Sipadan - is it WORTH it?

[diversusan]

My husband and I stayed at Sipadan Water Village for 4 nights just over a year ago. We arrived on December 29th and did an afternoon dive near the resort. Three more Mabul dives on December 30th. Four Sipadan dives on December 31st. Two morning dives back abound the resort (Mabul) on January 1st.

We loved the diving there, both Mabul and Sipadan. In Mabul there were many cool things...loads of turtles, cuttlefish, different eels (including blue ribbon eels), scorpionfish (including leaf scorpionfish), frogfish, and lots of pretty small reef fish. Sipadan was outstanding...absolutely giant schools of bumphead parrotfish, big-eye jacks, and barracuda. Lots of sharks and turtles. And much more!

There was definitely no ban on cameras at Sipadan when we were there (2011/2012). I don't recall a 45-minute dive limit, but it's possible.

We combined our visit to Sipadan with a rainforest stay on Borneo where we saw pigmy elephants, orangutans, probiscus monkeys, etc. It was a wonderful trip and I'd go back again in a heartbeat!

 

[Searcaigh]

Yeah, I should have said 45 minute dive time limits on boat dives. Shore dives are altogether different, but then they're not at Sipadan....

Ha ha it was the first time I dived there in 1992

Just checked my logbook for 2011 and my average dive time on the Sipadan dives was 50 mins and coming up with 100 bar

I still want to get back

 

[chillyinCanada]

Guam are you sure you've calculated correctly on the Borneo divers Mabul resort pricing?

 

[Guam]

Chilly,

Sorry about that. You are right. I used the wrong numbers.

Here was their correspondence via email:

"Thank you very much for your enquiry.
We are pleased to offer our rate and information of Borneo Divers Mabul Resort package as follows:-

Diver's rate :
RM1,148 per pax per night based on single supplement.
RM765 per pax per night based on twin share."

I took that to mean 1148 x 2 = 2296 a night x 4 (nights) = rm 9184 (I accidentally posted 9148). RM2296 divided by 4 = $765.

I should have used the following:

RM765 x 2 = 1530 x 4 (nights) = 6120RM or $510 a night.

Borneo Divers Mabul Resort was the only company that gave me the weird "per pax per night" quote. I could very well have calculated it wrong. I guess I could have been more accurate and used google's exchange rate of 3.2, but I kept it simple at 3.

They also added:

"Full set equipment (above) is RM95 per day per pax

Dive Computer is RM30 per day
Torch is RM25 per day

Anyone who wish to dive at Sipadan will need to apply and pay for a permit. The permit fee is RM40 per pax per day. The following personal details are required in order to apply for the permit:-

Name on passport
passport no.
nationality
date of birth
address

Please note that diving in Sipadan is not guaranteed. It is subject to the approval from the Government Authority. Our resort is having 14 quotas at the moment to enter Sipadan island (should there be any changes of our quota allotment , we shall notify you at once)."

The bold font above was added by me.

I wasn't trying to make Borneo Divers look bad. I just used bad math. I picked the first three emails out of a handful of responses I received. The moral of the story was they (ALL of the resorts) were simply charging too much money for CHANCE to dive where I wanted to dive.

 

[The Wolf]

What is "too much" money to dive at one of the top 5 dive spots in the world? Too much is based on your expectations. There are alternatives which are far cheaper but you are basing your comments on 3 resorts..albeit one which is a 3 star resort and the other two which are 4 stars.

I really find it bizzare people can comment "its so expensive" but don't complain when comparing hotel/resort rates in their own countries as a comparison.

Its not like hotel rates are any cheaper for us when we go to europe but you don't see us complaining. It is what it is and you pay for the sort of comforts you expect and want.

Oh well.

 

[frogfish]

45 minute dive limit would be worse than the camera ban.

Thanks again!

Layang Layang is also 50' time limit if things haven't changed since I visited...

 

[Luko]

Don't know how the 45 mins limt per dive came out, on the three last stays I spent in Mabul/Sipadan in 2010, I always had all my Sipadan wall dives above the 50mns durations and up to 65mins.

Even though there would be a 45mins limite for Sipadan, you'll have to tell me how you will manage 4 no deco dives within 9AM-4PM timespan given the first morning dive will be around 32-35m depth. I often skipped the last 4th on Sipadan days or sometimes was staying up on the reef around 12-15m for the whole duration.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Spent five glorious days there on Sipadan Island itself (Borneo Divers Lodge) my first ever overseas SE Asia dive trip, doing 3 to 4 spectacular wall dives a day including a night dive, the week before the "Paradise" was lost. I left for home on the mid-morning boat Easter Sunday 23 April 2000 . . .and Abu Sayyaf came later that evening for the raid and hostage-taking. The rest is history (Politics, Island Eco-pressure & removal of all dive-ops/lodging etc).

Things have never been the same since, and I've never made a return visit. To have the equivalent number of dives and the same experiences I had back then would probably take nearly a month-long stay now. But boy-oh-boy if I had a month off paid vacation from work right now!

Check the Centers for Disease Control and US State Dept websites for any advisories/warnings for the region.

Have a great time!

 

[Centrals]

Same rate for diving Kapalai, Mabul and Sipadan!!!!
That is robbery!!
There should be considerable rebate on those days that Sipadan is "full". It used to be the major or only attraction but unfortunately has become a side-show especially during peak season nowadays.
Package to Sipadan should say " Sipadan and its surrounding area" or better still " Kapalai or Mabul with optional trip to Sipadan if places are available".