Hanging Gardens

The profile is straightforward by Sipadan standards: in on the wall, down to about 25 m, then a slow swim along the face as you gradually shallow towards 10 m. Current is usually none or light, which makes this the site where you can stop and look at something rather than hold station against moving water. It also puts depth control entirely on you, because the wall keeps going down past the recreational range whether or not you follow it.

The face itself is the dive. Hard and soft corals cover it in real variety, with barrel sponges and sea fans set into the rock, and the soft coral carrying pastel colours of lemon, lavender and antique rose. It rewards a slow pace and getting close, which is also the only way to see those colours properly at depth. This is the Sipadan site to bring a camera to when the corners are too busy with current to frame anything.

Turtles are the other constant here: on a good day divers see dozens of them in a single dive rather than one or two, and with no current to fight you can hold position and watch instead of finning past. Approach slowly, keep your fins clear of the coral, and give them room. The dive ends along the shallower part of the face, where the absence of current makes the safety stop easy to hold.