Lankayan - (Borneo/Malaysia): Advice Please

[mantajohn]

i'm looking at Lankayan as an option for a trip in either Feb or April 2010.

i would really appreciate feedback from anyone who has been there or has relevant info.

Info on the diving & whether the resort is ok for non diving partners would be really helpful.

thanks

John

[OnTheSpot]

Hi John

I have been a couple of times and am going back again in September. Lankayan is a gorgeous tiny island with really nice diving around it. It is very quiet since there is only one resort. You can walk around it in 10 minutes. The only people you will see is the occasional soldier since there is a base on on the other side of the island which is invisible in the trees.

If your non diving partner needs lot of facilities to be kept amused then it may not be ideal. If someone is happy with some good books, doing a bit of snorkelling (with baby sharks), learning about the turtle hatchery and generally just soaking up the island paradise feel, then great. If you need action then better to go somewhere else.

There is more detail on the resort here Lankayan resort and the diving (including a video) here: Diving in Lankayan

Hope that helps.

[Rickg]

Hi John,

My wife and I enjoyed our stay there. Lots of nudis and other unusual critters plus the resident juvenile black tip sharks and jawfish and we got to see baby turtles hatching one afternoon. As the previous poster mentioned, it might not the best place for a non-diving partner unless they fine with suntanning, snorkeling and basically just relaxing.

Here is a link to some pictures from our trip. They aren't the best having been shot with a fully manual MotorMarine I camera.

Picasa Web Albums - Rick - Lankayn 2003

[mantajohn]

Thanks for the info. & Great pix of the nudibranches - i've never seen so many different types.

How is the snorkelling? & is it from the beach directly, or do the snorkellers have to take a boat trip? Key questions to predict my wifes happiness at letting me go off diving!

[Rickg]

Thanks for the info. & Great pix of the nudibranches - i've never seen so many different types.

How is the snorkelling? & is it from the beach directly, or do the snorkellers have to take a boat trip? Key questions to predict my wifes happiness at letting me go off diving!

mantajohn,

There is snorkeling off the beach in some areas. The blacktip photos were shot while snorkeling in about 3' of water below the dining area where they feed the sharks every evening. Quite interesting snorkeling amongst as many as 10-15, 2-3' blacktip sharks while they are feeding.

There is also a long jetty that goes out from the beach to the dive locker that has lots of life beneath it and you see lots of juveniles of various species hanging out under the dive locker. There is also snorkeling of sorts on some of the dive sites.

You might want to try emailing them to get more specifics about just how much snorkeling is available.

Thanks for the compliment on the nudi photos. I just wish I had switched digital sooner in which case there would have been even better photos and also some video clips of jawfish in their holes and blacktip shark feedings :-)

Yes, there is a large variety of nudis there. While there, we met a couple from Singapore that had decided on Lankayan as their destination but because of the large # of nudis.

Good luck with finding the right place for your vacation.

[Sharx Inside]

Hi guys,
Just wondering if you guys faced any difficulties with email enquiries and bookings with Lankayan Resort?

They take 3-4 days to reply to my emails and that's after a couple of reminders from me asking for their reply.

Thanks.