Small critters or big walls; boat rides or shore dives; dawn-to-dusk diving or vacation relaxation? At Borneo Divers Mabul you won't have to choose one or the other, because you'll be right on the shores of Malaysia's muck diving mecca, and just a short boat ride away from the spectacular vertical faces and fish life of Sipadan Island. You'll have the support of a PADI Five-Star IDC dive center, along with all the amenities that transform a dive trip into a total dive vacation.
Borneo Divers Mabul has grown from a simple shore-based facility to a first-class resort. This landmark property is not only the region's leading dive operation, it is operated by the people who made these waters famous. Resort founders Ron Holland and Clement Lee opened Mabul's first dive operation in the early 1980s, providing the world its first glimpse of the macro-rich marine environments surrounding this small island. More attention came in 1989 when diving icon Jacques Cousteau came to nearby Sipadan Island to make the film “Borneo: Ghost of the Sea Turtle.” In the years since, Mabul and Sipadan have come to enjoy a reputation as one of the world's premier diving destinations.
THE PROPERTY
The resort sits on a white-sand beach overlooking one of Mabul's favorite shore diving reefs. The social center of the property is the expansive dining hall, which serves a variety of chef-prepared Malaysian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Western Cuisines. The adjacent event hall hosts cultural performances and other entertainment, and includes recreational amenities such as a library and theatre room, billiards, foosball, games and table tennis. The grounds include a swimming pool, hot tub, sports fields, water sports center, full-service spa, gift shop and three bars, including a beachfront sunset bar serving casual menus. In addition to spa services, guests can enjoy a massage, therapeutic reflexology session or manicure at the beach gazebo or in their room. Broad-band WiFi Internet is available property wide, and family-friendly amenities include a separate children's pool, trampolines, games and play areas.
Guests can choose between two types of accommodation. Villa rooms in two-story clusters feature ceiling-to-floor windows that open to private balconies with pool and garden views. The rooms are equipped with individually controlled air-conditioning, LCD televisions, tea and coffee-making facilities and Minibar with refrigerators. Rooms showcase ethnic touches such as beautifully hand-carved lamps, hand-woven tapestries and other cultural pieces, and provide easy access to the beach and dive center. The resort's semi-detached Chalet rooms are spaced in a garden setting for privacy, and are close to the beach. All have been upgraded recently to a Deluxe level with similar amenities as Villa rooms.
THE DIVING
Borneo Divers Mabul is home to the island's premier dive center. This Full service PADI 5* IDC Dive Center supports both shore and boat diving activities, and offers everything from introductory scuba classes to career development programs. The over-water facility is set on a pier with adjacent docks for easy access to dive boats. The center includes personal gear storage areas, showers, a lounge area, a rental shop stocked with well-maintained Mares and Scubapro equipment and a professional underwater video and filming center.
A stairway on the pier gives divers access to one of Mabul's top-rated shore dives, and the center provides three boat dives daily to sites around Mabul, as well as the nearby regions of Kapalai, Si Amil and Sipadan Island. Mabul's underwater landscape are ideally suited for critter hunting and macro photography. Mild currents and typically shallow profiles allow for long bottom times, while sea beds that are predominantly sand prove more forgiving that the silt-laden surfaces typical of many other muck-diving hotspots around the world.
Nearby Sipadan Island provides contrasting underwater landscapes in the form of towering walls and hard coral formations that hold massive schools of fish and numerous turtles. Access to Sipadan is by permit only to limit diver impact. Borneo Divers guarantees at least one Sipadan trip for guests who stay at the resort for a minimum of four nights.
Kapala Reef adds shallow to mid-depth sites rich in hard and soft coral growth, cleaning stations and gentle reef slops that hold a wealth of small and rare marine animals. A bit longer boat ride away, the shallow reefs of uninhabited Si Amil Island provide more opportunities for discoveries such as nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, coral shrimps, sea dragons and frogfish.
Borneo Divers Mabul is reached by commuter flights from Kuala Lampur on Malaysia Air to Tawau, followed by a land transfer and taxi boat ride to Mabul Island. Caradonna Adventures offers a number of dive packages with Borneo Divers, and can arrange all details of travel, accommodations and diving. For more information give us a call at 800-330-6611 or email us at sales@caradonna.com.