Sipidan or Pulau Weh? Or somewhere different?!

[gcwil]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to posting in this forum but have found that there are always lots of useful replies to posts so here goes...

I am heading to Malaysia for a couple of weeks in April - I've already decided that I'd like to pop back to the Perhentian islands for a few days to visit some old friends as I worked there back in 2008. But for the rest of my trip I want to go diving somewhere different - I have been pricing up Sipidan and Pulau Weh - I want to squeeze in a trip to see the Orangutans if possible which is why I've focused on these two destinations.
Now, Sipidan has an amazing reputation but the packages seem to look quite pricey in comparison to other places that I've been - and I've also been told that there is very little else going on other than the diving. Furthermore, I'm not guaranteed to get a Sipidan permit - I'm thinking we will probably end up doing two days at Mabul and one day at Sipidan.
So I've also been told that Pulau Weh is amazing and that the island itself is gorgeous. I think it's mostly short journeys to the dive sites too which is appealing. I also think we'd get a lot more bang for our buck over there.
Does anyone have a preference or any advice? I'm sure we'll be happy either way but I'm hopeless at making decisions

we are both experienced divers so no worries on that front...

Thanks!!

 

[Luko]

Sipadan wins hands down... Weh diving is fine, lots of corals, morays, clouds of anthias, sometimes a manta ray but nowhere close to Sipadan's schools of jackfish or barracudas, plus the tens of whitetips and turtles you'll see on each dive.
Been 5 times to Sipadan/Mabul already, been once in Weh and not sure I will come back again.
Not sure there's something else to do in Weh either, you'll probably rent a moped and go up and down the hills loooking for some place of interest.
Why don't you go to Nusa Lembongan off Bali? A hop from KL with AirAsia.com, great diving and nice little island when you stay north, moped riding, surfing and beaches available.

 

[Quero]

Sipadan.

I like Weh, but I wouldn't categorise the island as "gorgeous."

There are lots of price points at Mabul, and the diving at Mabul is really interesting, so even if you don't get to Sipadan more than once every three days, it's still great diving.

 

[gcwil]

I was leaning towards Sipadan anyway so you've both helped to cement my decision - thanks!! Now I've just got to find somewhere nice to stay

 

[ocdiver1]

Just left Seaventures on Mabul today, my second stay there, and would highly recommend them. Reasonably priced for Mabul/Kapalai, good food and guides, and the very cool experience of staying on a converted oil rig! They had very few guests during my stay and I actually had the opportunity to go to Sipadan every day if I had wanted to. It's been awhile since I've been there, but for an incredible wildlife experience in Sabah the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the Danum Valley is absolutely a place to go for orangs, etc.

 

[Bubble Junky]

I love both destinations... I've visited Sipadan and worked on Weh... I'm actually planning a holiday later this year and it's a toss-up between Weh, Sipadan and Lembongan... The big draw on Weh for me is the house reef, right in front of the Lumba Lumba dive centre and awesome for macro - I've seen mimic octopus, frogfish, tonnes of ghost pipefish etc there, and as an experienced diver you can go without a guide for as long as your air lasts... The boat diving in Weh involvessome awesome currents too...

 

[Luko]

The big draw on Weh for me is the house reef, right in front of the Lumba Lumba dive centre and awesome for macro

I bet you haven't dived it since early 2011 bleach... it had disastrous effects on this part of the Indian Ocean, I dived it in august 2011 and there was nothing left, a very poor dive indeed.

 

[Bubble Junky]

I bet you haven't dived it since early 2011 bleach... it had disastrous effects on this part of the Indian Ocean, I dived it in august 2011 and there was nothing left, a very poor dive indeed.

Actually, I have... The coral, especially the staghorn and leather coral was effected quite badly, but there's still the same amazing critters to be found. To be honest I rarely spent anytime around the coral on the House Reef - preferred cruising over the sand finding tiny seahorses, frogfish the size of your little fingernail, juvenile waspfish, mimic octopus, juvnile ornate ghost pipefish etc... Plus there's always the chances of seeing the odd surprise manta, eagle ray or black-tipped reef shark, so I wouldn't agree that it's a poor dive...

The coral bleaching didn't really have much of an effect on the deeper sites, as there's big currents and more water movement so the temperatures didn't get as high as they did on the beach...

 

[acehtirta]

Pulau Weh's really nice of dive site for everyone. the iboih beach's very good of view because all the accommodation nearly with the sea. infront of the iboih beach will have a macro stuff,etc. it other of dive site've a pigmy seahorse,etc.

---------- Post added January 30th, 2013 at 02:45 PM ----------

Rubiah Tirta Divers( RTD ) / Rubiah Divers
iboih beach,PO.Box 42 Pulau Weh
Aceh - Sumatra
Indonesia
phone/fax: +62-652-3324555
email : info@rubiahdivers.com
web : RUBIAH TIRTA divers - the 1st diving center on Pulau Weh - Sabang, Sumatra, Indonesia
URL : RUBIAH TIRTA divers - the 1st diving center on Pulau Weh - Sabang, Sumatra, Indonesia

 

[Luko]

To be honest I rarely spent anytime around the coral on the House Reef - preferred cruising over the sand finding tiny seahorses, frogfish the size of your little fingernail, juvenile waspfish, mimic octopus, juvnile ornate ghost pipefish etc... Plus there's always the chances of seeing the odd surprise manta, eagle ray or black-tipped reef shark, so I wouldn't agree that it's a poor dive...

Sure, but even though a site is quite barren it needs some consistency to keep the critters around. Severe bleaching has had an effect on the whole ecosystem around, while hard corals is the visible part of the iceberg, the other immediate biotopes would also suffer although it is not immediately visible.
For instance currently Twilight zone in Ambon which has been badly hit by 2012 august floods does not host a third of the critters you usedto fond, even though the bottom was barren before.

Unfortunately on the few dives I did in august 2011 in Weh, none of those "amazing critters", unlike for instance Ambon, Lembeh, Bali or Bangka, all of which I dive quite often. yet, I still stand on the apprciation that the dives I experienced on Gapang's housereef were poor indeed.
Do not expect Tulamben quality!