Diving Sipadan

[xsynie]

Just to add into all the information above on Sipadan, just came back from Sipadan stayed at Bahrman's place, a budget accommodation operator, who has been diving and guiding divers in Sipadan for the past 8 years. He is Mr Bahrman a MSDT running a budget accommodation diving package ( pls visit his website at www.bahrmansipadan.com ) Food were marvelous, fish were fresh from the sea, shrimp, cuttlefish and etc......etc.............

The diving package is known to be the cheapest in town.

 

[fatbb]

Hi! I am a new diver. I had my first and also the only one diving experience in Australia last year. Should I go diving in Sipadan for diving as it says it is for experienced divers?

Also, is it a good time to dive there in Oct?

 

[jiveturkey]

It's not difficult diving but you need to have very good buoyancy control. The drop off goes down to 600m so you can't count on a shallow bottom to prop up poor skills. If you're not totally confident in your buoyancy skills, there are lots of other great dive sites for beginners all around Malaysia and SEA.

 

[Allison Finch]

I just returned from staying on Mabul at Borneo Divers. While it is a newer resort and the landscaping may not be as nice as the older SMART Resort, I found the employees and food to be wonderful. Mabul is a very small island and it only takes about 20 minutes to walk around the whole island. The island has three resorts and two villages. SMART resort (Sipidan Mabul resort) was very pretty with big palm trees and nice landscaping. When we dropped in for a drink, however, we were met with less than friendly employees. Sipidan Water Village was also very scenic. I understand that it is a bit pricier than the others. I only made a brief visit there.
The two villages were very different from each other. One was a typical fishing village built on stilts over the water. The other was a Sea Gypsy village. It was much more "basic" than the other as these people are very nomadic and, for the most part, live on their boats.
Borneo Divers is where I stayed. After a visit to last years DEMA, we took advantage of a special they were running. Airfare from Newark, NJ, six days of three dives a day(two on Sipidan and one on either Mabul or Kopalai), all lodging and meals, great guides who picked us up from all airports and gave us city tours, ALL FOR 2,200.00 US!! A great deal!
The resort was quite nice and the employees were exceptionally nice. One day I was ill, and the manager brought me medications and food/drink. Very nice. I can't say enough nice things about how well we were treated.
I could not have gone to many places in the Caribbean for that cheap. Contact Borneo Divers directly and you might just get a super deal too.

 

[pakman]

Allison, nice report on Borneo Divers. Glad to see them still providing good service.

But I'm anxious to hear how the diving was on your trip??? How did the schedule work (2 morning dives on Sipidan? Do you do your SI on Sipidan at the boat jetty? and than an afternoon dive on Mabul?).

Would love to go back to Sipidan, but I'm torned over the 2 dive per day limit on Sipidan itself...

 

[Mel.B]

I stayed with SMART in November last year and had a fantastic time. My diving package for 7 days 3dives/day + unlimted shore diving & all meals was about $1000US - not sure what that converts into in respective currencies but compared the average cost of boat diving in Australia was cheap. The general plan at SMART is 2 dives at Sipadan in the morning with the first dive leaving around 8.30am. It's about a 20min boat ride to Sipadan. surface interval of an hour is on Sipadan itself and the resorts provide hot & cold drinks and a snack. The third boat dive is around Mabul or Kapalai and is after lunch. The only way SMART would do three dives at Sipadan is if they did an early morning dive (leaving at 6.30) and only if all divers on the boat agreed (which not everyone on our boat did ) The resort at SMART is beautiful but there weren't many people there while I was there...maybe a max of 20pax when the resort can have 100 ppl there. As a bonus though they didn't charge me any extra to have a room all to myself. I'll definately head back there one day!

Mel.b

 

[travel_bunny]

fatbb...
I'm in the same predicament...new diver and rather bad buoyancy control, but was planning to do until I read the posts...did you go in the end??
Its ard to find a place to go to that is in-season around this time of the year...
anyone...? sipadan/ mabul a bad bad idea for new divers?

vyn

 

[pakman]

travel_bunny... nonsense, go and and enjoy yourself. The DM's will make sure you're doing appropriate dives (relative to your experience). There are plenty of dives on Sipidan/ Mabul to accomodate newly minted divers and seasoned pros.

edit: but be warned... you'll be spoiled afterwards from doing such an amazing site so early in your dive career . I made the mistake of diving Sipidan very soon after I got certified... Afterwards, every other trip I made elsewhere just seemed average

(well I'm exageratting a bit there... ).

 

[okidoki]

If you are staying 4 weeks visit also the island of Lakayan it is brought to my attention that it is good diving there as well. I am planning a two week trip in March to Borneo my self diving at SMART, Lakayan and Layang layang. There are many good place and different experiences. My first time there I dove with Scuba Junkies in Semporna the reason for staying at a resort is to have the oportunitie to make dawn and shore dives.
Enjoy your trip

 

[xsynie]

Pls visit one of the web site on budget accommodation at www.bahrmansipadan.com it would suite to your needs, perhaps