Layang Layang is a tiny coral island located at 180 nautical miles (300 kms) of the West coast of Sabah, one of both Malaysian states of Borneo Island. It is a part of 600 islands which compose the archipelago of Spartleys or Spartly, offshore by Southern China Sea.
Important Strategic point in China Sea, the Malaysian government settled on the island, since 1983, a military camp at the West headland. A landing runway and a resort are build on the south face of the lagoon…
The island won on the ocean and was artificially size increased using concrete rubbles, what explains the lack of fine sandy beaches. It is also inhabited by important species of birds as Great crested tern, Lesser frigate bird, Pacific golden plover, Plumed and Pacific-reef egrets and Ruddy tern…
The naval camp also had an indirect important contribution for the quality of the scuba diving, meaning that it has protected the island against the destructive practices of fishing spotted in the area.
Layang Layang As know as By Swallow Reef is an atoll of 14 kms square, which is a Lagoon, a fringing reef surrounded with a wall falling down more than 2000 meters. Considering its position in the middle of nowhere, the water is clear and non polluted. The visibility is incredible, between 30 and 50 meters during the good season.
Another advantage of the dive sites is its entice a numerous pelagic fauna: Reef sharks, grey Sharks, Manta … The Site is particularly known for these schools of Hammerhead sharks which meet for the reproduction time between Mars and May. The pelagic fauna also count of big quantity of tortoises, Tunas, as big snappers and groupers. Big schools of barracudas similar to those of Sipadan. Whale sharks frequently swim by Layang Layang, in their route from Philippine to the Malaysia and Thailand.
The macro lovers will observe among others: leaf fishes, Frog Fishes, Pygmies Sea horses. Nudibranches …
Layang Layang is an ideal destination for the experimented and demanding divers. The majority of the dives sites are made on vertical walls which fall in the blue and require a mastery of buoyancy.
In monsoon time, the island is inaccessible from September until February, the best season goes from Mars to May, time to observe of big quantity of Hammerhead Sharks.
There are 2 opportunities to dive in Layang Layang:
Stay on the unique Resort of the island which it’s better to reserve in advance. The service includes full meals, the accommodation in air-conditioned comfortable Bungalow, 3 boat dives a day. The ideal stay is 6 Days / 5 Nights. The resort is opened from March until August.
Other option is the liveaboard, which besides offering dives around Layang, propose to discover of the other one renowned sites of the archipelago of Spartleys: reef Dallas, Mariveles Reef, Reef Erica…