Ever dived off Sarawak? or Labuan?

[lucybuykx]

A couple of years ago we spent several months diving around Malaysia including Perhentian Islands, Tioman, Sipadan/Mabul and the north coast of Sabah.

We had expected to find a number of dive operators in Sarawak, in Miri and Kuching and hoped to find someone to take us to Labuan. We found only one dive operator in Miri, and they were not easy to find, in a small office complex near a run down hotel. We went out for a day with them and enjoyed the diving, good clear viz and lots of life.

The downsides were the lack of professionalism and the price. We still considered ourselves newbie divers at the time and had discovered that on several occasions previous we had been with a 'dive master' who was only open water qualified. So we asked to see our guide's cert card. He just laughed. In addition, the waiver forms we were asked to sign requested our cert details and signatures. We didn't complete them and they were never checked. Its a good thing nothing went wrong!

As for the price, I guess the lack of competition meant they could charge twice the going rate in Kota Kinabalu over in Sabah.

We intend going back to Malaysia later this year and want to explore more. So heres a couple of questions for you Asian divers -

Q.Has anybody been diving off Sarawak and can recommend dive operators?

Q.Are there any dive ops diving Labuan at the moment?

 

[Wisnu]

There's another alternative to dive Sarawak (Miri) and Labuan, ie. through Brunei. You can contact Takako Wada scubatech international at info@scubatechintl.com . She is very helpfull PADI instructor.
The cost for diving here is very reasonable - or even very cheap if you are member; the membership cost is paid with 2 days diving.
Their operation base in Empire hotel - the most luxurius hotel in the region; they use high speed catamaran. Labuan and other site can be reached within 1 hour. The brunei reef, abandoned oil platform is also beautiful dive site.
Last time I dove with them was on January to clean the fishing net entangled on the cement wreck.

 

[lucybuykx]

Thank you Wisnu. I'll put her in my address book. I have flown over Brunei a couple of times but never touched down. Next time I will definately visit.

 

[TravelSimone]

There's another alternative to dive Sarawak (Miri) and Labuan, ie. through Brunei. You can contact Takako Wada scubatech international at info@scubatechintl.com . She is very helpfull PADI instructor.
The cost for diving here is very reasonable - or even very cheap if you are member; the membership cost is paid with 2 days diving.
Their operation base in Empire hotel - the most luxurius hotel in the region; they use high speed catamaran. Labuan and other site can be reached within 1 hour. The brunei reef, abandoned oil platform is also beautiful dive site.
Last time I dove with them was on January to clean the fishing net entangled on the cement wreck.

Wisnu, do you think this is possible if a person is in Kota Kinabalu and has only 3 days? I am also interested in Labuan. We (my husband and I) will be in Sabah after my trip to Bali. We plan on taking a 5 day jungle river tour and also dive for 5 days in Mabul/Sipadan. We have 3 days that we need to plan and do not know what to do. We really wanted to go to Lankayan, but 3 days doesn't seem to be enough time. We don't need to dive 3 days- we would even be happy diving 1 day. We are at a loss of what to do. Maybe we should just go to Brunei and sightsee. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[malaysia-islands]

TravelSimone,

Labuan and Brunei can be accessed from Kota Kinabalu by passenger ferry, 3-4 hours. I'm telling you this because, due to your 3-day limited time, flying *may* not be possible after you dive. Flying will take less than 30 mins.

Lankayan is on the opposite side of Kota Kinabalu. Hence your 3-day time also may not be enough. Unless you arrange for ground transport from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan (6-8 hrs) to avoid flying.

Otherwise, you can always dive at Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, 20 minutes off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. I did my dives there and you can read the dive report below:

Hanging Garden, Gaya Island: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/tar-marine-park/dive/hanging-garden.shtml
Suman Reef, Sulug Island: http://www.malaysia-islands.com/html/tar-marine-park/dive/sulug-west.shtml

 

[malaysia-islands]

On Sarawak, there are two dive areas that I know. #1 - Miri Reef (10-15 dive sites), #2 - Tanjung Datu (requires overnight camping or homestay or some sort, some hours away from Kuching, I guess it's a "no" for you)

 

[Wisnu]

Travelsimone
There’s direct short direct flight from KK to Brunei or you can use Air Asia (cheap) from KK to Miri. I am not sure about the schedule.
The other possibilities are by using ferry from KK to Labuan; stay there for diving or you can visit Brunei from Labuan also using ferry (1 hour).
If you stay in Brunei you can dive Labuan, Brunei reefs, oil platform and Sarawak sites. If you are in Brunei during weekend probably I can join the diving.

 

[Wisnu]

One more,
In Brunei if youre BSAC you may dive with www.panagadivers.com - BTW they are not commercial dive shop; instead part of Shell Brunei sport club. I am not the member (and not intend to be their member if still very BSAC) but I can refer to my collegues.

 

[TravelSimone]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. We might end up down in Semporna early to dive at Mataking. We have a lot of arrangements to juggle (Bali, peninsular Malaysia, Borneo) and are trying to get in a nice, diverse amount of diving. I'll be sure to post a trip report.

 

[bteo3]

I just saw this thread and know this is extremly late info. Anyway I just post so maybe someone will find this useful for future reference.

I know there are 3 operators in Kuching city the one I got my OW cert is called Borneo Scuba which organise tours to Sipadan as well. There are 3 dive sites near Kuching one is Talang shallow dive around 10m excellent for newbie like me . Their price is reasonable and is very professional. Below is their link the other is intro to the dive site.

Borneo Scuba Diving and Adventure Centre
KuchingDiveSites