ADVICE PLEASE!! - Passes for diving at Sipadan in April

[DevonDiver]

I used to work for Scuba Junkies and really liked the vibe there. That was before they opened the resort on Mabul (all the diving was done out of Semporna). I know there was a fire at their Mabul resort last year - but should all be fixed up now I expect. They get a good share of Sipidan permits and you can book/reserve those in advance. Rental kit was a bit 'worn', but nothing worse than you'd expect in a very busy dive shop - just be sure to check it for functionality before you get on the boat. They're very cheap for what you get (diving on Sipidan!).

 

[Hike]

Where would the best place be to stay?

That depends on your budget and preferences. There is a range from 5* Spa Resorts ($$$$$) down to communal dorm rooms ($) and everything in-between. All can provide, or arrange scuba diving for you.

I know there are passes to dive sipadan but which would be the best place to stay to give us the best chance for these passes also a place where the diving is still good if we dont get chance to dive sipadan?

Passes are divided between the dive operations. Book early and specify/book the Sipidan dives at that time.

You should note that most dive operations class Sipidan as an intermediate-advanced level dive. Few will take you there directly and will want to see your performance on shallower/easier dives first (check-out dives). It's a 'wall dive' over an 800m abyssal drop with potentially very strong currents (including occasional down-currents). The ability to dive to 30m is also preferential, as this is where you'll see the most shark action.

If you're not diving Sipidan, then you'll either be on a boat trip to Kapalai, Seaventures Rig or around Mabul Island itself. You can shore dive from Mabul.

The dives around Mabul are awesome - if you like the exotic/small stuff. It's perfect for macro photography. Lots of frogfish, mandarinfish, ghost pipefish, leaf-fish and regular turtles.

After a few dives on Sipidan, I actually preferred the critter hunting/photos on Mabul.

Seaventures (16-18m) is also a great dive. Lots of cool critters - pygmy seahorses, frogfish, crocodile fish, schools of jacks..


Any other information on where to stay in Borneo/trip idea's would be appreciated, I'm really struggling on planning this trip

Give us an idea of your preferences and budget - that'll help with recommendations.

There's a huge volume of resources online. You can start with a search of this board... as there's been a "few" informational threads on the area already

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/404193-sipadan-water-village.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ma...sipadan-borneo-divers-smart-scuba-junkie.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/395773-sipadan-diving-uncle-changs.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/331353-sipadan-review.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/410392-advice-please-diving-sipadan.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/379917-sipadan-trip-report-12feb2011.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/357529-report-sipadan-seaventures.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/209389-sipadan-mabul.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/315080-sipadan-dive-season-may-july.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ma...orangutans-jungle-side-trip-sipadan-trip.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/292338-where-stay-dive-sipadan.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ma...lu-sipadan-family-trip-report-oct-2010-a.html

I found a few differences from what you are reporting, but I am sure it has everything to do with who you stay with. At mabdul water bungalows, booking early for sipadan means nothing, true that making your interests known to the staff will help them try to get you to sipadan, but they will guarantee nothing except if you stay one week, they will get you to sipadan for one day.
They also did not care who did this dive, in fact tons of people who could not even swim we're able to go float around. One group of eight Chinese got their open water cert done on the first dive and were then off to sipadan for the second dive as soon as we came back to the resort and they appeared to me to have no skill.
all being said, I agree it should be a place for aow only, the currents are very strong sometimes, but that's what brings in the good stuff. There are a lot of vertical currents as well, I was at 18m and got pushed down to 25m very quickly.
my wife only has ow and only 7 or 8 dives when we showed up to mabul, I considered getting a private dive master to watch her, but luckily there were only four people on the boat, we ended up being the only two on the boat as everybody else cancelled.
i am not sure where you are located, I am in dongguan, so there are real convent flights from Shenzhen to kk on air Asia, much earlier than hong kong. Just make sure to book plenty of extra baggage, it is real cheap when booking flight, but about 13usd per kilo at the airport. Tawau to kk on Malaysian charged nothing for extra baggage, we had 75kg and only had 40kg (total) per our ticket, nothing was ever said about it

 

[DevonDiver]

I found a few differences from what you are reporting, but I am sure it has everything to do with who you stay with. At mabdul water bungalows, booking early for sipadan means nothing, true that making your interests known to the staff will help them try to get you to sipadan, but they will guarantee nothing except if you stay one week, they will get you to sipadan for one day.

They also did not care who did this dive, in fact tons of people who could not even swim we're able to go float around. One group of eight Chinese got their open water cert done on the first dive and were then off to sipadan for the second dive as soon as we came back to the resort and they appeared to me to have no skill.

It's been a while since I worked there, but that certainly wasn't the case with some of the other dive operators. ScubaJunkies did allow pre-booking of Sipidan permits - in fact, look at their website and you'll see they encourage it. Likewise, they had a firm policy on diving at Sipidan - customers with minimal experience had to complete prior dive/s as a check out on Mabul/Kapalai before going to Sipidan. AOW was encouraged for Sipidan, but experience was assessed as the primary factor.

One trip to Sipidan in a weeks stay would be awful. I'm sure that this is caused by the ratio of permits to guests. I wouldn't book anywhere unless I was certain that I had permits for Sipidan. It'd be unrealistic to think that you'd get permits for every day... they have to be shared out.... but at least every-other day should be feasible. I also wouldn't pay a deposit for accommodation until a minimum provision of Sipidan permits was confirmed, in writing, by that operator.

 

[Midget]

I am very interested in going to Kinabatangan, is it easy to get there from Mabul?
Many Thanks

Yes, it is.
You would need to depart from the dive op in the morning.

 

[Midget]

I wouldn't book anywhere unless I was certain that I had permits for Sipidan. It'd be unrealistic to think that you'd get permits for every day... they have to be shared out.... but at least every-other day should be feasible. I also wouldn't pay a deposit for accommodation until a minimum provision of Sipidan permits was confirmed, in writing, by that operator.

The only operator now that will guarantee scheduled dive days at Sipadan is Celebes Explorer.
Really frustrating if you want to stay land-based.

 

[Tjack]

If you have a week to explore Borneo topside you might consider climbing Mt. Kinabalu, the highest peak in SE Asia. Saba's parks are well set up with affordable lodges. Porring Hot Springs is a good stop after the climb.

 

[Hike]

All good information has been stated above.
The only thing I can add is that Celebes Explorer is the only operator that guarantees Sipadan permits.

Are you are flying into Kota Kinabalu from Hong Kong? If so, catch an AirAsia evening flight from KK to Tawau (<$25 right now) and overnight in Tawau, or take a Malaysia Airlines early morning flight (<$35 right now). The dive operator you go with will pick you up in Tawau town or Tawau airport and transfer you to Semporna the morning that your package begins.

When your Sipadan dive adventure is finished, you can travel overland from Semporna to the Kinabatangan River. You can do this by private driver/taxi (expensive but might be worth it if you've got many bags with dive equipment) or public transport in minivans.
There are many resorts that do wildlife safaris on the river. You will see much more than just orangutans!
Not sure what needs you have for a sleeping set up, but there is something for everyone from bare bones to well appointed detached bungalows.
The two main areas for river safari operators are in Kampung Bilit and Sukau. Both villages are on the river. My advice is don't get sold a package that includes Gomantong Caves, Turtle Islands, and Sepilok. You do want a package that includes boat river tours, both day and night, because that is where you'll see the wildlife. The operator/lodge you choose can help arrange and figure out the transport from Semporna to their lodge.

I know it sounds kind of counter productive, but Shenzhen has morning flights to/from KK if you dont want to spend the over night in KK or Tawau. It still gives you time to catch a flight to Tawau and get to Mabul on the same night.
On another note, if you ever want to go the maldives, you can fly direct from Guangzhou to Male in 6 hours on China southern. As far as I know, there is no direct flight from Hong Kong

 

[hutchinson12]

Thank you everybody for all the great advice.
I did try booking Scuba Junkie but the communication wasn't great (I think they had Internet troubles) so we ended up booking at Kapalai.
We had such an amazing trip. The diving was outstanding!! We ended up diving at Sipadan for 3 days and mabul/Seaventures for 3 days.
Thanks again for all the advice!!

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi

Great it went so well. You were lucky with 3 days on Sipadan. Was Kapalai not very busy at the time or were you very lucky ? Some reviewers say that the food's not so good , would you agree ? Anything else you can share would be great , hope to get to Sipadan later in the year.

Many thanks

 

[hutchinson12]

Hi Tippytoes,
We went to Kapalai around Easter so it was quite busy. I think we were just lucky to get 3 days at Sipadan. After our 2nd day we asked the dive master and at the office if there were any spare passes we would like to go again. They said this was very unlikely but the next day our names were on the board to dive sipadan. Another 2 couples we got chatting to also got a third day so it can happen. Kapalai like most of the resorts will only guarantee 2 days if you stay 6 nights or 1 day if you stay 3 nights. The diving at Sipadan was really amazing but I would of been satisfied with just the 2 days. I really enjoyed the diving around Mabul and Seaventures. I've never really been into muck diving but it was quite exciting and i got quickly addicted to hunting down the cool critters. There was one dive at Mabul which I really enjoyed called 'Paradise' it had a small wreck with 3 gigantic turtles (who are apparantley there all the time) we saw large cuttle fish, frog fish, crocodile fish, puffer fish, sea horse etc etc all in the same area.
Kapalai as a resort was great. The best thing about it is the setting/location and the chalets. The chalets are large and clean with a great private balcony looking out onto the reef. When researching where to stay I also saw many complaints about the food. Overall i thought it was ok. The quality & variety is fine. It's more the people that are a problem. Some days big ques would form so I would just hang around until they were gone. They did top up most of the food but not everything. Keeping the food hot needs to be improved....numerous times my food was only just warm. There were many Chinese divers at the resort and they tend to do 'family style' so they get huge plates of food and share it on the table but this causes lots of wastage. I do think for the price of the resort they should look at improving it - maybe have 2 dinner times or have another dining room in a different location. There was a lovely big relaxing area which nobody ever used and it would be a great BBQ area.
The transfer from Semporna and the dive boats they use were great. I also found all the diving equipment fine.
They video your day at Sipadan which you watch on the evening and is available to purchase ........overpriced but nice to keep. I thought the dive area, the facilities and the guys who help you get ready / sort your euipment out were excellent.
Looking back I am very pleased I chose Kapalai and I would definately go back.
I hope whatever you decide on you have a great trip.
I'm now trying to research my next dive destination........thank god for scubaboard