Sipadan Revisited and SMART Resort Review Part 1

[JonnieB]

Sipadan Revisited November 2007

Introduction:

This is a report of my recent visit to Sipadan. This is my second time diving in this area. I stayed a week at the SMART Water Bungalows resort on the island of Mabul. It is generally considered one of the top 5 dive sites in the world. When speaking of Sipadan, one is also referring to the nearby islands of Mabul and Kapalai (actually a shallow reef). These 3 areas are collectively known as “Sipadan.” There is no accommodation on Sipadan island itself. One can stay at Mabul or Kapalai islands or the mainland town of Semporna - making day-trips to the dive sites at Sipadan.

Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world. It is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The Malaysian portion (roughly half) is composed of the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Sipadan is just of the southern tip of Sabah. The gateway to Sipadan is the city of Tawau. Tawau is served by air from both Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur. From Tawau, it is 1.5 hour drive to the port town of Semporna. Sipadan island is a 45 minute speed-boat ride from Semporna.

Accommodations:

Sipadan is a fairly remote diving location. There is a limited number of small “boutique” dive resorts and operations based at Sipadan and Semporna. The number of divers visiting the two-dozen or so dive sites in the area is therefore limited. This is a definite plus for it conserves the marine environment and makes for a less crowded dive experience. As mentioned, accommodation is limited to Semporna, Mabul, Kapalai, and Matangani island. I would estimate that all together the resorts accommodate 300-400 people. The dive sites never feel crowded and generally your group is the only one at a given site at a particular time.

The majority of the accommodation is on Mabul island. Mabul is more accurately described as a sandbar, which just breaks the ocean surface, and is surrounded by a shallow sloping reef. It is a tiny speck of an island and walking from one end to the other takes 15-20 minutes. There are 3 resorts on the island: (1) SMART resort, (2) Sipadan Water Village, and (3) Borneo Divers. I have stayed at two of these – SMART and Sipadan Water Village. (There is also an oil drilling platform that has been converted into a dive resort moored just off the island called Seaventures. Most would consider it more of an eyesore and I will say nothing more about it.) Borneo Divers resort is entirely on the island itself. Sipadan Water Village is entirely build on stilts over the reef and connected to the island by walkway. SMART resort consists of two parts – the chalets, which are on the island, and the water bungalows, which are also build on stilts over the reef and connected to the island by walkway.

 

[JonnieB]

SMART Resort:

The SMART dive resort on Mabul island is composed of two sections: (1) The SMART chalets and (2) The SMART water bungalows. The island chalets were built first and are more basic in décor and ammenities. They are located on the island and form a completely self-contained dive resort. There is a dining room/social activities center, dive jetty, and shop. There is a small swimming pool and jacuzzi, as well as a nice palm-fringed beach. It also contains the back-of-the-house facilities for both the chalets and water bungalows, including laundry, water purification plant, electricity plant, air-fill station, and gear repair shop. It reminds me of a trip to summer camp, with its laid-back casual atmosphere.

SMART Water Bungalows:

The SMART Water Bungalows is the most recent addition to the resort. In short, it is one of the best dive resorts I have seen. It is all first class - from the dive operations to the kitchen to the comfortable rooms. It is built entirely over the shallow reef of Mabul island and connected to the island by a walkway. There is a very relaxed and comfortable ambiance to the place, and being directly over the water and watching the marine life below you from the walkways and decks all around is really nice. One morning, I even saw a turtle meandering around in the shallows around my room. It has the feel of a first class resort and is suitable for divers looking for that something extra in a dive vacation. It has none of that “funky (in a good way)” feel you find at some dive resorts. (For that, one can choose to stay at the chalets.)

The bungalows are a separate operation from the chalets. The design is traditional Malay/Bali and built entirely of wood. There are about 15 standard bungalows and 1 deluxe. Therefore, the number of guests is limited to around 35. The bungalows have their own dining facility and dive deck, as well as a nice reading lounge, mini-mart/dive-shop, and spa. There is also a bar for post-dive/dinner socializing. Bungalow guests also have use of the pool, jacuzzi, and beach at the island chalets. There are motorized golf carts to ferry guests between the bungalows and the island; as well as bicycles for use by bungalow guests.

The standard bungalows are about 30-40 sq m. They are fully furnished, with a writing desk and sitting area. All have air-conditioning and plenty of electric outlets. There is cable TV and DVD player, a room-safe, mini-bar, and small refrigerator. There is also a large deck area, with views are of the open sea or the island. The bungalows are a very comfortable place to while away one's free time during the dive week.

 

[JonnieB]

The Food:

As any diver knows, one dives of their stomach. And in this respect, the SMART Water Bungalows really excels. Without a doubt, it is the best food I have had at any dive resort and is basically on par with the food served at a 5-star hotel or fine restaurant. The dinning room is spacious and open-air...a very nice place to take your meals. There are 4 food offerings a day – breakfast, lunch, afternoon post-dive snacks, and dinner. All meals are buffet style. Breakfast is a typical selection of cereals, breads, and fruit. There is also an egg-station. On some days, in addition to the aforementioned dishes, there is also a selection of Chinese or Malay offerings.

It is at lunch and dinner where the kitchen really shines. At each of these meals, there is a selection of 4-5 meat and seafood entres. These range from chicken cordon bleu to grilled steak fillets, Chinese mayonnaise prawns, to grilled lamb chops. One one nite, the main seafood entre was lobster thermador, which was in fact cooked to order. There is always a selection of rice/potato, salads, and cooked vegetable dishes. There is also a dessert station with 4-5 delectable cakes and tarts. Despite being served buffet style, the quality of the dishes is that of food cooked to order. The dinning room is nicely fitted out for dinner and one may “dress” for dinner if one so chooses.

Water, fruit juices, coffee and tea are available throughout the day. Beer, wine, and soft drinks are available at extra charge.


The Diving:

My comments on the diving the islands of the Sipadan group will be somewhat brief. I have previously posted an extensive report on Sipadan at this forum – please refer to this report for more detailed information on diving in Sipadan. This report is primarily a supplement to that report, with the addition of a review of SMART water bungalows resort.

There are about two-dozen or so divesites spread around the islands of Sipadan, Mabul, and Kapalai. In general, the open-water sites are located around Sipadan and the shallow macro sites are found at Mabul and Kapalai. The diving schedule at the Mabul resorts is as follows: There are two morning boat dives after breakfast, with a surface interval at Sipadan island. After the 2nd dive, the divers return to Mabul for lunch. Then follows a mid-afternoon boat dive. That concludes the regularly scheduled dives for the day. Divers are free to do dusk/nite dives at the house reefs' of the resorts. Nite boat dives at sites away from the resorts may be arranged at additional cost. Therefore, most divers will do 4 dives per day...3 boat and 1 house reef. At SMART, the first boat generally leaves at 9 a.m. Therefore, if one was of a mind, an early morning house reef dive could be done before breakfast.

The boat dives are done in covered dive dinghies with up to divers. There is usually 1 or 2 dive masters per group. Sipadan is 30 minutes from Mabul and Kapalai 15 minutes. There are boat boys who do the heavy lifting when it comes to gear. In general, the diving is in this area is what I would term “easy.” The surface conditions are generally calm facilitating easy entries and exits. As to currents, at Sipadan, there can be some, but nothing more than “moderate.” I have never experiences what I would term a “high-adrenaline” dive in this area.

Sipadan island is an underwater pinnacle rising up dramatically from the ocean floor. The sea floor around Sipadan immediately drops off to over 400 meters (1200 feet). It is for this reason it is such a great site to see open-water pelagic species. On the wall dive sites (Barracuda Point for example), it is guaranteed to see several species of barracuda, including giant and big-eye varieties. Often, they can be see in a “tornado” formation which can be very dramatic. There are also large schools of jacks and snappers. Grey reef sharks are generally found at around 30 meters, with white-tip reef sharks in the shallows. Hammerheads are also reported seen on occasion. The ubiquitous green turtles for which Sipadan is known are all around. Other large specimens include a large school of resident bumphead parrot fish and Napoleon wrasse.

Mabul is primarily a site for macro specimens. Depths are generally shallow, with a maximum of around 30 meters. Commonly found on Mabul dives include several varieties of frogfish. Very large crocodile fish abound. Ghost pipefish, including rare robust variety, are present, as well as that macro favorite – the pygmy seahorse. Kapalai is a shallow reef that never breaks the water's surface. It too is a place to seek out unusual and rare macro specimens.