The primary reason people come to Semporna is to get the hell out of there and make their way to Sipadan to go diving, unless you are Chinese and you will therefore be a bright orange water thrashing snorkeler. You will most likely stay on the neighbouring island of Mabul as there is no accommodation allowed on Sipadan.
Sipadan is supposedly one of the best places in the world to dive. Large pelagics, huge schools of fish, massive walls and clear waters. It is very worthwhile booking in advance to secure one of the 120 permits issued each day to visit this place. I wasn’t organised enough and missed out by one day. For me it wasn’t a huge disappointment as I had Indonesia to look forward to. So I spent three great days diving around Mabul instead, finishing off my Advanced Certification. My instructor, whom I basically had to myself each dive, was really into the macro stuff so we had a great time trawling the ocean floor for minute and camouflaged critters whilst spotting the odd massive beast (giant turtles and groupers, and I mean MASSIVE! Think Mini Cooper size). Mabul has colourful walls that drop straight down as far as you can see, sandy muck to search for frogfish and seahorses and many artificial reefs (sunken structures) covered in corals. The artificial structures got a little boring after a while as they aren’t that interesting in themselves to be honest. The oil rig was different. I highly recommend a night dive as you will definitely see different creatures running about. Very cool. Make sure your torch is a good one.
As for my host, Uncle Chang’s…..well I can’t say I highly recommend them at all. My instructor was good and met some nice people there but for the most part, it was a fairly shoddily run establishment with not enough care for the environment. Cases in point:
1) Dive guides throwing cigarette butts into the ocean
2) Old bathroom renovation materials having been dumped off the bathroom balcony directly into the shallow water below
3) The instructor living quarters were abysmal (their choice I guess)
4) The breakfast was pathetic – rice with a sprinkling of vegetables or bland noodles.
5) If you don’t like chicken and rice or fish cooked to the point it almost resembles dried chicken then you are probably going to starve
6) The equipment quality and maintenance left a little to be desired
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| The old oil rig that in now a backpacker and dive resort |
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| Home for some illegal Filipino families |
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| The seaside shanty town on Mabul |
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| Foundations for a new resort perhaps |
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| Not where I stayed |
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