Malaysia recommendations please

Hi we are off to Mabul december 2011 for a wedding so will be diving Mabul, Sipadan and kapalai from there and would like to know if there are any off the beacon track diving spots in the area that would be worth spending a week at. Not too bothered whether they are macro or wide angle places but I would rather hear about places that you have actually been to rather than just seen in a brochure.

All suggestions greatly received.

Stew

Top of the list will be Barracuda Point, South Point and Turtle Cave at Sipadan. Among the attractions here are sharks and turtle, and of course barracuda. My other recommendations are Mabul House Reef (Mandarin Fish) and Sea Venture House Reef (frog fish).

Top of the list will be Barracuda Point, South Point and Turtle Cave at Sipadan. Among the attractions here are sharks and turtle, and of course barracuda. My other recommendations are Mabul House Reef (Mandarin Fish) and Sea Venture House Reef (frog fish).

I was actually after other islands near to Mabul/Sipadan to stay and dive rather than dives sites on Sipadan and Mabul. Mataking and Lunkayan for example.

Stew

A recommendation for diving in Malaysia? Check with your resorts about dive times! There were some pretty strict limits being imposed a few years ago, I haven't be affected myself, but a few friends have been restricted to some unfriendly short dives. Get it in writing before you pay!

My favourite resort is Kapalai - good house reef and easy to dive the first class sites Sipadan + Mabul.

Alex

Our diving at Sipadan/Mabul and Kapalai will be fine as the group I am going with will have our own boat. ( permits for Sipadan will not be an issue either ) but thanks for the warning Alex and I will make sure that the second resort Louise and I go to we will check with them regarding dive times.

Stew

Randy and I stayed at Lankayan Resort March 2009. The resort is really nice and we had a large 2-room chalet all to ourselves with air conditioning and an outdoor bathroom. The diving was ok...vis was not great but we did see turtles, a few sharks etc...The snorkeling right off the beach or the dive platform is great! Our last full day we did not dive but instead just snorkeled around the island. But the draw is the resort itself, one resort on one small white sand island in the middle of the ocean, very nice atmosphere, very nice people working at the resort and the food was great! My trip report is here, http://www.divermaiden.com/Borneo2009/Borneo_2009_Menu.htm.

Best,

Kathy

I was actually after other islands near to Mabul/Sipadan to stay and dive rather than dives sites on Sipadan and Mabul. Mataking and Lunkayan for example.

 

Stew

Sangalaki/Derawan/Kakaban/Maratua are actually pretty close to Tawau which in my opinion provide better diving than Sipadan.

From Tawau there is ferry service to Tarakan (Indonesia) where you can be picked up by speedboat to resorts in Derawan or Maratua.

Not Malaysia, but Cebu Pacific has a 2.5 hour flight from Kota Kinabalu to Manila. When figuring out a second location after Sipadan Mabul, we decided to head over to the Philippines and dive Puerto Galera (Anilao is also a quick option from there). Oddly, the round trip flying into BKI and out of Manila was also cheaper than round trip to/from BKI.