On the pontoon of Mabul, the little gypsies of the sea welcome divers. (Borneo, Malaysia. July 2006)
On the pontoon of Mabul, the little gypsies of the sea welcome divers. (Borneo, Malaysia. July 2006)

Gypsies of the sea and soldiers in arms

#Sipadan #Mabul # Borneo #Malaysia

  Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text: 


The islands around Sipadan are not well known and yet they are worth a visit. I dive there almost every day until the end of the week, while waiting for my turn to go to Sipadan.

In the genre "appetizer", these small islands (Mabul, Sibuan, Mantabuan) are fantastic spots.

The island of Mabul

The main one, Mabul, is inhabited. Entire families of fishermen, more or less sedentary "sea gypsies", live there in wooden shacks on stilts, next to a luxurious resort for rich divers and longhouses rustic for low-budget divers.

The pontoon of Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia. July 2006)
The pontoon of Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
On the pontoon of Mabul, the little gypsies of the sea welcome divers. (Borneo, Malaysia. July 2006)
On the pontoon of Mabul, the little gypsies of the sea welcome divers. (Borneo, Malaysia. July 2006)

The island is pretty, seen from the open sea, but for this first time in the waters of Sipadan, I preferred to stay in Semporna, even if it means taking the boat every morning.

Update : during my future trips to Borneo, in 2009 and in 2013, to dive in Sipadan, I will make a different choice, I will reside in Mabul to avoid this journey.

The port of Semporna is ugly, not very pleasant, I would not advise tourists in search of exotic postcard to stay there. But there is a semblance of modernity that I appreciate: internet access (although not very fast), electrical outlets to recharge the batteries of the camera, restaurants, hot water, market, etc.

Small annoyance in my quest for modernity: I receive SMS, but I can't send any. It's annoying, all the same... Hmm. I feel like a backpacker who's getting bored!

Small animals

During my many dives in Mabul, Sibuan and Mantabuan, I am not disappointed. The dive-masters are competent and know the bottoms like the back of their hand. Every day I discover bugs that I have never seen before.

Highly sought after frog-fishes aka frogfish (antennae), indolent and shapeless fish, disguise themselves as a sponge and wedge incognito between two stones, leaning on their fins which have become quasi-paws.

Crocodile fish, kings of camouflage too, merge with the sand. And, again, there is a truly incredible variety of nudibranchs ...

Crocodile fish. (Mabul, Malaysia, July 2006)
Crocodile fish. (Mabul, Malaysia, July 2006)
This frogfish photographed in Mabul does not really look like anything ... (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
This frogfish photographed in Mabul really looks like nothing… (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
An imposing white nudibranch (sea slug) with yellow border, photographed in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
An imposing white nudibranch (sea slug) with yellow border, photographed in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
Look who is hiding in the sand ... (Sibuan, Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
Look who is hiding in the sand… (Sibuan, Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A school of jacks, in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A school of jacks, in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A pretty spotted moray eel in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A pretty spotted moray eel in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
Another moray eel in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
Another moray eel in Mabul. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A small cuttlefish in Mantabuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A small cuttlefish in Mantabuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A small school of catfish on the sand near Sibuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A small school of catfish on the sand near Sibuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)

A treat for the amateur photographers of which I am a part. You can also meet the classic tropical underwater fauna: batfish, moray eels, angel fish, clowns, parrots, etc. etc.

Between two dives, we decompress on the sand, the time to eliminate the nitrogen accumulated in the body and to take some strength.

Military welcome on white sand

On each island, there are soldiers, who control the boats' route sheets, the names and the number of divers. Security measures put in place by the Malaysian government since the hostage taking in 2000 by the Philippine terrorist group Abu Sayyaf (the divers held on Jolo Island had been kidnapped in Sipadan).

A lattice Malaysian soldier stands guard on the sand of Sibuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
A lattice Malaysian soldier stands guard on the sand of Sibuan. (Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006)
Mantabuan Island is also guarded by soldiers. Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006.
On the island of Mantabuan, the soldiers on duty are wearing flip-flops... Borneo, Malaysia, July 2006.

It's a bit funny, when you land on these cute white sandy beaches with their postcard coconut trees, to see guys in fatigues, some of them armed with an impressive machine gun, as a welcoming committee.

Bikini divers are the main attraction of the day for them... And of course the French are entitled to a little ironic football commentary. Thanks Zidane!

😂

  Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006

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  1. Hello,
    First of all thank you for your blog it is very interesting.
    I'm going to Borneo next April and I'm planning to go diving in Sipadan (I'm AOW with 60 dives), I wanted to know the difficulty of the dives on Sipadan because I'll have with me 2 level 1s who have only 15 or 20 dives? Also, does the current allow me to take my time for the descent because my friend has ear problems and usually descends very slowly?
    Thank you in advance for your answer

    Pk,

    luc

  2. N1 with only 15-20 dives is possible, even if it seems to me a bit too little for a site like Sipadan. In my opinion, a little more experience allows you to take better advantage of it (if only in terms of air consumption: it is frustrating in such a spectacular place to have to go back up after a too short time...). With your AOW + 60 dives, it's no problem I think.

    But it also depends on how you are supervised... I have seen beginners with excellent dive-masters, for whom it went very well.

    As for the descent, it depends on the sites around Sipadan. I would have to go through the pages of my logbook of the time to see if I had noted anything about the conditions of the descent or not. I don't remember any particular difficulty or difficult current to manage during the descent. But it is true that I am one of those happy divers who instinctively swallow when descending and whose ears usually pass by themselves, without even thinking about it...

    I will reconsult my notebook and I will return to give you more precise indications.

    🙂

  3. I have just left my notebook ...

    As far as level is concerned, I was AOW and I had more than 130 dives at that time. As for the current, I noted on some sites "strong current" or "a little current" but nothing that left me a particular memory in terms of difficulty.

    The average depth of the dives oscillated from 35-30m to 20m on the sites of Sipadan itself, and around 18-12m on Mabul. When drifting in Sipadan, we tend to go down without realizing it, very quickly, in the 30m zone, as the show is amazing (sharks, barracudas, turtles everywhere). The currents can be a bit treacherous.

    But during the outings, the more serious clubs make sure to group people by level. Beginners will go shallow and will be supervised accordingly, on sites with less difficulties. Divers of a higher level will be able to enjoy more while remaining within the framework of "recreational diving".

    The best thing would be to ask these questions directly to the club you plan to dive with.

    Good bubbles !!!

    😉

  4. Hello

    Thank you for your great blog that makes me good service to organize my travels.
    Can you tell me if a diver name can enjoy semporna?
    Come snorkelling by boat on sites, beaches and others ???
    thank you

    1. @Laurent: Semporna in itself is ugly, it is a city-port without charm. For a non diver, there are some snorkeling trips possible on the nearby islands, very nice, but frankly, Semporna-Mabul-Sipadan remains a "diving" destination... I am afraid that a non diver will get bored quickly...

  5. Good evening Corinne,

    First of all, I wanted to congratulate you for your site, it makes us dream and it forces us to think about the diving destinations for the next 10 years as there is so much to discover!
    We are going to Semporna in September to dive in Sipadan of course but also on other sites because of the exorbitant price of Sipadan. We decided to stay in Semporna because we did not want to take a package and stay in Mabul for 4 days.
    I found a dive shop Scubaholics which has very good comments but unfortunately they can't take divers to Sipadan themselves, so they get the famous permits through other centers. The centers having permits all oblige to take the famous packages and the service is the minimum (considering the comments of the divers!). That's why I'm leaning towards Scubaholics. I am writing to you because I find little experience of divers concerning the other islands near Semporna (Mantabuan, Sibuan Island, Mataking, Timba Timba Island, Tabawan Island)
    95% divers going to Mabul & Kapalai Island, it is really difficult to get an idea of what the other islands are worth. Could you help me and advise me? Concerning Mabul and Kapalai, are they really worth it? Many thanks in advance, France

    1. @La France : Mabul is the closest island to Sipadan, where it is convenient to stay, for those who want to dive in Sipadan. There are accommodations and diving services at all prices, from the cheapest to the most chic.

      I would recommend on Mabul: Billabong Scuba and Scuba Junkie for the cheapest, Scubadventures platform or Borneo Divers for the mid-range. All have their quota of permits per day. The first two also have options from Semporna. Contact them for details of prices.

      To my knowledge, but it has evolved since my last visit, we can not stay on the islands you list.

      Kapalai is a chic and expensive island-resort, near Mabul. We dive there, the site is nice, but the accommodation is expensive.

      Mabul is an island full of people, of all kinds of travelers-divers, chic and cheapskates. There is a small village with local style, houses on stilts, a bit dirty, but which corresponds to the "real" way of life of the locals, even if the influx of tourists has upset the situation a bit. It is the most convenient place to dive on Sipadan.

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