Sipadan

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising about 600 metres from the seabed in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, built up by living corals growing on an extinct volcanic cone. The surrounding waters hold one of the richest marine habitats in the Indo-Pacific, with more than 400 fish species and hundreds of coral species, and the island has been a leading scuba diving destination since the 1980s. It was first declared a bird sanctuary in 1933, re-gazetted in 1963, and the surrounding waters were established as Sipadan Island Park, a roughly 16,860-hectare marine reserve under Sabah Parks classified as IUCN Category II; in 2004 the resorts that had operated on the island were closed and removed to reduce ecosystem impact, and the protected area was expanded further in 2015.