Scuba Junkie — Hotel in Borneo

👎The booking process👎 At first was communicating through WhatsApp, then was asked to email. After repeating the information in email, the email ask me to book through WhatsApp 🤦. In total 30 email back and forth and dozens of Whatsapp messages to two different Whatsapp numbers. And they asked you to pay within 24 hours yet they don't really reply your email/whataspp quick enough to help you meet the 24 hours deadline. worse in email the guy had a "typo" of a 500 difference so I had to do another transfer through wise. Kudos to the WhatsApp person who informed me of the KK + sipadan combo discount, but you have to book them separately. The booking was a highly inefficient, the complete opposite of streamlined process.

👎The fin👎 Most consistent for both sipadan and KK is the fin that cut your toes if you don't wear socks. They know their fins cuts. I felt the burn and a guy in my group got a bloody toe. Should have a note to warn people before they got hurt.

👎The fakewell👎 For the 4 days I was on the mabul island saw them walking pass with the stone cold face, but at the end they put on a big fake? smile jeer and wave you goodbye I was, for the lack of better word disgusted by it 🤢. Or maybe they're genuinely super delighted to see me go. The local guides were fine, they were friendly whenever you see them. Don't stage it please.

👍Scuba junkie positive impact👍 2 years ago the beach around sj jetty was covered with trash, this time they were releasing baby turtles into the ocean on the same patch of beach but this time fairly clean. Many local guides I saw two years ago are still working with SJ, a somewhat indicator of a decent employer. But some of them did seem a bit tired. Also good to see scuba junkie is doing more for sustainability. 👍

👍 diving 👍 Visibility wasn't as good but still good diving. Not a single dive I didn't see a turtle. Got a 2 seconds glance of hammerhead shark so that was cool.

👍Food👍 Food was quite decent, I wish to have nasi lemak for breakfast like we Malaysian do but never happened. But they still tried to have both asian and western food on breakfast/dinner. Good selection of tea to help you wake and sleep.

👍Water bottle👍 This time they give out scuba junkie thermo flask. Didn't know it was for me to take I was going to buy one. This is a great gesture and promote reduce plastic. Develop this maybe different designs?

✋The room I had dorm room this time good that each dorm bed has an individual fan but the concrete release heat at night need to open the windows to let cool air in. So maybe mosquito 🦟 net is...

We booked a one day snorkeling trip with scuba junkie and ended up doing 3 days because we loved it so much! They are very professional, helpful, and flexible. Most of their clients come for diving but they are accommodating to snorkelers as well. The day trip leaves semporna around 8am and returns around 5:30pm. It costs 150 RM which includes the boat transfer to and from mabul, the semporna jetty fee, a very nice buffet lunch at their mabul resort, and all equipment and a guide. One day we were only 3 snorkelers and joined some divers on the boat, but you always get a dedicated snorkeling guide. The trip includes 3 different spots to snorkel at, with just under an hour of water time at each one. This gives you plenty of time to explore the beautiful underwater life. Each of the days we saw several turtles and lots of colourful fish from parrot to angel to banner fish. We also managed to spot some morays, sea snakes, shrimp, blue spotted rays, scorpion fish, and a stone fish. And lots of beautiful coral! We did two days in kapalai+mabul and one day just around mabul. All were very good days and each day we did different spots because they knew we went before with them and are flexible in their schedule to accommodate you. The guides knew almost all of the fish we saw and pointed out interesting things we might have missed ourselves. There are also fish identification books laying around the office and resort with pictures such that you can identify what you have seen. We also rented an underwater camera from them which was 100 RM for one day. The camera is really good and we managed to get some great pictures and videos. You do need your own SD card to use it, otherwise they also sell some. Scuba junkie doesn't just offer great snorkeling and dive trips but also helps in sea life conservation. They have a turtle hatchery on mabul which encourages locals to let turtle eggs hatch instead of taking them to sell. They also run awareness programs at local schools to teach about humanity's impact on sea life, such as the impact of trash in the ocean. Highly recommend using scuba junkie when you're in semporna! Do note that if you want to stay at their mabul resort you need to book in advance as it was full for the whole week when we arrived. The day trips from Semporna are a good...

I cannot sing the praises of the entire Scuba Junkie Sipadan team highly enough.

We visited with a group of 23 from the Nautilus Scuba Club Cairns and from the first point of contact 18 months ago were an absolute pleasure to interact with. They ensured I had one point of contact for essentially all communications, which I am so grateful for (thank you Ash!)

Then from arrival we were warmly greeted, briefed and almost immediately off to do some world class diving. The variety of dive sites around Mabul, Kapalai, Si Amil and of course Sipadan is insane. There is something for absolutely everyone. Muck/macro, pelagics, stunning reefs, artificial structures, just all of the things.

The entire dive team was amazing, but my group specifically were super impressed with the professionalism, care, and attention to detail from Legend. The best dive guide I have ever had. Shout-outs also to Smiley and Azrul who were both amazing.

The resort is gorgeous and well appointed, more so than I was expecting. Shower's water pressure leaves a little to be desired, but easily remedied by showering at the excellent showers on the jetty. The rooms are clean, comfy, conveniently located. Wifi advertised as only in common areas, but it reached all of our rooms.

Food is amazing! Great variety and they easily cater for dietary concerns like allergies and for vegetarians/vegans. Bars on the jetty and above the restaurant. Plenty of water refill dispensers.

The care for environment is prevalent and obvious here. They run a single use plastic free operation, which is in itself miraculous in this part of the world. But they also host beach clean ups, have a turtle hatchery and rehabilitation program, and are helping the whole of Mabul to be more sustainable - not just focusing on themselves and their resort. I and many of our other members were proud to be able to support their SEAS program by purchasing their recycled plastic souvenirs, sponsoring a turtle nest, and adopting hatchling turtles.

We stayed for 8D/7N and honestly could have stayed another 3-4 days just to see all of the dive sites around the resort. I sincerely hope to be back to dive again with this team.

Thank you so very very much to everyone in front of and behind the scenes for making this a trip of...