among the lettuce coral, you
would spot hingebeak shrimps, banded sea snakes, transparent anemone shrimps,
green turtles, painted frogfish, etc.
Sapi Island
Edgell Patch, located near Sapi Island, the reef here is a gentle slope
starting at about 6m and continuing to 25m. There were purplish-coloured
frogfish barrel sponges and coming up to 15m, colourful feather stars, swarms
of cardinalfish, nurse shark, schools of fusiliers, cleaner wrasse etc.
Dive Sites
1. Clement reef Seafans / 2. Agill Reef / 3. Police Bay (Bulijong Bay) / 4.
Merangis Reef / 5. Sapi Jetty / 6. Ron Reef / 7. Mid Reef (black coral) / 8.
Manukan Reef / 9. South Reef / 10. Sulug Reef
Police Bay (Bulijong Bay No. 3): this dive site is located in the north of
Pulau Gaya. It is a coral garden with staghorn corals and a slope with sandy
bottom. Mostly small reef fishes, some stingrays. On Clement Reef (No. 1),
close to Gaya island a lot of large table corals, staghorn corals, brain
corals and sponges can be found. Sapi Jetty (No. 5) consists of a sandy area
where you find a lot of special animals like fingered dragonets, flounders,
gobies, cuttlefish and even the occasional sea snake. Mid Reef (No. 7) is
situated east of Pulau Manukan and is a submerged reef covered with hard
coral, sponges and anemones.
RELATED LINKS
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
An introduction the the park, with map, description and staying there.
TAR Marine Park ~ The Islands
Descriptind and info of the islands - Pulau Gaya, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Mamutik,
Pulau Sapi and Pulau Sulug.
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