Located nearby Semporna as the main town, Si Amil’s Island lush forest and abandoned World War II structures it a fascinating spot to investigate between dives. It is the main island in the region that provides a home to an expansive group of monkeys, they’re verifiably charming, yet be cautioned – these little critters can be somewhat of an irritation when they show up all of a sudden and start annoying you on the shoreline! While on the beach, an old 1930’s Japanese fish factory can be found.
Right next to Si Amil’s jetty is the old boilers from a World War II Japanese ship jut out of the ocean. Today Si Amil is not inhabited but Malaysia’s army does keep a base on the island not far from an old lighthouse built in 1952. Although no one calls Si Amil home, you can find 1,500 of the Bajau Laut or also known as sea gypsies living on nearby Danawan Island.

The island of Si Amil is absolutely uninhabited, so you can go for the day, yet it’s positively certainly justified regardless of a visit. You can arrive by boat from Semporna, which takes 60 minutes, or from Mabul, which half amount of time. After Sidapan Island, this is said to be the best spot for diving, specifically because of the boilers from an old Japanese wreck which extend out of the sea.

Be that as it may, you don’t need to be a diver to value this spot. Things are pretty much as fascinating ashore, where you’ll discover the remaining parts of an old fish processing plant that was worked as a cover for surveillance activities during World War 2.

There are various dives you can do around this island with a shifted experience to adjacent Sipadan. Sites include East Point, Celebes Reef, Maratua Reef and Jeffery’s Reef. The are all generally comparable and you can expect to see the same kind of stuff at every site. The life around Si Amil Island is macro so you need to draw near the reef and look closely. The reef is gently sloping with coral heads, bommies and sea fans dotted around. Divers can do Maratua Reef as a night dive and if you are lucky enough to see a bamboo shark in the shallows as well as basket stars, coral shrimps, decorated crabs and a slipper lobster.

Expect to see sea dragons, egg cowry shells, table coral, trunkfish, millions of nudibranchs and scorpionfish around this island. Taking a day out from Sipadan allows you to get your breath back again and look at a different type of interesting marine life.