Your Guide to Diving in Sangalaki Island

Dive the Manta Ray Expressway

...Highlights: manta rays, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity...
...Diving environment: drift diving, beginner and advanced divers, off the beaten track...

Just over the border from Sabah, Malaysia in Indonesian Borneo is the island of Sangalaki - a superb dive spot that can be visited by liveaboard where big numbers of manta rays frolic all year round. Many destinations claim that mantas are frequent visitors but few can truly lay claim to having resident mantas all year round, and so many of them! Most locations may hold encounters with mantas if you're lucky, but when you're scuba diving at Sangalaki, luck is not a pre-requisite. Nature is on your side, guaranteeing reef manta rays at almost every site.

In the waters around Sangalaki there are numerous manta cleaning stations - cleaner wrasse are found aplenty here, which obligingly clean all the grime and parasites off the skin and gills of the manta rays. Mantas gather here for their regular cleaning sessions. If you head out to one of these cleaning sessions, you have quite an experience in store for you. You'll find yourself eye-to-eye with the mantas as they are generally inquisitive and quite friendly by nature and will probably approach you, offering an intimate encounter that defines the diving in Sangalaki.

The manta rays are found in huge numbers at the dive sites off Sangalaki's east coast, namely Manta Avenue, Manta Parade and Manta Run. Usually, you'll find these graceful creatures near the surface with their gills wide open as they feed on the rich plankton to be found in these waters. The mantas can also be found cruising the seas or less often foraging for sustenance down on the sea beds. They may not be huge oceanic manta rays but you will have no complaints if you find yourself in the middle of 6 or 7 mantas swooping all around you.

Another highlight of Sangalaki diving is the site known as Jellyfish Lake on nearby Kakaban Island - the sight of thousands of jellyfish floating around you has an almost other-worldly beauty to it, and you need have no fear of stings while snorkelling here (you can't dive in the lake). There are 4 different varieties of jellyfish in the lake situated in the middle of the island. With no access to the open sea, the jellyfish here have had no encounters with their natural predators and as a result have lost their sting.

When you consider the other attractions of the area: Whale Shark Point, big fish action at Maratua and Kakaban, great macro diving at the nearby islands of Derawan and Samama, and the possibility of seeing tiger sharks at Pulau Sambit, it is clear why many people believe the diving in Sangalaki to be "a one-stop shop" without rival in the region. It's like being in several great dive destinations at once - manta rays, macro, enormous numbers of green turtles and sharks, Jellyfish Lake and splendid wall dives, a winning combination.

Almost every dive location in the world seems to have a site named Coral Gardens. The island of Sangalaki is no exception and its 'Coral Gardens' is located west of the island. At its deepest, this Sangalaki dive site is just flat sand where you'll find a number of goatfish nosing around. Above the seabed though, it is a gradual incline of shelves full of hard and soft corals. You'll find acropora corals and mosaic corals, among which are a rich variety of reef life such as anthias, damsels, snappers and triggerfish, all typical of this region. Other favourites to be found are cuttlefish, flat worms, sea stars, cushion stars, sea cucumbers, feather stars, frogfish and lizard fish. Do remember to look up every now and then, for in the midst of watching all the busy coral life, you'll probably come across a manta or 2 feeding in the waters as well as green turtles which regularly lay their eggs on the beaches of Sangalaki.

Coral Gardens is also a scuba diver's favourite at night. Nocturnal sightings include big hermit crabs with their hairy orange legs, cute little baby cuttlefish (and adult ones as well), lobsters, octopus and shrimps. All in all, a very satisfying night dive.

Lighthouse Reef is a site located on the eastern part of Sangalaki Island. Your dive boat will be moored at the lighthouse which gives this reef its name, and this is where your dive will begin. Within this site there are 2 small wrecks. The older one is identified by the proliferation of more soft corals of the dendronephthya species and magnificent sea anemones, where you'll find sweetlips, gobies, scorpionfish, anemonefish and clownfish, jawfish, ribbon eels and groupers lurking furtively under the wreck. Among the gorgonian fans, keen eyesight will allow you to spot pygmy seahorses. While on the sandy bottom watch out for tridacna giant clams dotted around, always a pleasure to find.

Manta Avenue is one of the 3 premier Sangalaki dive sites that form the famous 'manta highway' along Sangalaki's east coast. This site features a set of coral steps where, besides the main attraction of manta rays, you'll find elegant fire gobies and dancing gobies. The topography transitions from shallow coral steps to deeper slopes, creating a perfect feeding and cleaning area for the mantas that gather here in large numbers. A dive at Manta Avenue offers the same reliable manta encounters as Manta Parade and Manta Run, with the added benefit of a slightly different reef structure that attracts a diverse range of reef fish and macro life.

Located at the north of Sangalaki Island, Manta Parade is actually one of the 3 dive sites which form manta highway land. If the mantas are not feeding in the waters, they're usually being preened by cleaner wrasse at cleaning stations. As the name of this dive spot indicates, majestic manta rays parade up and down this manta highway, coming to you from all directions. More often than not, you'll find them just breaking the surface as they feed on the rich plankton to be found in these waters. For that reason, snorkelling at this site is just as good as diving at it. The sight of the manta rays is awe inspiring. They glide and swoop by you; the friendlier and more inquisitive will come right up to you. Watching their sleek movements underwater, one is reminded of fighter jets in the skies - in fact, black manta rays look just like a stealth bombers (if you use your imagination!).

The topography of this Sangalaki scuba diving site starts with Manta Avenue which is a set of coral steps where, besides mantas, you'll find elegant fire gobies and dancing gobies. It then continues onto Manta Parade where the reef is a set of ridges which rise up and down like little underwater hills. Here small coral heads, gorgonian fans and large barrel sponges lie on a flat sandy bottom, littered with alabaster sea cucumbers and feather stars. Within them, you'll find sea anemones with clownfish, flat worms, fan worms, sea stars, cushion stars and reef fish like frogfish, crocodilefish, parrotfish, angelfish, triggerfish, snappers, fusiliers, sweetlips, lionfish, scorpionfish and stonefish.

When you start seeing rocky coral outcrops and bommies, you're at Manta Run. Here, you'll find more gorgonian fans, soft corals and barrel sponges, all topped off with feather stars. Within the numerous crevices and overhangs, there are leaf fish and frog fish which, if you happen to stumble upon them during feeding times, you'll witness preying on the somewhat gullible cardinalfish.

Manta Run is one of the crown jewels of the Derawan archipelago, a shallow passage on Sangalaki's east coast where the current transforms a sandy-bottomed channel into a true 'manta highway'. It forms the final leg of a trio of famous sites - Manta Avenue, Manta Parade, and Manta Run - that together offer some of the most reliable manta encounters on the planet. The site is a channel flanked by coral-encrusted ridges, with a sandy bottom and a consistent current flow that brings nutrient-rich water directly to the mantas' feeding grounds. Manta rays are frequently seen gliding just below the surface or circling cleaning stations where smaller wrasse remove parasites, often approaching within close range. The shallow profile, with depths typically ranging from 8 to 15 metres, makes this an accessible Sangalaki dive for beginners, while the current adds a gentle thrill for more experienced divers.

Beyond the majestic mantas, the site offers a rich tapestry of marine life. Leopard sharks rest on the sandy patches, garden eels peek from their holes, and blacktip reef sharks often patrol the channel. Rocky coral outcrops and bommies are adorned with gorgonian fans, soft corals, barrel sponges, and feather stars, providing habitat for leaf fish and frogfish that hunt among the crevices. Schools of bumphead parrotfish may also cruise through, adding their distinctive crunching sounds to the underwater symphony. A dive at Manta Run is a masterclass in pelagic interaction; an unforgettable drift through one of Indonesia's most consistent manta habitats, where the thrill of the current is matched only by the magic of the encounter.

Sherwood Forest is one of Sangalaki's most distinctive dive sites, named for its unique underwater landscape of dense, towering coral formations that rise like tree trunks from the sandy floor. Located on the southeastern flank of the island, this site offers a labyrinthine underwater maze that is unlike any other in the Derawan archipelago. The site features massive Porites corals and table corals that form natural corridors and cathedral-like chambers between 8 and 22 metres depth. These vertical pillars create distinct microhabitats at different levels, the upper canopy between 8 and 12 metres is where schools of bumphead parrotfish navigate through the coral passages, their bulk requiring careful manoeuvering in the confined spaces.

Sandy channels between the coral towers serve as highways for blacktip reef sharks, which patrol the forest floor and often disappear into the shadows before emerging unexpectedly from different corridors. Green turtles rest in sandy clearings between formations, while grey reef sharks occasionally patrol the forest perimeter. The coral surfaces host dense populations of reef fish, such as anthias, angelfish, and wrasse create colourful clouds around each formation.

The site's protected position means visibility consistently reaches 20-25 metres, with minimal current allowing extended bottom times to explore the intricate coral architecture thoroughly. However, navigation requires attention as the maze can disorient, so it's important to note distinctive coral formations and maintain awareness of the entry channel. This unique combination of topography and marine life makes Sherwood Forest a highlight of any Sangalaki diving trip, offering an underwater adventure that truly lives up to its evocative name.

Green turtles are the main attraction at this Sangalaki diving site, as implied by its name, Turtle Town. You'll either find them feeding, mating or resting. When you bare in mind that an annual average of 20 - 30 turtle nests are laid on the beaches each night, you'll have a better idea of the size of the mating activities of the turtles. Turtle Town is the more famous of the 2 sites in Sangalaki where you will come across its famous green turtles. Located in the southwest corner of Sangalaki, there are gullies and stony ridges all over the place at this rather flat dive site, which make this place ideal for green turtles to stop for a bite to eat or rest up for a while. Along with them, you'll also find reef fish like pufferfish, moorish idols as well as sea stars and feather stars. Other marine life which you'll see here include octopus, giant cuttlefish, popcorn crabs, catfish, shy mandarinfish and for lovers of macrolife, flamboyantly coloured nudibranchs.