Whose food is the best at Sipadan.

[pains]

I have been to Sipadan this year and it was liveaboard trip. Diving with them was great but the food was so so compared with my last year's Similan liveaboard.

I have plan to go Sipadan next year and I will come with my wife. So I MUST find resort or dive operator with good food. Please help me. Who is the best at Sipadan?

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hey Pains

Were you on the Celebes Explorer last time?

Food in the resorts - hmm seems to be more or less the same idea with it being reasonable to expect increasing quality of ingredients and preparation the higher up the budget scale you go. Almost all served buffet style with a variety of dishes to choose from. I imagine any of the resorts will present a more satisfactory dining experience than the Celebes Explorer.

You can compare the details of the food in the various resorts here: Mabul resorts - facilities and food Use the left navigation to compare with others. There are also some comments from customers mentioning the food.

Hope that helps. Have fun!

 

[pains]

Yes. I was on the Celebes Explorer. I thinks it's the only liveaboard boat around Sipadan. And thank you for your reference.

Anyway do you run DiveTheWorld? Then I have a question. Do you arrange pickup, sending, and day room at KK? The flight schedule from here to KK is too bad. arriving and departing at midnight.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hi Pains

Yeah I work for Dive The World. We don't do on the ground handling in KK in fact but if you need to spend the day in KK waiting for a flight then you are welcome to drop your luggage in our office.

Taxis from the airport into town are only about 20 RM each way. We can also give you tips on where to go to see around KK.

How much time do you think you will have? The best flights from KK to Tawau leave KK very early in the morning. Also when you are coming back from Tawau it is normally possible to arrange an afternoon flight. So I guess it is on the way back that you might be looking to kill a few hours.

 

[pains]

Thanks OTS.

I will go Sipadan next year. I will contact you when my holiday schedule is fixed. Dive trip organizer around me do not handle Sepilok. So I'm interested in DTW.

 

[tboxcar]

Pains: It's been a couple of years, but we stayed and dived with Sipadan Water Village, and were quite impressed with their food. My g/f who does not dive, just wants to go back for the 'buffet'
Sashami
Good desserts
I could go on, but it was good, especially for a dive resort. This was two or three years ago.

 

[pains]

Thank you tboxcar.

I will consider SWV for my next destination. I love desserts.

 

[OnTheSpot]

HI Pains

Yes we can do Sepilok as an add-on no worries. We also have partners in Sabah with whom you can do all the topside stuff: Mountains, jungle crusies, whiteweater rafting and so on. Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[GoorglinGeorge]

If you can afford it the Water Bungalows at SMART has very good food. Eggs cooked to order and fresh orange juice at breakfast. Lunch and dinner always have six or seven hot dishes of which four or five are items such as tiger prawns, lamb, beef, pasta, etc. All very fresh and cooked very well. There are also multiple salads and desserts.

 

[JonnieB]

I have stayed at both Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and SMART Water Bungalows. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for...the accommodations and food at SWV are good but not great. When I stayed there, the food was generally under seasoned and quantities at the buffet sometimes ran out. The under seasoning may have been an attempt to appeal to everyone and offend no one. However, no excuse for underfeeding guests. But the price is good value.

At SMART, the good is 5-star restaurant quality and there is plenty of it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is the best dive resort food I have ever had and compares very very favorably with just about any restaurant buffet I have had anywhere (let alone at a remote dive resort location). In fact, the food, though buffet style, tasted like it is cooked to order. Me and my diving buddy were constantly amazed at the quality of the food during our stay (and he is a "foodie"). Nothing dish is repeated during the week.

All meals consist of a selection of 4-5 hot meat/seafood entres, along with bread, fruit, and dessert stations. Breakfast of course has the cooked to order egg/omelette station, along with the afore mentioned standard food stations. Lunch and dinner consist of the 4-5 meat/seafood selections...things like chicken cordon blue, chinese style mayonnaise prawns, lamb curry, sauted steak, whole crabs, lobster thermador (yes, no kidding), au gratin potatoes, chinese styole ginger beef or oyster sauce beef, the list goes on and on.

In fact, SMART would be a great place to vacation even if one wasn't a diver...there is a decent beach on Mabul, pool, small spa, nice reading luange, and 3 gourmet meals a day.

However, you do pay for all this great food and luxury. Also, be sure you book SMART Water Bungalows and not the SMART chalets (which are on Mabul Island proper and not over the water). The chalets are nice but basic and they, of course, do not get anywhere near the food quality/selection that is served to Bungalow guests (believe me, one nite for fun, we checked...if they could see what the bungalow guests received we joked that they might storm the dinning hall).