Budget diving in Sabah?

[cindybindi]

Heyas...

Just had to cancel a trip to Cozumel so doing an dive epic trip through Indonesia, Malaysia and maybe Thailand instead.

My question refers to diving in the Sabah region of Malaysia- Im googling and searching through this forum but the places recommended seem to be really expensive. Perhaps I am just used to Indonesian prices for all inclusive accommodation/dive packages ... or am I looking in the wrong place?

If you guys have any tips let me know, I'd really appreicate them

Cindy

 

[xsynie]

My respond may be a little bit late, however for those who are interested with the simillar budget diving in Sabah, please visit a website that I had came accross before, www.bahrmansipadan.com

 

[davidlkh]

If you are trying to go low cost:

Pulau Weh, Indonesia
Bali, Indonesia
Manado, Indonesia
Derawan, Indonesia
Lombok, Indonesia

In Indonesia, stay at Losmens to cut down on lodging costs.

Perhentian, Malaysia
Tioman, Malaysia
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Sipadan, Malaysia

Anyway, narrow down your choice first then ask again.

 

[xsynie]

Just to share with the rest Bahrman is offering a promotional price till the next March 2006.

The price listing as per attached

BAHRMAN SIPADAN DIVE SAFARI & SEA SPORT SDN BHD (704835-W)

Normal Price
For 10 Div 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000
< 10 Div 2310 1980 1650 1320 1000


PROMOTIONAL PRICE (VALID TILL 31ST MARCH 2006)
Divers 7D/6N 6D/5N 5D/4N 4D/3N 3D/2N

Price @ 1210 1100 990 880 770
15 16940 15400 13860 12320 10780
14 15730 14300 12870 11440 10010
13 14520 13200 11880 10560 9240
12 13310 12100 10890 9680 8470
11 12100 11000 9900 8800 7700
10 12100 11000 9900 8800 7700
9 10890 9900 8910 7920 6930
8 9680 8800 7920 7040 6160
7 8470 7700 6930 6160 5390

Price @ 1540 1320 1100 900 800
6 9240 7920 6600 5400 4800
5 7700 6600 5500 4500 4000

Price @ 2310 1980 1650 1320 1000
4 9240 7920 6600 5280 4000
3 6930 5940 4950 3960 3000



TERM AND CONDITIONS

a. The operator is Mr. BAHRMAN, providing a BUDGET ACCOMODATION DIVING PACKAGE for exotic diving in Sipadan / Mabul / Kapalai

b. All price quoted above are in Ringgit Malaysia

c. Diving Package Price DO NOT INCLUDE AIR-FARE and is EX-TAWAU which will include land transport to / from Semporna, Speed Boat Transfer to / from Mabul Island with 3 meals a day and free flow of hot drinks (milo,coffee and tea). It is an alcohol free accommodation ( but supply of alcohol related drinks are available at the Mabul Island)

d. A big group with 11 divers or more would entitle the group organiser for a &#8216;one free sitting&#8217;

e. Upon arrival at the Bahrman&#8217;s place before Noon, will entitle 1 Orientation Dive and 2 Boat Dive at Mabul.

f. If arrival is after noon, will only entitle to 1 Orientation Dive and 1Boat dive at Mabul

g. As above from 2nd day onwards will entitle 2 Boat Dive at Sipadan and 1 Boat Dive either at Kapalai or Mabul?

h. Sipadan Marine Park Entry Fees is RM40per day ( any changes will be refund/collect on the island itself)

i. On the last day (provided is beyond 24hours from Flying Time) will entitle to 1 boat dive at Sipadan and 2 boat dive in Mabul

j. It is a twin-sharing home stay budget accommodation with common sharing bathroom, electricity supply from 6.00pm to 6.00 am ONLY

k. All booking and reservation will only be consider valid upon FULL PAYMENT of the respective diving package 21 calendar day from date of arrival at the Tawau Airport.

l. All payment are to be made direct into Bahrman Sipadan Dive Safari & Sea Sports Sdn Bhd at Maybank Acc No : 5-62759-00126-0, copy of bank-in slip to be faxed to 03-92744764 as proof of payment and the management will issue an ORIGINAL TRAVEL ITINEARY AS A VALID DOCUMENT FOR ENTRY TO THE BAHRMAN&#8217;S PLACE. For foreigner pls e-mail to sort out payment arrangement.





ANY RESERVATION / BOOKING PLEASE CONTACT
ZAINI +6012-8010 350
SAFFWAN +6012-6868 927
Website : www.bahrmansipadan.com
e-mail : webadmin@bahrmansipadan.com

 

[xsynie]

Sorry the alignment had gone crazy, any way please e-mail me at xsynie@gmail.com for the price quotation.

 

[Zippsy]

great ad xsynie. How much did you pay for that?

 

[scubadudee]

Hmmm....it also depends on how extensive is your budgetting, your preferred type of accomodation, what you expect to see...macros? Actions? Mixtures? Preference of after dive setup...like resort style where usually they should have available unlimited house reef dives and travel daily to nearby islands or sites for your daily dives, simple setup like a typical NDC or Tasik Ria in Manado kind of setup or simply a dive operator that picks you up from the jetty daily our to sea and back in the evening to do all you wish ?

Beware and make sure you have asked all the hidden costs as Bunaken park and Lembeh straits may have some transfer costs between them and sometimes you maybe hinted to tip them.

For thailand, their pricing are pretty general and open as there are many operators and some larger companies they operate like an consortium...prices ranges from 1800Bht to as much as 3300Bht for daily boat dive (of either 2 to 3 tanks)

If you are going in a group of around 4 ...bargain with them...simple make your online accomodation stay and walk-in to negotiate.

Hey...anyone going to Phuket before 15th Dec? Am planning a short trip there before a long haul coming up in March 06.

Have a happy dive....

 

[fishnchips]

Before signing on to Bahrman dive package, I would strongly suggest reading the info on it's web site. You may not get all your dives and there is no refund. Also, what exactly is an orientation dive? Last time I did an orientation dive with another resort, the resort took us down to 8ft in the lagoon and proceed to request us to remove and replace mask, retrieve reg, demo hand signal and hover. And that was it. That consider an orientation dive and it is one of the paid dive. So exactly what kind of orientation dive is it with Bahrman package.

Also, there is a jetti dive. Not that jetti dive is not interesting. I've done a number of jetti dives and they were great dives. But to fly all the way to Sabah, paid for the air ticket so you can do a jetti dive?? C'mon, that's lame. The web site also stated no refund if you don't get all your dive. All in all, it sounds like a dive operator that's hinting on not fulfilling the service and mentally prepare you so that when you did not get what you paid for, you can't do anything about it either.