FairyBasset
Contributor
I love to read trip reports on Scubaboard, so here is a review on my recent trip to Scuba Junkie, Mabul island resort and Sipadan, which I hope is interesting and useful for some planning on going there.
We had booked our trip many months in advance to ensure we got the accommodation we wanted and our Sipadan permit. The email service and help with infos provided by Scuba Junkie was very prompt, kind and professional. Its probably wise to book early if you are traveling in peak holiday season like we were, especially if you stay at Mabul island as Scuba Junkie is so popular there. You have to book 5 days diving to get one day guaranteed Sipadan permit at Scuba Junkie. Other operators have more permits (and probably far less visitors), so depending on your interest its worthwhile to shop around.
We stayed at the Mabul island resort for 6 nights and did 5 days of diving, including Sipadan.
We were picked up at Tawau airport on time by a good car and brought to Semporna.
We had an easy check-in in the Scuba Junkie shop and then we went off to grab some lunch.
Semporna is a weird and ugly town, so I wouldn't want to stay there and dive from there - though of course you do see some other islands if you stay on the mainland.
We crossed to Mabul island from Semporna in their boat, which was quite small but very adequate, clean and had good life jackets.
We arrived and were assigned our room, which was very spacious, had great AC and a large bathroom. The beds were comfortable. A really great room for a dive lodge.
There is a large dining area and bar area. All food is included in your stay. Though you can buy some snacks and ice creams etc in the shop if you wish. Drinks in the bar are Ok prices, not cheap but not extortionate. The food is repetitive and is definitely what you would call basic! It tastes Ok, but its main purpose is only to feed you, not to give any enjoyment of eating!
If you like noodles you will be happy, as they come out 3x a day! If you like snacks, you will be a bit disappointed so maybe bring some with you! They do not serve any fish at all. If you don't eat meat, they have vegetarian food, but not a huge amount of varied proteins so you may find this a bit difficult after a few days.
The dive shop is huge. They cater for an ENORMOUS amount of divers, which can make it feel rather like a factory at the shop and in-between dives. This is probably heightened by the fact there are a lot of lessons going on. However, there is a huge amount of staff on hand and so while it may look crazy, it is in fact extremely well organized. Though this could be be rather off-putting for more experienced divers who usually dive in remote areas or from liveaboards.
Don't let this factory feel on the dock disguise the fact that the actual dive service and dive guiding is absolutely excellent. The guides are enthusiastic, point many things out, will help you search for things you want to see and they all offer a very unusual service to those who wish - they will sit down and do your log book with you and tell you more about what you have seen. This is very unusual and also excellent service.
We brought our own gear and were given a locker where we could store it. I was a bit nervous about getting things stolen, but they have CC TV everywhere, so it seemed pretty safe. Though I would still not leave computers, go pros etc there to be on the safe side.
Every guide is extremely safety conscious and does excellent safety and dive site briefings. This is clearly company policy and strictly adhered to. Underwater there are max four people to one guide, which is really great as you don't feel overcrowded. We also did several dives with just me and my buddy plus the guide. They make groups based on level of experience, which is important for experienced divers who don't wish to be in a group of people kicking the corals! The guide keeps the group together and in sight, but without dictating the speed of the dive. This is important for photographers, who like a slow dive. The underwater guiding and spirit is excellent and is in fact the complete opposite to the factory feeling from the dock.
There are three dives a day in your package. You can book a sunset dive for extra money if you wish, its not expensive and its well worth it. The day at Sipadan is 4 dives, with a very early start.
Around Kapalai and Mabul they had some nice sites with a lot of macro life and plenty of turtles. They have a lot of artificial reefs, which is Ok as it attracts cool things, but at the same time is also a bit of a let down compared to places in Indonesia. There were really good dive sites with a lot of amazing and interesting things to see, such as crocodile fish, various types of frog fish, loads of unusual nudis, mandarin fish, tons of turtles, spanish dancers, tiny squid, some beautiful soft and hard corals, clown fish for this who love them!
But we had come here for Sipadan so we couldn't wait to get there! We prefer diving in the blue and big fish so we were very hopeful to see some big "visitors" to the site. Sipadan was beautiful. The dive sites were pristine. There are huge schools of bumphead parrot fish, jacks, barracuda and trigger fish. You don't see big schools like that in many places, so it is very special. We saw a school of white tips fighting to get to a hiding octopus for a mid-morning snack! There were also a few devil rays on one dive. Sadly we had no "visitors" i.e. hammerheads, pilot whales or the like, but we certainly had some amazing views. South Point and Barracuda Point were by far the best sites we did. Our guide was Simon, who dives 3-4 times a week at Sipdan. He is extremely knowledgeable, he is enthusiastic about his job, he loves the dive site and really shared his experience and love of Sipadan. He made us very aware of the dangers of the currents and briefed very clearly on how to dive in the group in this environment.
We decided to book a second day at Sipadan with another company (Borneo Speedy Divers) who had some spare permits. This was pretty costly at 875 Ringitt (190 EURO) including tax, 3 dives, food, permit etc. The difference in briefing and safety reviews was enormous. Not comparable. However, we were well briefed from the previous day and it was only 2 of us with the guide, so we felt comfortable. During our stay we heard many negative things from other divers about the safety records of some of the operators, such as Uncle Chan. Sipadan is a place where safety MUST come first, so you should make sure you carefully choose your dive operator if you are moving around operators to get more permits.
Things to be aware of when booking to stay on Mabul island:
We are quite surprised that on this "tropical paradise island" the resort is located next to a "village" of boat people. There are two "villages" on the island, which are better described as slums. Im sure that there is no or very little crime, so that is not something to worry about. However, for someone expecting an island paradise, that is not what Mabul island looks like in some parts. Also the boat people (and probably many others also) throw a lot of plastic and other trash in the water, so swimming off the beach in front of the dive lodge, you will see that.
The Scuba Junkie team is really environmentally engaged and does many beach clean ups and educates the villagers about the environment, but still you should be aware this island is effectively a part of the third world.
Also if you are expecting a beautiful view, you should be aware that from the Scuba Junkie part of the beach you look directly out at an old oil rig which has been turned into a dive resort just off the island. Its not necessarily ugly, you may just not expect to be looking at an oil platform from the beach on tropical island off Borneo! Apparently at the oil rig resort you get a Sipadan permit every 3 days of diving not every 5, so something to consider. No idea about the quality though.
My summary: Scuba Junkie is a great place for people who wish to learn to dive, as the service, safety and level of teaching was 5 star. It would also be a perfect place to do a DMT as you have plenty of chance to practice good standards. Scuba Junkie is ideal for experienced divers as the groups are small and the guides are knowledgeable. Sipadan is a world class dive site, but you only get very few permits so thats rather irritating if that is the reason why you are going. You can do other world class sites every day, not just one in 5. But, if you are also going for the macro, then obviously that is different. I would come back again if I was in the region, but definitely not in a peak holiday period. I'd try to come when it would be easier to get more Sipadan permits or I would shop around more for permits in advance.
We had booked our trip many months in advance to ensure we got the accommodation we wanted and our Sipadan permit. The email service and help with infos provided by Scuba Junkie was very prompt, kind and professional. Its probably wise to book early if you are traveling in peak holiday season like we were, especially if you stay at Mabul island as Scuba Junkie is so popular there. You have to book 5 days diving to get one day guaranteed Sipadan permit at Scuba Junkie. Other operators have more permits (and probably far less visitors), so depending on your interest its worthwhile to shop around.
We stayed at the Mabul island resort for 6 nights and did 5 days of diving, including Sipadan.
We were picked up at Tawau airport on time by a good car and brought to Semporna.
We had an easy check-in in the Scuba Junkie shop and then we went off to grab some lunch.
Semporna is a weird and ugly town, so I wouldn't want to stay there and dive from there - though of course you do see some other islands if you stay on the mainland.
We crossed to Mabul island from Semporna in their boat, which was quite small but very adequate, clean and had good life jackets.
We arrived and were assigned our room, which was very spacious, had great AC and a large bathroom. The beds were comfortable. A really great room for a dive lodge.
There is a large dining area and bar area. All food is included in your stay. Though you can buy some snacks and ice creams etc in the shop if you wish. Drinks in the bar are Ok prices, not cheap but not extortionate. The food is repetitive and is definitely what you would call basic! It tastes Ok, but its main purpose is only to feed you, not to give any enjoyment of eating!
If you like noodles you will be happy, as they come out 3x a day! If you like snacks, you will be a bit disappointed so maybe bring some with you! They do not serve any fish at all. If you don't eat meat, they have vegetarian food, but not a huge amount of varied proteins so you may find this a bit difficult after a few days. The dive shop is huge. They cater for an ENORMOUS amount of divers, which can make it feel rather like a factory at the shop and in-between dives. This is probably heightened by the fact there are a lot of lessons going on. However, there is a huge amount of staff on hand and so while it may look crazy, it is in fact extremely well organized. Though this could be be rather off-putting for more experienced divers who usually dive in remote areas or from liveaboards.
Don't let this factory feel on the dock disguise the fact that the actual dive service and dive guiding is absolutely excellent. The guides are enthusiastic, point many things out, will help you search for things you want to see and they all offer a very unusual service to those who wish - they will sit down and do your log book with you and tell you more about what you have seen. This is very unusual and also excellent service.
We brought our own gear and were given a locker where we could store it. I was a bit nervous about getting things stolen, but they have CC TV everywhere, so it seemed pretty safe. Though I would still not leave computers, go pros etc there to be on the safe side.
Every guide is extremely safety conscious and does excellent safety and dive site briefings. This is clearly company policy and strictly adhered to. Underwater there are max four people to one guide, which is really great as you don't feel overcrowded. We also did several dives with just me and my buddy plus the guide. They make groups based on level of experience, which is important for experienced divers who don't wish to be in a group of people kicking the corals! The guide keeps the group together and in sight, but without dictating the speed of the dive. This is important for photographers, who like a slow dive. The underwater guiding and spirit is excellent and is in fact the complete opposite to the factory feeling from the dock.
There are three dives a day in your package. You can book a sunset dive for extra money if you wish, its not expensive and its well worth it. The day at Sipadan is 4 dives, with a very early start.
Around Kapalai and Mabul they had some nice sites with a lot of macro life and plenty of turtles. They have a lot of artificial reefs, which is Ok as it attracts cool things, but at the same time is also a bit of a let down compared to places in Indonesia. There were really good dive sites with a lot of amazing and interesting things to see, such as crocodile fish, various types of frog fish, loads of unusual nudis, mandarin fish, tons of turtles, spanish dancers, tiny squid, some beautiful soft and hard corals, clown fish for this who love them!
But we had come here for Sipadan so we couldn't wait to get there! We prefer diving in the blue and big fish so we were very hopeful to see some big "visitors" to the site. Sipadan was beautiful. The dive sites were pristine. There are huge schools of bumphead parrot fish, jacks, barracuda and trigger fish. You don't see big schools like that in many places, so it is very special. We saw a school of white tips fighting to get to a hiding octopus for a mid-morning snack! There were also a few devil rays on one dive. Sadly we had no "visitors" i.e. hammerheads, pilot whales or the like, but we certainly had some amazing views. South Point and Barracuda Point were by far the best sites we did. Our guide was Simon, who dives 3-4 times a week at Sipdan. He is extremely knowledgeable, he is enthusiastic about his job, he loves the dive site and really shared his experience and love of Sipadan. He made us very aware of the dangers of the currents and briefed very clearly on how to dive in the group in this environment.
We decided to book a second day at Sipadan with another company (Borneo Speedy Divers) who had some spare permits. This was pretty costly at 875 Ringitt (190 EURO) including tax, 3 dives, food, permit etc. The difference in briefing and safety reviews was enormous. Not comparable. However, we were well briefed from the previous day and it was only 2 of us with the guide, so we felt comfortable. During our stay we heard many negative things from other divers about the safety records of some of the operators, such as Uncle Chan. Sipadan is a place where safety MUST come first, so you should make sure you carefully choose your dive operator if you are moving around operators to get more permits.
Things to be aware of when booking to stay on Mabul island:
We are quite surprised that on this "tropical paradise island" the resort is located next to a "village" of boat people. There are two "villages" on the island, which are better described as slums. Im sure that there is no or very little crime, so that is not something to worry about. However, for someone expecting an island paradise, that is not what Mabul island looks like in some parts. Also the boat people (and probably many others also) throw a lot of plastic and other trash in the water, so swimming off the beach in front of the dive lodge, you will see that.
The Scuba Junkie team is really environmentally engaged and does many beach clean ups and educates the villagers about the environment, but still you should be aware this island is effectively a part of the third world.
Also if you are expecting a beautiful view, you should be aware that from the Scuba Junkie part of the beach you look directly out at an old oil rig which has been turned into a dive resort just off the island. Its not necessarily ugly, you may just not expect to be looking at an oil platform from the beach on tropical island off Borneo! Apparently at the oil rig resort you get a Sipadan permit every 3 days of diving not every 5, so something to consider. No idea about the quality though.
My summary: Scuba Junkie is a great place for people who wish to learn to dive, as the service, safety and level of teaching was 5 star. It would also be a perfect place to do a DMT as you have plenty of chance to practice good standards. Scuba Junkie is ideal for experienced divers as the groups are small and the guides are knowledgeable. Sipadan is a world class dive site, but you only get very few permits so thats rather irritating if that is the reason why you are going. You can do other world class sites every day, not just one in 5. But, if you are also going for the macro, then obviously that is different. I would come back again if I was in the region, but definitely not in a peak holiday period. I'd try to come when it would be easier to get more Sipadan permits or I would shop around more for permits in advance.
