24/07/2026
Got the boat to Mabul this morning and it was a little rough and wet. Still, got here with no problem, waiting until tomorrow to dive as it's pretty choppy today.
For such a small island the diving and stays can be pretty expensive. We found a relatively reasonable place, but it's pretty basic. Beautiful views though. Most of the hotels here are built over the water, which is very clear, but as it's just sand and seaweed there are not a lot of fish to see just swimming around the hotels. This whole side seems to have a nice reef break water that helps keep the water a little calmer close to shore.
As this island is very small ( ten minute walk across and probably twice that length wise) most hotels seem to offer full or half board as part of your package. Ours including the boat over ( about an hour) our room ( with ac and private bath, shower water goes straight in the ocean) all our meals and all our dive gear, and roughly 8 dives including Sipadan for about $1600 ( four night, five days). That was by far the best price around ( that also had ok reviews for diving). Some of these places are 500-1000$ a night and they don't look that fancy. You can also just snorkel instead of dive here as many of the spots are pretty shallow and that would cost less. If anyone is interested I'll give you the info and how we felt about the diving etc when we finish.
