Vote For Sipadan Island: new wonders of the world

Vote for Sipadan Island as it is now Sipadan Island’s turn to be featured on the wonders of the world !

New7Wonders of Nature is currently making an online campaign for readers in the whole wide world to cast their vote. 261 qualified national and multinational nominees are now competing to make it to the top 77. Sipadan has been nominated alongside Maldives Archipelago, Ko Phi Phi in Thailand, Belize Barrier Reef, Great Barrier Reef of Australia and Grand Canyon of the United States. This list will be reduced to 21 by July 21, 2009 by a panel of expert – so lets head on and vote for Sipadan.

Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman has called on all Malaysians to cast their votes for Pulau Sipadan, which is an acclaimed diving haven. “We should be proud of the nomination and I urge everyone, including our guests who have been to Sipadan, to give the island their vote,” he said after chairing the weekly state cabinet meeting here on the 19th February 2009.

To vote for Sipadan, log on to www.new7wonders.com/nature.

Sipadan Island is located in the Celebes Sea, on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the only oceanic island in Malaysian water. The island emerged some 600 meter from the sea bed, formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop.

Sipadan is, no doubt, one of the best destination for scuba diving in the world. There has been many published articles proclaiming Sipadan as among the top 10 diving spots, a world class underwater paradise and a “must-go” list for scuba divers.

Sipadan Island came into development when resort operators turned up in the 80s and built restaurants, dive centres and chalets to cater tourists: mostly divers. At one stage, there were 6 six resorts built on this tiny island but only 5 remained in operation until the Malaysian government instructed all of the resort operators to vacate the island by the 31st of December 2004. Since then all diving trips to Sipadan Island are done from the nearby islands of Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking and from the mainland via Semporna.

Sipadan Island has more than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species, classified in this ecosystem, due to its strategic location at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin; the center of the highest concentration of marine biodiversity. Divers can expect to swim along with many friendly sea turtles and sharks and an encounter with schooling barracudas, big-eyed trevally and bump-head parrotfish is normal.

Sipadan Island was gazetted as a bird sanctuary, in 1933, under the Land Ordinance during the British colonial era.

Jacques Cousteau claimed Sipadan as a macro paradise, an untouched piece of art, after visiting Sipadan and ultimately has put the island on the stage of the world after showcasing Sipadan in a film entitled ‘Ghost of the Sea Turtles’.

The Malaysian government and the private sectors are playing the most important role in preserving, protecting and regulating man activities on and around the island. Currently only 120 day trippers are allowed to visit the island on any particular day.

To this day, there are thousands of divers visiting this particular spot of the world to witness the wonders of the underwater world Sipadan has to offer.

So, divers or not, Malaysian or not, YOU can do your part. Your support (vote) means something for the future.

To vote, please visit www.new7wonders.com. Remember: you have one voice and you have seven choices.

No related posts.