Help! How do I contact Mabul Water village?

[Ralph Capeling]

Does anyone know how to contact Mabul Water Village resort directly? I have been trying to book and there seems to be more than one organization offering accommodation there but they don't seem to be the ones who own/run the resort and in one case tried to direct us to some accommodation that we are not interested in.

 

[Saldiac]

You mean the Sipadan Water Village Resort? If so then check Contact Us :: Sipadan Water Village Resort, Mabul Island, Borneo.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Thanks Salidac That one seems to be chalets which have had some poor reviews. I understand that there is another called Mabul Island Bungalows that gets better reviews. do you know how to contact that one?
Regards
Ralph

---------- Post added ----------

I checked out Trip Advisor and was able to get the info there. It seems like most of the resorts there get a lot a bad reviews but people keep going for the diving.
Regards
ralph

 

[Saldiac]

I guess at the end of the day it's the diving that really counts and for sleeping you just need a bed and a roof over your head.
Enjoy your trip and if you shoot any pics/vids then feel free to share!

 

[diversteve]

another called Mabul Island Bungalows that gets better reviews

Was it one of these? I'm curious as to which one.

Welcome to Mabul Water Bungalow - Explore Asia Tours Sdn Bhd

Sipadan-Mabul Resort
both appear to be owned by SMART.

 

[Quero]

Steve is correct. (I know this since I am a contracted agent for the company.)

 

[Hike]

Steve is correct. (I know this since I am a contracted agent for the company.)

If the reason of your trip is to dive sipadan, don't stay at mabul water bungalows. They give you the lowest chance of getting to sipadan, they only will guarantee one day at sipadan. If you stay there a week. They are at a disadvantage as they basically have two resorts getting the sane amount of permits as every other resort. With that being said, the hotel is easily the best in the area, the staff is amazing and will try all they can to get you to sipadan. I stayed 4 nights in offseason and would not have gotten to sipadan u less I paid 4 times the permit fee to buy a permit from another resort or if a group cancelled at the last minute, where they knocked on my door at 09:45pm to tell me I'm on the 5:00am boat, so two of tree days diving at sipadan. Dives at mabul, 2 of three were great and I am not a huge macro fan. Great hotel with great staff, just at a disadvantage due to this permit system. If I was going here for mabul diving with a chance of sipadan, it's a definite choice

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Thanks all for the helpful comments and advice. We finally decided to go with Seaventures (the oil rig) after making a spread sheet comparing certainty of diving Sipadan and rankings from Trip Advisor. We are booked for 5 nights so should be able to get to Sipadan at least one day.
Regards
Ralph

 

[James R]

You will have fantastic diving right under your rig. That was one of my favorite sites for macro and finding ribbon eel when we stayed at Sipadan Water Village in Oct 2011. I am not sure how they do the Sipadan Island allotment, but in 10 dive days we did 5 days at Sipadan Island. A lot of the people staying at the village chose to stay around Mabul to do macro photography or decided not to get up so early while on vacation -- the boat left at 0515 and if you weren't there you didn't go. Because of those two things, we probably got two or three trips that would have been given to someone else.

 

[The Wolf]

If the reason of your trip is to dive sipadan, don't stay at mabul water bungalows. They give you the lowest chance of getting to sipadan, they only will guarantee one day at sipadan. If you stay there a week. They are at a disadvantage as they basically have two resorts getting the sane amount of permits as every other resort.

That's so not true. The permits are issued to SMART but sabah parks know they have 2 resorts (and another one being built as we speak). It could be there were simply too many divers during the period you were there but everytime I have been out to Mabul/Sipadan, never had a problem getting at least 1-2 dives in at Sipadan over a 7 day period.

And I am out there no less than 10-12 times a year since I am based out here.