Hi lindz,
I've been to Sipadan twice and done about 50+ dives around the island. It's nothing short of spectacular. As you know all divers exaggerate a lot of the time but hand-on-heart I swear on my mother's life that I never saw fewer than ten turtles and ten whitetips or blacktips on every single one of those dives. Add to that Leopard sharks, Mantas, Stingrays, Mobula Rays, Grey Reef sharks, Hammerheads, and huge schools of Bumphead wrasse, tornados of barracuda and a resident school of jacks which was in the same place every time, night or day.
It's awesome. The turtle cavern you referred to is slightly tricky though: there have been a number of divers who have died in there over the years when they got disoriented and ran out of air so you're not allowed in there unless you're accompanied by one of a very small number of local DMs who know it well. I was lucky enough to be taken into the cave by one of them and it was utterly amazing but you do need a guide so if you're planning a trip out there make sure you find a guide who can take you in before you fly out or you may be disappointed. That said, going to Sipadan without going into the cave is no great loss because everything else is just so stunning.
One final note, the Malaysian govt has now closed down the four resorts which were on Sipadan itself so as to stop effluent damaging the reefs so you'll need to either go on a liveaboard or stay on nearby Mabul island which is about a fifteen minute boat ride away and has some great muck diving as well.
Go to Sipadan, it's the reason you started diving in the first place...
__________________ [size="3"]Diving is 1% respiration, 99% inspiration.
ZE="4"][size="3"][size="1"]With apologies to Thomas Edison.  | 
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