Dive Tun Sakaran Marine Park
From the flooded volcanic crater of the inner park to the pelagic corridors of the continental shelf - the Coral Triangle's most ecologically layered dive destination.
Tun Sakaran Marine Park spans the Semporna Archipelago in the Celebes Sea, holding 528 species of reef fish and a global record of 44 mushroom coral species. Three of its eight main islands are the surviving rim of an ancient volcanic crater whose flooded caldera contains mesh reefs - dense polygonal networks of coral walls growing from the sandy seabed like the corridors of a submerged city.
The inner volcanic lagoon offers sheltered diving across the mesh reefs and macro-rich outer slopes. The southern islands range from muck diving to a rare Black Coral Garden at 22 to 35 metres at Mantabuan. The outer continental shelf islands of Mataking and Pom Pom sit beyond the park boundary: Mataking's deep pelagic channels bring mantas, hammerheads, and seasonal whale sharks; Pom Pom is the area's premier muck diving base with active coral restoration accessible to divers.
March to May is the peak diving window. The Bajau Laut - sea nomads who have free-dived these waters for centuries - live across the park's stilt villages.
