Semporna & Mabul

SEMPORNA
MABUL
SIPADAN
SMART DIVE RESORT
Flying from Kota Kinabalu we landed at Tawau Airport in the early evening. Our transfer was there to meet us. We traveled overland through 1000's of Palm oil trees, as far as the eye could see. Into the night & through the rain. We got to our hotel in Semporna only to find our room only had one bed, it took a bit of working but they finally bought another bed up for us after midnight. Waking early the next morning we could see a very busy port from our hotel window.
Later that morning we got our ferry from Semporna to Mabul Island, I had booked to stay at SMART Dive Resort & didn't know what to expect. WOW everything was so much better than I could have ever hoped for. Welcome drinks & then whisked straight off to Sipadan. All of us had permits for Sipadan that day, so Pierre went for 3 boat dives & the kids and I snorkeled. Again WOW turtles everywhere. school's of Bumphead fish, lion fish, whitetip reef sharks, cuttle fish & school's of Barracuda just to name a few. We could snorkel in the direction that the divers had taken & the boat would come & pick us up. Perfect!

SMART Dive Resort itself was picture perfect.
The diving was very well organised. I had no idea it would be this good. The staff were really lovely & always helpful & the food in the dinning hall was always delicious, even the kids loved it. Our room were much better than the web site had shown. White sand beach, palm trees & crystal clear water right at our door step. We even had two bungalows.

I had been worried about pirates but there was a very strong military presents & you can see the surveillance plane in one of my photos. Also armed guards all over the island in the day & night.

On the 2nd day,I had time to walk around the island & the people there were really warm & friendly, I had a great opportunity to take some photos, which had been what I'd hoped for.

Semporna







Mabul
SMART Dive Resort








Fishing Village
On Mabul
















Fare well Mabul