Sipadan vs East Kalimantan

[FilmDork]

You can do both if you have time. I've looked into Scuba Junkie's Sipadan-Sagalaki combo when I booked my Sipadan trip last year. There is a Monday direct flight from Tawau to Tarakan and they do transfers directly from Tarakan to Derawan. You save 15% on Sagalaki package. I ultimately only did Sipadan because I couldn't make my vacation days stretch enough to do the combo and Sipadan was more famous/mentioned as a top site in like every article. It is still the best place I've been to so far in terms of reefs/biodiversity but Mabul/Kapalai which you're also forced to dive is not that great. We had 2 days of guaranteed permits for a 4 night stay. The permit system is quite inconvenient and Semporna which you're forced to transit through (and likely overnight in) is a dump. I did want to return to the area and recently decided to do Sagalaki/Maratua/Kakaban in 2021 on White Manta instead of going back to Sipadan and wasting at least half my days on Mabul/Kapalai. I think getting 5 out of 6 days at Sipadan is quite rare, most places you're only guaranteed 1 for a 4 night stay. The place we went to (Billabong Scuba) guaranteed 2 but was very basic and not the most comfortable.

We wanted to combine both (4 nights on Sipadan liveabord then 5-6 days diving Derawan area), but due to the flight schedules, it was gonna force us into 3 days without diving if we went that route (overnight in Tawau when we disembark ---> overnight in Berau after flights from Tawau-Tarakan and Tarakan-Berau) ---> transfer to resort on day 3 but not allowed to dive that day). That just felt like way too much wasted dive time, so now we're stuck picking one or the the other.

Scuba Junkie's combo is interesting, but apparently they don't dive The Channel, which is supposedly the best site in the area and not one we wanna miss!

 

[drk5036]

We wanted to combine both (4 nights on Sipadan liveabord then 5-6 days diving Derawan area), but due to the flight schedules, it was gonna force us into 3 days without diving if we went that route (overnight in Tawau when we disembark ---> overnight in Berau after flights from Tawau-Tarakan and Tarakan-Berau) ---> transfer to resort on day 3 but not allowed to dive that day). That just felt like way too much wasted dive time, so now we're stuck picking one or the the other.

Scuba Junkie's combo is interesting, but apparently they don't dive The Channel, which is supposedly the best site in the area and not one we wanna miss!

Sipadan Liveaboard??? I think you must be mistaken, unless you’re going to be diving from one of those warships they park outside to protect against the pirates in the area...

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sipadan Liveaboard??? I think you must be mistaken, unless you’re going to be diving from one of those warships they park outside to protect against the pirates in the area...

Isn't Celebes Sea lob starting up with a new to them boat?

 

[FilmDork]

Isn't Celebes Sea lob starting up with a new to them boat?

Yeah, the Celebes Explorer 9.

 

[FilmDork]

Sipadan Liveaboard??? I think you must be mistaken, unless you’re going to be diving from one of those warships they park outside to protect against the pirates in the area...

I'm not mistaken. Celebes Explorer 9, just started trips last year. But before that the Celebes Explorer had been around for years and years.

 

[drk5036]

I'm not mistaken. Celebes Explorer 9, just started trips last year. But before that the Celebes Explorer had been around for years and years.

Sorry, I’d never seen it mentioned before!

 

[jjmochi]

Oh that's interesting, does that mean you get to dive everyday at Sipadan? Their website is a bit unclear. Or is Mabul Kapalai only done as the night dive after a day of diving at Sipadan?

Divers are brought to Sipadan (guaranteed) along with Mabul, Kapalai and Si Amil islands.

 

[MomZo]

If it is like Celebes Explorer LOB before, it is the only guarantee to dive every single day to Sipadan (the boat stays nights and days around the island)
It is a great option if you want to dive Sipadan, but it is definitely not cheap!

 

[Sbiriguda]

May I ask exactly how the problem of the diving permit affects Sipadan? If one books with large advance there should be no problem, right? Do they release the permit only for few dives per person?

 

[Luko]

May I ask exactly how the problem of the diving permit affects Sipadan? If one books with large advance there should be no problem, right? Do they release the permit only for few dives per person?

There are about 140 permits issued/divers allowed everyday diving Sipadan. The whole number of permits/day is shared but fixed per operation/accomodation, the historical ones (Borneo Divers, SMART, Kapalai, SWV ) have the biggest number of all.
So your chance of diving Sipadan depends on many factors : size of the resort, number of divers booked into the resort, high/low season and of course duration of stay.
My calculation at the time (some years ago) were that Borneo Divers, SWV and the Oil Rig had the more possible chances due to the size and occupancy rate of the resorts, while SMART and SJ had the least. I've already been in August and only visited Sipadan twice within a week while two weeks after CNY I could go everyday on 4 days.