Sipadan/Mabul in June

[_Bella_]

I was at SWV three weeks ago. Three or four of the guides are Japanese, and my husband and I were twice grouped onto boats with ONLY Japanese guests and guides. As I remember, only one or two of the guides are Malaysians, the rest are Philipino Thai, and Japanese. Allan (sp?) was our best guide. More accomodating, and a terrific spotter. He's even got a way of calling the Mantas out of the deep.
I loved the rooms at SWV and didn't mind the lack of air conditioning, and the food was also great. We arrived just after lunch finished and they had saved us a plate of food. My *only* complaint of the whole operation is the strict diving schedule. You can request to go to specific sites or even islands, but you still have to stick to the regular schedule and dive plan of around 45 mins, or dive the house reef. I'm accustomed to 60+ min photo dives and I felt 45 mins was a waste of half a tank of air.

 

[Born2Dive]

Hi,
I was wondering could anybody comment about accomodations in Seaventures and the guides? That is supposing you have used them before, or maybe have someone told you about them. They looked pretty unique as they are situated on an oil rig!

Thanks.

 

[scubashooter]

Been to the platform once. Right on top of one of my favorite sites in Mabul/Kapalai. Food is ok and accomodations are spartan. It's fun for a few days but after that it gets old quickly. Not to mention the shore diving(while fantastic) is a chore as your ingress/egress is difficult. Guides, well, to be honest, didn't need them under the platform. They were good around the island. But I do think they are already shut down or going to be from what I heard last.

 

[declan]

I would stay on sipidan itself If I were you. The accom etc is good. The main benefit is you are not limited by the boats going from mabul for diving sipidan. On Sipidan you have unlimited diving all day (and night) from the wall (10m from shore) as well as up to 3 boat dives a day. Definately worth it.

Try walk in rates in KK with Borneo Divers !

 

[_Bella_]

Mabul and Kapalai also have house reefs with unlimited shore diving until night fall, same as on Sipadan.

 

[Born2Dive]

Been to the platform once. Right on top of one of my favorite sites in Mabul/Kapalai. Food is ok and accomodations are spartan. It's fun for a few days but after that it gets old quickly. Not to mention the shore diving(while fantastic) is a chore as your ingress/egress is difficult. Guides, well, to be honest, didn't need them under the platform. They were good around the island. But I do think they are already shut down or going to be from what I heard last.

Interested about the shore diving concept, I mean since it is located smack right in the middle of the sea, how is the unlimited 'shore diving' like?
Since you mentioned it, so how do you go up 'n down the platform?? Lift i hope. *fingers cross*
Will be going over there next week for 6 days, as i got a quite good deal for it, thus wondering how it will be like. Do they have internet access?? :06:

To Declan:
Did think about using the walk-in rates with Borneo divers, however, I only have limited free time thus to avoid disappointment, thought i'll book in advance. However I know the rates that they offer are simply dirt cheap!


Also, any dive sites that must be visited on Mabul and Sipadan? I mean as in REALLY really must visit, even on the verge of DCS. *touch wood* Any sites that are special that are good and not frequently dived? I mean i know the place is a mecca for diving, but interested in sites that ought to be recommended.

Cheers!!

 

[David B]

I stayed at Sipadan in February/March this year. The diving was fantastic and everything is on your doorstep. I had one day at Mabul where we did some "muck" diving - first class. If you stay at Mabul or Kapalai then you have the boat journey every time you want to dive at Sipadan. The first time you do the journey is OK as you can enjoy the flying fish getting out of the way of the boat but I think it would become a bit of a chore three times a day. Another reason for staying at Sipadan is that at the end of the year there is every chance that it will close to staying guests. But at the end of the day you will have a great time wherever you stay.

I've posted a photo that I took of the Seaventures platform. It looked OK but deserted.

Regarding sites to visit at Sipadan. All the sites were excellent in their own way. To see so many turtles and sharks is mind blowing as well as the large schools of barracuda and jacks. Click on the link to see photos taken at Sipadan. They are not brilliant but they will give you an idea of what you will see.

http://img18.photobucket.com/albums/v54/DavidEB/


David

 

[Scuba Susie]

Hey Gang,
I have a group going to Smart Divers May 2005 and have a few questions for anyone out there. Do you get to socialize with the crew or do they encourage seperation? We love to sing and dance with our group and love to meet locals to do the same. Second, is it true , after Jan. 05, you can only do one dive a day on Sipidan? That kinda sucks but then I've never been there. Last, what is the island drink "special" and are the drinks expensive? Inquiring minds want to know!
Thanks a bunch!
Scuba Sue