As you all know by know, my whole asia trip was planned around diving: I choose the dive spots first, and then decide where/how long I'll stay in that country. The Malaysia trip proved to be the most complicated of the planning. Sipidan Island is one of the best dive spots in the coral triangle but getting there isn't a simple feat. There is no direct international flight that goes to Sempanora (which is the main land jetty to get to the island), which means I had to take a local flight from KL to Tawau. My itinerary was as follow:
- Flight from Yogja to KL
- Overnight stay in KL
- 430am pick up at the hostel to the airport for a 715am flight to Tawau
- 1h van ride to Sempanora
- 1h boat ride to any of the 3 islands (Mabul, Kapalai or the one i'm on, seaventure)
Quite insane isn't it? During the planning, I kept telling to myself "it will be worth the trouble.. it will be worth the trouble".. and worth the trouble it was!!!
For starters, my dive resort isn't your conventional resort a la Cancun or Cuba where there is a nice hotel, garden pool or anything. I was living on a converted oil rig (yes.. that thing that pulls up that black thing that pollutes the earth). It also means that this is a minimalistic resort focused on diving. Although I heard/read several positive reviews, I had to experience this to myself and I was greatly surprised!
The entire operation runs like a well oiled (pun intended) machine! The minute I got off the rig lift (which was used before to carry cargo onto the rig), I was greeted by the smiling staff and a fruit drink. Around me was a bunch of tables, a dive station with heaps of BCDs and oxygen tank. I knew immediatly that I was going have a great time here. After checking in, one of the staff member took my dive equipment and showed my room. As expected, the living quarters were minimal: bed, shower, air conn in a 30 or 40 square feet cabin. The cabin showed a bit of age (a bit of rust here and there in the shower) but it was spotless. After two introductory dives (where one was right under the rig), dinner was served. Being a foodie, I could go on for hours about how great the food is here. A buffet style set catered to every single dietary requirement (beef/chicken (no pork as Malaysia is a muslim country) seperated with the seafood, veggies and fresh fruit), the style of cuisine varied every single day. Ranging from classic chinese food to malay (roti canai, char kwei tiao etc etc), I had to force myself to not eat too much, but that attempt failed when I tried their cake. I was expecting a very dry and flavor less cake but I was pleasently surprise to take a bite into a really moist and rich mocha/chocolate flavored cake. I was convinced I was in heaven. After complimenting the staff about the food (especially the dessert), I've been told that they had their own pastry chef!
The dive sites itself were breathtaking!!! Although we were only going to 3 islands (Sipadan, Kapilai and Mabul), visibility for most site was over 30m and giant sea turtles were plentiful (I will never get tired of diving with them)! Highlights includes: seahorses, cuttlefish and my favorite of them all: a school of jackfish being chased by a reef shark. The dive masters are very experienced and profesional. They were always happy to point out all the big and small things around the corals and were very careful about the planning and explaining the dive plan and what to expect under water.
Sipadan is a protected by the Malaysian government and only permit holders (there is a TOTAL daily limit of 120 permits for every single resort/dive center in the area) are allowed to dive the area. Seaventure resort offers 3 boat dives (and for an extra 250RM, it's possible to have 2 extra dives after lunch, which most people are more than happy to pay). Unfortunately, I only had one day (well half day, because my alarm didn't ring at 430am which made me miss the boat). Good thing the staff was nice enough to put me on another boat to dive the other islands and that the group that went in the morning were more than happy to do the 2 extra dives (which I didn't have to pay. Phew!.
Evening activities includes optional night dive (for free) under the rig (sooo much fun!!), amazing dinner buffet, game room (where pool table and ping pong table was available), but most of the time (except for the last one) I opted with mingling around with the other guests and exchanging diving stories (and show off the pictures we all took during the day).
All in all, for the price that I paid (2,060 malay ringitt plus other expenses like dive permit, rental equipment etc, which is roughly 700 US/CN/AU dollar for 3 days 4 nights), this goes on the top of my recommended dive spots ever. Word of warning, beside diving, there is NOTHING to do on the resort. The wifi is spotty at best (unusable at night when everybody is on their laptop/iPad) and during the day, the whole place is dominated by the staff cleaning up, or fixing equipment. No possiblity to get on the neighboring island for walking nor is there a beach to chill on (although there is a beautiful view of Mabul island from the bar). I would come back here in a heart beat for serious divers.
Next stop, Kota Kinubalu, the capital city of the island of Borneo.
Tips:
- Don't bother staying overnight in KL and catch a 715am flight. The taxi ride (there are NO buses at 430am) to the airport is 1h long. Stay overnight in Tawau (even if there isn't anything to do) and have them pick you up at your hotel/hostel.
- For safety reason (due to nitrogen build up after a dive, which increases the risk of decompression sickness), you are not allowed to dive on the last day if you have a flight. Don't book a flight on the last day. Either stay overnight in Tawau or take a bus to Kota Kinubalu (capital city of Sabah). That way you'll maximize your dive time on the resort (2 dives on the last day).. and you won't be trying to kill time until the transport arrives.
- The boat for Sipadan leaves at 6am with or without you and they do NOT provide wake up call. Make friends with the people on your boat (you can see the names on the manifest) and ask them to wake you up or make sure technology doesn't fail you (which unfortunately happened to me)
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