Bits and Pieces of Life…

Sipadan Island - Tiny but Famed

It’s been a while – 6 months to be exact – since I came back from my Sipadan trip, but it is just like yesterday, that I can still remember details of the trip. I had my best dives, not saying a lot as I have just over 50 in total, but the memories of this trip will not go away for a very long time. Because the trip is very special to me.

So, I am obligated to write down some notes about this trip, on one hand to record down my memories, but on the other hand promote our own little Malaysian islands – Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai – to the rest of the travelers and divers. Not that these famed islands still need any more promotion, though.

Some trip information for my 5D4N Sipadan trip last August (8/82008 ~ 12/8/2008):

Getting There, Around and Away

• Airasia has daily flights plying between Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tawau (TWU). The 3-hour fight cost me RM225. Budget airlines’ ticket fare varies greatly depending on the timing of booking – either book well ahead, or wait for one of those frequent promotions.

• Tawau -> Semporna: Van transport was pre-arranged with dive shop of our choice, Scuba Junkie. The 1-hour undulating journey costs RM20 per person one-way.

• Semporna -> Mabul Island: The dive boat dropped us at Arung Hayat Longhouse @ Mabul Island after the 1st dive day, and this island was where I stayed for the next few days. Sipadan has no more resorts since a few years back where the State Government decided to do the right thing. Mabul Island is the prefect spot to stay in order to dive Sipadan. However, the return trip from Mabul Island to Semporna is not included, and it costs RM50/person for a speedboat trip arranged by the Longhouse.

• On Mabul: well, use legs, i.e walk. It takes less than an hour to walk to whole island one round. There are some villages scattered on the island with LOTS of kids running around. Some souvenir shops can be found among the villages too. For us that stay in the budget longhouse, the dive boat will be waiting for us at the other site of the island. We will need to walk for about 10mins across the island to reach the jetty, no big deal.

Accommodation

Village on Mabul Island

1st night: Stayed at Scube Junkie’s Backpackers at Semporna Seafront. Budget accommodation, standard room costs RM40/night if dive with Scuba Junkie, with air-conditional but share toilets. There are only limited number of rooms so do book ahead of time. The rooms are not numbered, but by marine life like turtle, barracuda, clownfish etc. A simple breakfast is included.

2nd ~ 4th nights: Stayed on Mabul Island, and more specifically, the Arung Hayat Longhouse that Scuba Junkie has affiliation with. The longhouse, situated at the southwest of the isand, extends out from the stony beach to swallow sea on top of wooden stilts. There are probably less than 15 rooms so advance booking is recommended. Sipadan Island can be seen from the longhouse.

Arung Hayat Longhouse’s air-conditional room with attached bathroom costs RM80/person/night for twin sharing room. Rooms without attached bath room costs RM60/person/night. All meals are included, and free flow of coffee plain water and breads. Dinner is nice with local food, and having dinner under the gusting sea wind is definitely icing on the cake with Sipadan in sight.

There are a few other longhouses in Mabul that provide budget accommodation too, as well as some luxurious ones (list not in any particular order):

Mabul Island's Resort Locations

• Sipadan Water Village (SWV), an up-market dive resort built over shallow sea – expect to pay upwards of RM2500/person for 5D4N trip. A friend of mine just got back and really enjoyed it. Basically you get what you paid for. The resort’s house reef is the so called “Artificial Reef” dive site. And unlimited house reef diving! 2 URLs:
  • http://www.sipadanwatervillage.com
  • http://www.swvresort.com

• Borneo Divers

• Sipadan Mabul Resort (SMART)

• Mabul Water Bulnglows, same owner as SMART, has the chalet built above the sea

• Uncle Chang’s Sipadan Mabul Dive Lodge, longhouse lodge similar like the Arung Hayat. Heard some good reviews from friend that went snorkelling with them, and I met Uncle’s Chang’s nephew (as a dive master) when go diving in Tioman last year.

• Seaventures Dive Resort (converted from oil rig), 1km away from the beach near Borneo Divers. Offers unlimited house reef dives too! This platform/resort sounds interesting and unique, but I would prefer to stay on Mabul to see the villages.

• Arung Hayat Longhouse (Scuba Junkie): This is the one that I stayed, with view of the Sipadan Island some distance away. Sipadan Island is located at the south of Mabul Island.

Kapalai Island, or should I say, sand bank, has a very nice resort/water chalet – Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort - built on it too. Have a glimpse of the resort when I was having my 2 dives near Kapalai. The latest copy of Sport Diving magazine (issue 132) has an article about this nice resort. Unsure about the rate but definitely upmarket stuff. (I just found out that the article is free to view: http://www.divetheblue.net/pdf/132_Kapalai.pdf)

Alternatively, it is possible to stay at Semporna, and having daily diving trip to Sipadan, Mabul or Kapalaim but you will have to endure a longer boat trip, of ~45mins to 1 hour, in order to reach your first dive site, and as long when you have done for the day, heading back to Semporna. There are plenty of budget accommodation choices in Semporna, but I’d strongly recommend to stay in Mabul Island. It is much closer to the actions – dive sites are literally on the door step if you stay in Seaventures or SWV, and the tiny island with its villages is really fun to explore.

Expenses

Sipadan Expenses

• Fun dives pricing (Scuba Junkie), as of August 2008:
• 3 dives, Mabul/Kapalai: RM250
• 3 dives, Sipadan: RM300
• Equipment Rental: RM50/day
• Sipadan National Park Fee: RM40
• I lost one of the fins and was made to pay RM150…

Dive Sites

Many great dive sites around these 3 islands, but here are the ones that I dived:

Sipadan:

1. South Point
2. Barracuda Point
3. Hanging Garden

Mabul:

1. Artificial Reef
2. Froggie
3. Seaventures

Kapalai: 2 unknown dive sites.

Marine Life

Devil Scorpionfish flapping its colorful 'wings' when disturbed

Lots of stuff, but my first ever sightings are:

• Great Barracuda
• Ribbon Eels, both adult and juvenile
• Crocodilefish
• Devil Scorpionfish
• Juvenile Many-Spotted Sweetlips – the little dancing queen!
• Leaf Fish

I love Mabul and Kapalai for the muck dives, but Sipadan is unforgettable, with the many sharks and turtle sightings, the schools of Barracuda, and of course, the trill of unlimited deep blue below me.

Tips

1. Mabul/Semporna gets dark early, at about 6:30pm
2. Bring enough cash. No ATM facilities on Mabul AFAIK. Semporna has a few banks and ATMs.
3. Electricity on Mabul is not a problem. 220~240V, 50~60Hz.
4. Book advance with your choice dive operators if you want to dive Sipadan, because there is a daily quota. No such problem for diving in Mabul and Kapalai.
5. Stay longer – I did 3 dive days, and it is far from enough once we start tasting. Stay as long as you can (or your money allows)
6. Diving is all year long.
7. Walk the island if you stay in Mabul – villages, local childrens, serene Sipadan Water Village, view of Seaventures, and also enjoy the gentle sea gull at the end of jetty in the evening while admiring those having night dives just beneath you.