Kapalai, Sipadan, Mabul

[pulpoloco]

I'm planning to take a group to Kapalai, Mabul, Sipadan. I would like to go in early Dec. or March-April. I realize there are no guarantees on weather, but most destinations have months where there is a high probability of good conditions. Water temperatures also tend to be fairly predictable. What are our chances for calm seas, good vis, and water temps. 26C./80f. in those months? Also, I have several snorkelers in my group and wondered if the snorkeling is really excellent at the Kapalai Sipadan Resort. Thanks for your help.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hi Pulpoloco

I always think of January as being the worst month so on that basis March is going to be better than December. I have been a couple of times in January: once the seas were calm the vis was great and there were low diver numbers. The other time I thought the vis was shocking but those around me still seemed to be having a good time. As you say, no guarantees but I would go with March.

Kapalai as you probably know is a stilted resort built over shallow flats. This means that you can snorkel throughout the resort in very shallow water eg 1-2 metres where there are lots of starfish, blue spotted rays and the like on the sandy bottom. However where the reef drops deeper around the edges of the resort the visibility is often not good enough to be peering down 10 metres from the surface. So snorkelling over sand with some patches of coral and activity = yes, snorkelling over coral reefs in clear water = no.

That said the snorkelling around Sipadan itself is awesome so your friends can jump on the boat with you to snorkel (although they will still have to pay the Sipadan park Fee).

Another thought I had was that Kapalai is a stand alone resort in the middle of the sea. The other options are on Mabul island where there is a lot more for the non divers to do. I guess it depends if your snorkellers are hard core every day snorkellers or non divers who might snorkel now and then. If the latter it is possible they might go a bit stir crazy on Kapalai. However if they are happy chilling with a book or pottering around on a kayak then they will love Kapalai as it is a great resort.

Also it is definitely worth asking around for group deals since some sources do much better ones than others.

Here are some links which may help:

Tourist Info and Climate
Dive Sites of Kapalai
Kapalai Resort

Cheers

 

[pulpoloco]

Thanks "On The Spot". You provided me we a wealth of information that I really appreciate. This is a long way to go from Colorado, and it sounds like we would be taking some chances with conditions if we go in Dec-Mar. Think I'll talk to my dive buds about Sept. or April instead. Looks like water temp. never will require more than a 3mm. Thanks again, Pulpoloco

 

[Rickg]

DEC is in the middle of the monsoon season. Mar/Apr is at the end of the monsoon season.

The rainy season is from November to March. The wet season starts in November, with the onset of the northeast monsoons in Peninsular Malaysia and ends towards April.

SabahTravelGuide.Com, The ultimate travel guide to Sabah, Borneo

And "On The Spot's" comments on snorkelers is "spot on". My guess is most non-divers would prefer a resort on Mabul to the resort on Kapalai and if you want a resort with a pool then Borneo Divers is your choice.

Here is a good website for info on many areas in SEA. "Zubi" has a wealth of information on his site. Just start at "Dive and Travel" and navigate down until you get to "Malaysia" and then "Sipadan".

starfish: dive into the coral reef (underwater photos, information about coral reef animals)- Tauche zum Korallenriff (Unterwasser Fotos, Information über Rifftiere

Rickg