Per person for 10 nights — flights, hotel, dive ops, and gear-bag fees included. Typical trip lands around $1,625. Anyone can quote you a cheap flight; this is what the trip costs.
Prime months: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Sep · Oct · Dec.
Peak season: glass-calm seas, visibility often 100ft+, warm 81–84°F water, manta rays more frequent, and bumphead parrotfish reliable at dawn.
Post-summer sweet spot with excellent 65–100ft visibility, fewer crowds, active pelagics, and October being a prime window for hammerhead sightings.
Rainy season brings variable viz (35–65ft) and choppier rides, but fewer divers, afternoon-only showers, and February hammerhead activity reward the flexible.
All boat dives from Mabul/Kapalai; top sites include Barracuda Point, Turtle Tomb, and Hanging Gardens walls with turtles, jackfish tornado, bumphead parrotfish, and hammerheads; water 79–88°F, visibility 10–40 m (33–131 ft); mostly Open Water accessible.
Also known for: Fresh local seafood — butter prawns and steamed fish — paired with Mango Sago drink at waterfront spots
The all-in above is the typical price. A few times a year, Sipadan fares drop 25–50% below that. StokedFare watches dive destinations from your home airport 24/7 and pings you the second one crosses that line — free.