In 2006 I had a plane ticket to Borneo and reservations with Borneo Divers to dive the Sipadan/Mabul area. Unfortunately, life interfered and I had to cancel my trip. I had been reading about the permit system now in place to dive Sipadan, and the problems it has caused, and I was seriously considering elsewhere to dive. But, I decided to complete my 2006 trip; therefore, I booked with Borneo Divers for March 2009.
I arrived at the Kota Kinabalu (KK) airport around 11:20 PM. Processing through immigration (visa is free and no airport departure fee)) and customs was hassle free. After I cleared customs and went out the doors into the lobby, to the left I found a currency exchange booth and an international ATM, which I used to obtain Malaysian Ringgits (MYR). Next to the ATM is a booth to buy a taxi ticket. I bought a 20 MYR ticket to the Hyatt hotel, went straight out the doors to a waiting taxi and was at the Hyatt in 15 minutes. I spent one night there going to Mabul and two nights on my return. I can recommend it. Nice ocean view room, decent breakfast buffet, a good steak dinner, very friendly staff and a great location to walk around KK. An ocean view room will pick up some street noise but to me it was just the sounds of a city with some life.
Borneo Divers met me at the Tawau airport with an air conditioned bus for the trip to Semporna where I boarded a boat for the last leg to Mabul.
The Resort.
Ambiance: Nice.
Staff: Very friendly.
Room: Comfortable and met my needs.
Food: Mainly buffets, it was adequate and sometimes good.
Price of a soda was 3 MYR; a Large Tiger beer was 18 MYR; a 90 minute in room massage was 190 MYR and a T-shirt was 38 MYR.
There is a camera room at the dive shop but I used my plug converter to charge my batteries in my room.
The Diving.
Before I booked I knew that I would probably not dive Sipadan on a daily basis, but I enjoy macro, so I was looking forward to see what Mabul offered. Each day around 5 PM they posted where you would dive the next day and it became like reading the lottery results to see who won Sipadan. Who went to Sipadan each day, and who did not go, became a major topic of conversation at dinner. There were unhappy divers and this distracted from the enjoyment of being on a dive trip. If I wanted frustration I could have stayed home and watched my stocks.
When you dive Sipadan you are scheduled for four dives. You leave around 8:00 AM and return around 4:30-5:00 PM. You do your surface intervals and eat lunch on Sipadan. They do a good job of providing food, snacks, water, coffee, etc., but to sit in the shade you have to sit on wooden picnic table benches with no backs. You can choose to lay/play on a beautiful beach but it was hot. There are toilet facilities. One person, who said he was booked for four straight days on a Sipadan boat, cancelled the morning of the fourth day because he was too tired to do another four dive day. His Sipadan permit went unfilled.
Sipadan diving: Barracuda Point is a great dive and was my favorite Sipadan dive. I dove it four times. Schooling barracuda and jacks, lots of turtles, white tips and an occasional grey reef. I also saw leaffish and some nice nudibranchs. The Coral Garden and the Drop Off were my other favorite Sipadan dives.
Mabul: Decent macro included nudibranchs, frogfish, pigmy seahorse, ornate and banded pipefish, ribbon eels and mandarin fish. My favorite dive sites were the Seaventures Platform, Eel Garden and Lobster Wall. Some of the Mabul sites felt crowded.
Dives were 45-50 minutes. The water temperature was 84-85 F./29 C. and my max depth on this trip was 96 ft/29 meters. Weather was a non issue regarding the diving. The following is how my boat dive schedule ended:
3/22 - 4 boat dives Sipadan; 3/23 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/24 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/25 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/26 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/27 - 4 boat dives Sipadan; and 3/28 - 2 boat dives Sipadan. On the 28th I only made two Sipadan dives because I was flying out the afternoon of the 29th and I follow the 24 hour rule. Also, after the second dive I could return to Mabul on the boat that brought the lunch to Sipadan. Technically, I could have made the third dive and just made 24 hours, but that would mean sitting through another surface interval and the fourth dive. By going back at noon I could also rinse my gear, begin the drying process and get an afternoon massage (a great way to end a dive trip).
I am not complaining about the number of Sipadan dives that I made; however, I am not satisfied with the number of boat dives that I got. I booked directly with Borneo Divers and my booking agreement states that it includes three boat dives per day. Below in bold is cut and pasted from this agreement.
Thanks for your email. Yes, your booking is firmed.
SAMPLE OF ITINERARY FOR 9 DAYS/8 NIGHTS
March 21
Since you are taking the 2nd arrival via MH2137 then there will be no diving on the first day. 2nd arrival - 2.20 pm from Tawau airport to Semporna. From Semporna to Mabul island will be at 4.00 pm.
March 22
There will be 3 boat dives between Kapalai, Mabul and Sipadan and unlimited jetty house reef dive "SIPADAN DIVES ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY SABAH PARKS*.
March 23 to March 28
same as March 22
If you average my dives for 3/22 and 3/23, it does average three boat dives per day. But, if you average my boat dives for 3/24-27, I come up two dives short of three boat dives per day. I am not including 3/28 because I did not expect three dives that day. I was not the only one who wanted three boat dives per day. My booking agreement warns about diving Sipadan, but it does not say that you only get three boat dives if you dive Sipadan.
Overall, the diving was decent (a few times great) but expensive. And, getting less than three boat dives per day made it even more expensive. My eight night package with Borneo Divers included a single supplement, three meals per day, diving and pick-up/return to Tawau airport. If you divide the cost of this package by the 18 boat dives that I made the result is a cost of U.S.$122.00 per boat dive. Even if you add a third dive on the 28th, to make it 19 boat dives, this results in a cost of almost $116.00 per dive. If you can find a buddy you can do an afternoon walk-in dive off the jetty but I do not count that as a guided boat dive.
For comparison, when I dove Anilao (great macro) I purchased a similar package with a dive resort (paid the single supplement, three meals, diving and pick-up/return to the Manila airport). The nine dive day Anilao package divided by the 29 dives I made resulted in a cost of U.S.$60.00 per dive.
March is not considered the busy season and I would guesstimate that during my stay that the resort at best maybe averaged 50%-60% capacity. I would not want to be there during peak season. If your prime objective is to dive Sipadan, and you do not care much for marco, you should try and get a written guarantee for your Sipadan dives, or be prepared. Of course, I thought that I had it in writing that I would get three boat dives per day. Would I return? If someone else paid for it. I would like to go back to Kota Kinabalu (looked interesting), and then maybe go visit the orangutans.
I arrived at the Kota Kinabalu (KK) airport around 11:20 PM. Processing through immigration (visa is free and no airport departure fee)) and customs was hassle free. After I cleared customs and went out the doors into the lobby, to the left I found a currency exchange booth and an international ATM, which I used to obtain Malaysian Ringgits (MYR). Next to the ATM is a booth to buy a taxi ticket. I bought a 20 MYR ticket to the Hyatt hotel, went straight out the doors to a waiting taxi and was at the Hyatt in 15 minutes. I spent one night there going to Mabul and two nights on my return. I can recommend it. Nice ocean view room, decent breakfast buffet, a good steak dinner, very friendly staff and a great location to walk around KK. An ocean view room will pick up some street noise but to me it was just the sounds of a city with some life.
Borneo Divers met me at the Tawau airport with an air conditioned bus for the trip to Semporna where I boarded a boat for the last leg to Mabul.
The Resort.
Ambiance: Nice.
Staff: Very friendly.
Room: Comfortable and met my needs.
Food: Mainly buffets, it was adequate and sometimes good.
Price of a soda was 3 MYR; a Large Tiger beer was 18 MYR; a 90 minute in room massage was 190 MYR and a T-shirt was 38 MYR.
There is a camera room at the dive shop but I used my plug converter to charge my batteries in my room.
The Diving.
Before I booked I knew that I would probably not dive Sipadan on a daily basis, but I enjoy macro, so I was looking forward to see what Mabul offered. Each day around 5 PM they posted where you would dive the next day and it became like reading the lottery results to see who won Sipadan. Who went to Sipadan each day, and who did not go, became a major topic of conversation at dinner. There were unhappy divers and this distracted from the enjoyment of being on a dive trip. If I wanted frustration I could have stayed home and watched my stocks.
When you dive Sipadan you are scheduled for four dives. You leave around 8:00 AM and return around 4:30-5:00 PM. You do your surface intervals and eat lunch on Sipadan. They do a good job of providing food, snacks, water, coffee, etc., but to sit in the shade you have to sit on wooden picnic table benches with no backs. You can choose to lay/play on a beautiful beach but it was hot. There are toilet facilities. One person, who said he was booked for four straight days on a Sipadan boat, cancelled the morning of the fourth day because he was too tired to do another four dive day. His Sipadan permit went unfilled.
Sipadan diving: Barracuda Point is a great dive and was my favorite Sipadan dive. I dove it four times. Schooling barracuda and jacks, lots of turtles, white tips and an occasional grey reef. I also saw leaffish and some nice nudibranchs. The Coral Garden and the Drop Off were my other favorite Sipadan dives.
Mabul: Decent macro included nudibranchs, frogfish, pigmy seahorse, ornate and banded pipefish, ribbon eels and mandarin fish. My favorite dive sites were the Seaventures Platform, Eel Garden and Lobster Wall. Some of the Mabul sites felt crowded.
Dives were 45-50 minutes. The water temperature was 84-85 F./29 C. and my max depth on this trip was 96 ft/29 meters. Weather was a non issue regarding the diving. The following is how my boat dive schedule ended:
3/22 - 4 boat dives Sipadan; 3/23 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/24 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/25 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/26 - 2 boat dives Mabul; 3/27 - 4 boat dives Sipadan; and 3/28 - 2 boat dives Sipadan. On the 28th I only made two Sipadan dives because I was flying out the afternoon of the 29th and I follow the 24 hour rule. Also, after the second dive I could return to Mabul on the boat that brought the lunch to Sipadan. Technically, I could have made the third dive and just made 24 hours, but that would mean sitting through another surface interval and the fourth dive. By going back at noon I could also rinse my gear, begin the drying process and get an afternoon massage (a great way to end a dive trip).
I am not complaining about the number of Sipadan dives that I made; however, I am not satisfied with the number of boat dives that I got. I booked directly with Borneo Divers and my booking agreement states that it includes three boat dives per day. Below in bold is cut and pasted from this agreement.
Thanks for your email. Yes, your booking is firmed.
SAMPLE OF ITINERARY FOR 9 DAYS/8 NIGHTS
March 21
Since you are taking the 2nd arrival via MH2137 then there will be no diving on the first day. 2nd arrival - 2.20 pm from Tawau airport to Semporna. From Semporna to Mabul island will be at 4.00 pm.
March 22
There will be 3 boat dives between Kapalai, Mabul and Sipadan and unlimited jetty house reef dive "SIPADAN DIVES ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY SABAH PARKS*.
March 23 to March 28
same as March 22
If you average my dives for 3/22 and 3/23, it does average three boat dives per day. But, if you average my boat dives for 3/24-27, I come up two dives short of three boat dives per day. I am not including 3/28 because I did not expect three dives that day. I was not the only one who wanted three boat dives per day. My booking agreement warns about diving Sipadan, but it does not say that you only get three boat dives if you dive Sipadan.
Overall, the diving was decent (a few times great) but expensive. And, getting less than three boat dives per day made it even more expensive. My eight night package with Borneo Divers included a single supplement, three meals per day, diving and pick-up/return to Tawau airport. If you divide the cost of this package by the 18 boat dives that I made the result is a cost of U.S.$122.00 per boat dive. Even if you add a third dive on the 28th, to make it 19 boat dives, this results in a cost of almost $116.00 per dive. If you can find a buddy you can do an afternoon walk-in dive off the jetty but I do not count that as a guided boat dive.
For comparison, when I dove Anilao (great macro) I purchased a similar package with a dive resort (paid the single supplement, three meals, diving and pick-up/return to the Manila airport). The nine dive day Anilao package divided by the 29 dives I made resulted in a cost of U.S.$60.00 per dive.
March is not considered the busy season and I would guesstimate that during my stay that the resort at best maybe averaged 50%-60% capacity. I would not want to be there during peak season. If your prime objective is to dive Sipadan, and you do not care much for marco, you should try and get a written guarantee for your Sipadan dives, or be prepared. Of course, I thought that I had it in writing that I would get three boat dives per day. Would I return? If someone else paid for it. I would like to go back to Kota Kinabalu (looked interesting), and then maybe go visit the orangutans.
