Dive Review of Sipadan Water Village in
Malaysia/Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai/Siamil

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Sipadan Water Village, Jul, 2009, by Susan Simpson, WA, USA ( 2 reports). Report 4932.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The rooms are very nice. We were in a standard unit. There is no air conditioning but when there is a breeze they are quite comfortable. There are large shuttered panels that make up part of the walls that open up to the balcony. We had a beautiful sea view. I've seen some comments about the shabby fishing village on Mabul wrecking the view. Pretty snooty if you ask me. We walked through the village and although the houses were modest by our standards, many were well kept and had plant pots or gardens outside. There is a bit of litter in some places. No worse than I have seen in the states however. Maybe the people have better things to worry about, like feeding their kids and aren't all that concerned about offending a bunch of rich foreign tourists. The food was okay. There were several choices. Always something I recognized and was willing to eat. They had a lot of Asian choices and I'm not that brave culinarily speaking. The service was wonderful. The staff was very friendly. The dive operation was pretty good as well. You have a different dive master every day. I didn't like this at first but we got to know a number of the divemasters this way and they were all pretty good at their jobs. The boats were small and you back rolled over the side. If it had been really rough these would have been tough to dive out of. I had already been warned by reading reviews that the access to Sipadan was limited. We were there for a week and got to dive Sipadan 2 days. I felt they did a good job at getting us there within the limits they were given. Sipadan was really quite wonderful. There was so much life. Lots of sharks and big fish. Turtles of course but these were plentiful and huge on all islands in the area, not just on Sipadan. The coral was in good condition and abundant. Barracuda point was a must do. We swam with a school of thousands. It was incredible. Macro on Mabul and Kapalai was also pretty incredible. The coral was not in the same great shape. But there are so many different nudibranchs. We also saw Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Ribbon eels, a pygmy sea horse and a number of crabs and shrimp that were so small, I did not fully appreciate them until I saw the pictures I had taken. We saw Mandarin fish as well which were much smaller than I expected. The divemasters were pretty good at pointing this stuff out. Good thing because some of it was pretty hard to see even once it was pointed out to you. On the last day they took up to Siamil. An island that they have just started diving on. It was lush and unspoiled. Great macro and the coral was in good shape too. I would go back if it was closer. As it was, it took the better part of two days to get there. So this was probably a once in a life time experience due to the distance.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	BC, Bonaire, Belize, Caymans, Cozumel, Honduras, Florida Keys, North Carolina, Hawaii, Washington
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-86°F / 28-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-70 Ft/ 6-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	You were expected to stay with the dive master and group
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	> 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The boats are pretty small. No place to put your camera but in your lap. The photo ops are wonderful though. Great Macro stuff.

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Dive Review of Sipadan Water Village in Malaysia/Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai/Siamil

Sipadan Water Village, Jul, 2009,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Sipadan Water Village in
Malaysia/Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai/Siamil