Sipadan & Mabul

[shmack]

Hi there!

I am looking to get PADI Open Water certification in Mabul & Sipadan this winter but am having difficulty navigating the complex pricing plans. for such few choices of accommodations, i sure have a lot of questions!

To start off:
Is Sipadan Water Village and Kapalai Water Village and Sipadan/Kapalai Water Village all really the same resort?

What is the recommended length for the Open Water course (with theory)? Dive the World is pushing 4 nights at BorneoDivers (theory included?), DiveBorneo.com is telling me 5 nights at Sipadan Water Village (theory included), and neither are answering my specific questions through email.

I really want this to be a memorable experience but attempting to book this trip is giving me a headache.

Thanks in advance to all the experienced divers in this forum for their expert advice!

 

[Eskasi]

SWV is different from Kapalai which is also different from Borneo Divers (I believe you mean SMART- which has both a land based and sea/stilt accomodations)........

In terms of quality of accomodations, I believe it would rank like this from modest to luxury

1 SMART ? (Not sure of how this resort rates against the rest)
2 Kapalai
3 SWV
4 Mabul Water Bungalows (Owned by smart and connected to the land based SMART resort)

SWV is connected to Mabul Island itself via a jetty/bridge.....Kapalai is out in the middle of the sea on a sand bar. Even its fresh water has to be shipped in every other day. Mabul Water Bungalows is the only resort to have Air conditioned rooms and televisions in each room. It is also the most expensive.

ALL are good choices......I was at SWV last month. Service was excellent as was the food. The dive outfit was great too. I never did any courses so I have no clue how good they are as instructors.

I must tell you though, diving in Mabul/kapalai is muck diving...vis is usually not good and although there are a lot of little small critters out there, it may not be your thing. Sipadan is where most/many would rather go. I have my doubts that you will be allowed to dive Sipadan for your OW course dives. Barracuda Point has really strong currents much of the time....the other dives are mostly wall/drift dives. It is hard enough for the operators to get the diver's permits to dive Sipadan Island (max 150 divers a day I believe, shared between all the resorts), I am doubtful it will be used as a training/certification ground. Most OW course dives are done in shallow water with a sandy bottom.

If I were you...stay a bit longer and try to do some dives at Sipadan itself after you get certified.

Feel free to correct me on any of the above if I am wrong though....its only my humble opinion

 

[shmack]

I understand the hesitation to use Sipadan as OW course dives. I think we will use the OW Referral program so that we can experience the most Sipadan Island has to offer during our stay.

Did you use a travel agency to book your stay with SWV or did you book directly with the resort?

This is extraordinarily helpful. Thank you so much!

 

[LekicINC]

Hello, I just got back from Sipadan Water Village as well. I dont think you could have less than a magical time there. I could be mistaken but I thought Sipadan mabul water Villagae was SMART which is the most upscale of the resorts. Its right across for SWV and it seemed very nice. However, for the less money, I would stay at SWV again, because I didnt need anything nicer since I was in the water the whole time! Next on the list are Kapali and SWV as far as luxury. Like SMART they are on stilts and its possible to see turtles and all kinds of tropical fish from your terrace. Kapalai is very isolated on a sand dune. Its basically just a resort in the middle of the ocean. GREAT muck-diving there though. Also, a nice reef. SWV, also has an amazing house reef. My girlfriend only snorkeled it and saw so many critters and corals. When I was there (August) they had only one instructor and he was way overbooked. So book early. He was doing an open water, and I believe they did dive sipadan, but it was only the easier sites. Not barracuda point. Then the most economical choice is Borneo Divers which is on the beach next to the TINY village. Its the cheapest, but its not on stilts over the water. My OW course took 4 days with theory. While I dont want to discourage you, Sipadan may not be the greatest place to do OW training. Simply because its really a place you wanna get the most out of. Not spend time doing thoery. I LOVE muck-diving. I bought a camera so I could take macro, didnt even bother with wide-angle lense. But I Sipadan was too amazing to pass up, even at the chance to see Pygmys in Saimil. The point of saying this is that I would want to stay a couple extra days after my course, to try out barracuda point, hanging gardens etc. Mabul and Kapalai are not to be missed either, but like mentioned earlier, your not getting the most out of Sipadan area if your doing your OW. Let me knwo if you have other questions

 

[OnTheSpot]

There is only one resort at Kapalai and it is called Sipadan Kapalai resort. When people talk about Kapalai Water Village, they must mean Sipadan Kapalai resort. There is also a Sipadan Water village on Mabul Island. There is also a Mabul Water Bungalow resort. Those are the three resorts that are stilted water bungalows.

The typical OWC takes 4 days. The shortest possible time is 3 days (according to PADI standards) but 4 days is normal. That's one day theory, one day pool/confined water training, followed by 4 Open water dives over two days.

However, doing the course at a Mabul or Kapalai resort does not usually include Sipadan diving. Often the dives are just around the easy and shallow Mabul sites. Personally I think that it would be better to do the course in KK first and then go to Mabul/Kapalai as a certified diver. Why pay all that money to go to Mabul and then sit in classroom and not get to dive Sipadan?

One thing you can do is fly into Kota Kinabalu and do your OW course in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park - a series of little islands just 10 mins off shore from the town. Nice easy conditions off islands such as Mamutik with sandy seabed and you will be staying in a lively town where there is plenty to do outside of the course.

Then hop to Tawau after that to visit Sipadan. That way you can concentrate on the crazy fish, turtle and shark action without worrying about dive skills being assessed.

Good luck!

 

[LekicINC]

^ agreed

 

[JonnieB]

Sipadan area is NOT the place to go for an OW cert. It is for intermediate and advanced divers period. Newbies need to get their certs someplace like Ko Tao in Thailand, where is is cheap and the reef has already been destroyed by previous students crashing into it.

Mabul is muck diving like already mentioned and you will first not enjoy it because you will see nothing (though there will likely be millions of specimens right before your eye) and you will still-up the bottom for all the other divers/photographers in the area.

Sipadan itself is deep water open water stuff and of course, again you are not qualified for this kind of diving.

After you have 50 dives under your belt and your bouyncey down and your macro-eye sharpened, then lay out the bucks and have a great dive safari in the Sipadan area.

 

[shmack]

hi again,

thanks for all your helpful replies. my partner and i have decided to take our theory and pool classes at home while saving our final open water dives for mabul. we are hoping to get to sipadan on our final days so that we too can enjoy the exceptional biodiversity of both the muck and the reef. we hope that our visit will continue to encourage the government's efforts of protecting sipadan and its parks as well as showing us the importance of managing the delicate balance of our global home.

i am still working with a couple agencies that are giving me the run around on pricing. can anyone recommend a reliable agent? when i contact the resorts directly, they always delegate responses to their exclusive, but less knowledgeable, agent. now i'm looking for information on equipment rentals... will we need to bring wetsuits & vests? thanks again!

 

[JonnieB]

Well, I can only say that I hope when you get there, all the resorts shut you out of any diving at Sipadan (which is most likely due to your inexperience). You can muck around in the shallows at Mabul and Kapalai, however, and you should make allot of friends among the photographers too...NOT!

 

[LekicINC]

woah...

Some diving in Sipadan is not that hard. When I went, it was actually really really easy. A lot of times, when doing your course, you will probably be by yourself (at least at SWV thats how they did it) so you wont have to worry about ruining it for photographers. If you do try Sipadan, and it is too hard, just go back to the boat and do mabul some more. You seem like a conscious enough person to know that you should not hang on any corals or stuff to help you dive better. Also, I might be a little nervous diving with no bottom in sight when just beginning, but i am a generally nervous guy. The only other concern I would have was that it was little rocky at the surface when I went and you will probably have to surface early and stay on the boat for a while, if you are prone to sea sickness then that will be a bummer. There is no question that you would get more out of your Sipadan trip if you went later, but you could always return! I think JonnieB is reasonably upset at the fact that many new divers care ruin the reefs by not controlling their buoyancy and messing up the reefs. Have to do dive mabul would not be such a horrible thing. Also, if you stay at any of the pricey hotels on mabul, the DM will point out all the stuff for you. Just let the Photographer go first, and then check it out when there done. Most of the creatures arent going anywhere! Thats part of the beauty of muck diving. WOW, now i really wanna go back. As for agents, I am not sure why you need to book through an agent? I rented all my equipment from SWV-Not one problem. Might want to see how you like diving before buying all the gear...