Fodor's Expert Review Lankayan Island Dive Resort

An hour-and-a-half boat trip from the Sandakan yacht club takes you to tiny, wooded Lankayan Island, a little slice of paradise ringed with white sand beaches and turquoise waters. The only habitation on the island, the resort offers 23 air-conditioned beachfront "chalets" each with functional wooden furniture, high ceilings, private terrace for optimal sunset gazing, and enough space for a family. On the sea turtle corridor, the island is serious about conservation; if you go between June and September you help accompany hundreds of adorable hatchlings to their first sea dive. Within close proximity to the island, human divers can enjoy 32 dive sites and two wrecks. Although the diver price includes three dives a day and unlimited jetty diving (non-diver packages are about $100 less), the snorkeling is every bit as good.