Budget Mabul ???

[415Gem]

Malaysian SB`ers , Hello . I will be going from S. Philippines to Sabah in a months time . I want to go to Sipadan / Mabul area . I have read SMART is a very good operation . I was wondering if any other budget conscious divers had experience in Mabul area ? I am a simple person ... a fan , clean water and a place to recharge the batteries for my underwater camera is all I need. What would you consider the best value venue ? House reef , dive package prices and accomodation prices ? Also ... is Tauwa ( Sp. ? ) very close to Sandakan/Semporna area ? Thanks Kevin

 

[TJ_Diver]

Hi Kevin, You may want to consider Seaventures dive platform. It is just off of the coast of Mabul. I believe it is one of the lowest total cost options in the area. The rooms are OK, but they are not luxurious - we had minor problems with the shower and there is some paint peeling off in areas.
However it is a unique diving experience and there is quite good diving just below the platform. We saw pygmy seahorses, frogfish, bumphead parrotfish, and many others on these dives. Typical day would be two dives at Sipadan in the morning, followed by a dive at Mabul or Kapalai in the afternoon. The house reef is always open and there is unlimited free diving under the platform.
It's not too far from Semporna to Tawau. I believe it was around 1 hr drive - the resort can arrange transportation if you ask.
I would only recommend Seaventures if you plan on doing a lot of diving and not much else. Since you are "stuck" on the platform, there isn't much else to do.

 

[MatD4D]

Uncle Changs is the cheap one on Mabul: Home

Or Scuba Junkies on Semporna: Sipadan Diving | Scuba Junkie

 

[415Gem]

MatD4D TY thats the stuff I am looking for . Someone really ragged on Scuba Junkie ... Are they really that bad ? Kevin

 

[Rickg]

SeaVentures gets my vote also. Not as cheap as Uncle Changs or Scuba Junkies but you don't have the longer boat rides and you have unlimited diving right under the rig platform which has some great muck diving.

 

[415Gem]

Rick and all that answered , Thanks for the info . I guess I will make some res.`s and maybe try a couple of places . I like SeaVentures ... but heard the house reef wasn`t that good ? I do like micro photography ... and just making bubbles ... I also like the Uncle Changs backpacker attitude . Fact is I am social , and just want to dive . I saw some of the other options and will have to make the decision ... ahhh it`s nice to have options and not just the $ 150 room and $ 80 two tank resort routine . Maybe when I win the lottery ! Kevin

 

[TJ_Diver]

415Gem - The house reef at SeaVentures is one of the draws for this place. We dove it as often as possible. It isn't a beautiful coral garden, but there is a tremendous amount of life down there. Other dive operators actually take trips to SeaVentures to dive there, so it can't be too bad.
It isn't all macro under the rig - although there is plenty of macro. As I mentioned, we have seen small schools of bumphead parrotfish, larger schools of big-eyed snappers and others.

 

[gee13]

Its great dive on a good day but current can be strong.

 

[DevonDiver]

There's a lot of confusing info on here, for such a short thread.

Uncle Changs is mega-cheap. Absolutely no frills. Dorm style shared room, with basic food. Friendly.

Scuba Junkies is aimed at the backpacker ('flashpacker') market. They achieve low prices through volume of customers. They have young, energetic, fun staff, meet industry standards and are very safety conscious. The instructors are very experienced and most of the diving staff are dedicated underwater photographers. The new SJ resort on mabul is clean, comfortable and getting good reviews so far. The accomodation at Semporna needed a refurbishment. You get what you pay for. I've heard people criticise SJ for 2 reasons; (1) inter-shop politics/competition and (2) absurd expectations by comparing them with the 5* resorts on Mabul. It's silly to listen to such rumours. Have a look at their Facebook page to get a more realistic feel.

Seaventures. A step up in price. More mid-market. There is a dive site under the rig (16-18m, current, good marine life). Otherwise you will have to go by boat every time for the awesome shore diving around Mabul.

I recommend the convenience of being on Mabul itself...as there are more shore diving options on shallower sites (I can spend literally hours with my camera at 6-8m around the shore). Distance to Sipidan is identical from Mabul or Seaventures. Seaventures has just one dive option (without boat) and that is quite deep if you plan to dive repeatedly. Whilst the Seaventures site is definitely worth a visit (or two), there is a much wider selection of sites around Mabul island itself.

 

[QBit]

It would also be good to talk about you can dive on the Sea Ventures house reef no matter where you stay on Mabul! (Once a day its also probably enough because it is a deep-ish dive as well...)