Trip Report - Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai

[Centrals]

I really want to go there but the journey is sooo long. I wish I had known about it while I was still in NY- where there are direct 5h flights vs 28h from HK. What flight/route did you take?

The journey we took was absolutely tedious and tiresome!
I believe it was by CX to LAX via Tokyo, changed to AA to San Jose. The return was also by AA to Fort Worth(overnight) and then eventually by CX also via Tokyo back to HK.
There was another 4-5 hrs road journey from San Jose to the port to board the boat(Undersea Hunter).
Never again!

 

[skl007]

This is all true, can't argue with it. Semporna isn't a pleasant place to spend time. I can say I did 11 dives with Seaventures over 4 days, during the high season this summer, and got 2 permits to Sipadan of the 3 days we did boat diving. I was happy with that, and I think if you go in low season, the odds of you doing > 50% of your dives at Sipadan is good (but not guaranteed).

What are your thoughts on Seaventures?

 

[drk5036]

What are your thoughts on Seaventures?

I liked it. I wish our dives could have been longer, most were 45 minutes and they display a max of 50 minutes on their dukes board. But diving under the rig was fun. Accommodations were quirky, and food was excellent (if you like Asian food). We got more Sipadan permits than I expected. If I could guarantee daily Sipadan trips, I would go there every year. As it is, still totally worth having to spend a day in Semporna, in my opinion.

 

[jjmochi]

The journey we took was absolutely tedious and tiresome!
I believe it was by CX to LAX via Tokyo, changed to AA to San Jose. The return was also by AA to Fort Worth(overnight) and then eventually by CX also via Tokyo back to HK.
There was another 4-5 hrs road journey from San Jose to the port to board the boat(Undersea Hunter).
Never again!

That sounds way too long. I'm thinking of going when I next have a work trip to the US, or combine with a short stay at LA or San Fran. By never again, were you at least glad you went once? Or think not worth the trek / better to stay in Asia?

 

[jjmochi]

On Semporna being a dump, I think our experience was also affected by some sort of festival that took place the night we arrived (we didn't know). Tons of people on the streets to the point we had to get off our car and walk the last 10 min to the hotel, literally pushing to fight our way through the crowd the whole time trying not to get separated. Streets were filled with trash everywhere the next day. It was so bad that my husband wanted to buy a ticket home immediately. Once we got to Mabul it was fine, if you stay within the resort. The main village is just as dirty and there are stray cats in bad condition everywhere, it made us quite sad.

KK airport is not great but not so bad I would go out of my way to avoid it. There is a small priority pass lounge in the international terminal, but not the domestic. Domestic terminal also had no AC.

 

[skl007]

I liked it. I wish our dives could have been longer, most were 45 minutes and they display a max of 50 minutes on their dukes board. But diving under the rig was fun. Accommodations were quirky, and food was excellent (if you like Asian food). We got more Sipadan permits than I expected. If I could guarantee daily Sipadan trips, I would go there every year. As it is, still totally worth having to spend a day in Semporna, in my opinion.

Awesome, I'm going to be there in May. Going to spend the night in Semporna upon arrival because it doesn't make sense to stay a night on the rig if I arrive too late to do any diving that day, and I'm going to spend my no fly time in Semporna as well. I'm hoping to to get a couple days in Sipadan but I'm pretty excited to get some good macro photography as well, and I hear the muck diving is great.

45-50 minutes a dive sounds good to me, I'm still new and I haven't even managed a 45 minute dive yet because I'm still working on air consumption. I'm diving locally to try and improve before my trip. Doesn't seem to make sense to go all the way out to Seaventures as a freshly minted OW diver.

 

[drk5036]

Awesome, I'm going to be there in May. Going to spend the night in Semporna upon arrival because it doesn't make sense to stay a night on the rig if I arrive too late to do any diving that day, and I'm going to spend my no fly time in Semporna as well. I'm hoping to to get a couple days in Sipadan but I'm pretty excited to get some good macro photography as well, and I hear the muck diving is great.

45-50 minutes a dive sounds good to me, I'm still new and I haven't even managed a 45 minute dive yet because I'm still working on air consumption. I'm diving locally to try and improve before my trip. Doesn't seem to make sense to go all the way out to Seaventures as a freshly minted OW diver.

Will you be going by yourself or with a buddy? They also have free diving under the rig, which is a ton of fun and a good time to practice some things. Just keep an eye on the currents because they can get strong!

 

[Centrals]

That sounds way too long. I'm thinking of going when I next have a work trip to the US, or combine with a short stay at LA or San Fran. By never again, were you at least glad you went once? Or think not worth the trek / better to stay in Asia?

The Galapagos, Hammerhead, Silky, Red Lipped Batfish etc etc are nice but getting there is NOT even half the fun.
However, if you can travel from LAX or SAF then it is entirely different story.
Diving there is indeed very very good but do make sure you have plenty of things to do/read/watch on the boat journey.

 

[Centrals]

45-50 minutes a dive sounds good to me, I'm still new and I haven't even managed a 45 minute dive yet because I'm still working on air consumption. I'm diving locally to try and improve before my trip. Doesn't seem to make sense to go all the way out to Seaventures as a freshly minted OW diver.

It doesn't.
Good on you have the foresight!
Have a nice trip.

 

[skl007]

Will you be going by yourself or with a buddy? They also have free diving under the rig, which is a ton of fun and a good time to practice some things. Just keep an eye on the currents because they can get strong!

My dive partner will be joining me! I'm definitely planning to take advantage of the free diving under the rig. Mostly to work with my camera and to just get as much mileage in as possible.