Zero Gravity Scuba Borneo Sabah 零重力潜水中心 — Hotel in Borneo

We stayed at Zero Gravity for a week and here’s my honest review.

Let’s start with the only nice thing about the place — the kitchen! Very well equipped and properly functioning. We loved that we could cook our meals and always had cold water available.

But then the rest…

ROOMS - the bed were comfy but one of the pillows was hard like bricks and there is really nowhere for you to put your stuff. We only had a (broken) bedside table and a tiny shelf not properly screwed to the wall so everything would just fall from it. Also, the A/C was constantly leaking on one of the beds.

TOILETS – probably the worst part. Very dirty, rusty and poorly maintained. Twice during our stay there was no toilet paper and when I asked they said they needed to restock. Hair constantly clogging the shower drains was something disgusting.

Oh, 3 out of the 6 days we stayed there was no water in either the female or male toilets/kitchen but it seems that’s a Government issue.

STAFF - they looked nice at check-in, but after that they would just mind their own business, never saying good morning or smile at you.

Also, I couldn’t stand the fact that they were very loud until late at night, talking, playing music and slamming doors even after 12, making it very hard to get some good sleep. You would expect such behavior from other disrespectful guests and not from the very people who run the place and should keep it a nice environment for everyone. I asked the first night to please turn off the music after 11pm and they did, but after that I just had to cope with it, because having to complain to them felt really weird.

DIVING - we booked with them the first day and never again because it was simply TERRIBLE from start to end.

First, they do not have their own centre but partner up with others, so we ended up diving with Scuba Home, which has the worst equipment I’ve ever rented. All the suits were ripped and worn out, BCDs and regulators poorly maintained as well. The fins they provide are like the basic yellow fins which gave us really painful blisters.

What really shocked me is that our “guide” didn’t really looked like one.

He didn’t ask about BCD sizes — which is kinda the first thing you should do — and just assumed I was an M (I’m an XS). I had to tell him when he had already put us on the boat and only then he went back to take the right size.

The briefs he gave us were something like “okay we’ve arrived at [dive site] so here’s where we are going to dive for 45 min only”.

Shortly after our first dive he told us to get ready for the second one and I had to remind him about surface time — only then he looked at his computer and said “okay, we’re gonna wait a few more minutes”. (What the hell?)

The dives themselves were hands down the worst and most boring dives of our life, not even close to enjoyable. On the third one he kept leading us back and forth on the same reef, doing literally nothing.

We always finished with half tank, which was a bit upsetting at first but considering how bored we were underwater we were kinda glad eventually.

I must say we were pretty unlucky with the weather, which affected the visibility and that’s obviously nobody’s fault, but still they could have picked more suitable sites and it’s not like the rest of the whole experience made up for it.

The lunch was a NO too - we asked for a vegetarian meal and specified we could not eat spicy. Guess what? Our tofu was covered in chilly sauce. Besides that everything was deep fried, so a very heavy greasy meal.

(A shame about the guide tho, cause he was the only staff member who would smile and try to conversate with us🙏🏼)

Someone might think that this is just what you should expect in Semporna, so I’m gonna anticipate that and tell you that is most certainly not. We dove with other centres and everything was perfect – great equipment, great dive masters, great lunch and great service. Oh, and like 100 MYR cheaper.

I don’t like leaving bad reviews, but when safety is involved I believe it’s only fair to let others know.

Not...

So… we did not dive here, this is only a review of staying here.

This would be the perfect place to stay for backpackers, if they did not have a dog.

The dog is really nice, the animal is not the problem, the people keeping the dog are!

They do not take it for walks, so the poor dog shits and pees on the balcony! Yes, you read correctly, it shits on the floor!

You might think: that’s not a problem, I want go on the balcony.

The only sink is on the balcony, so if you want to wash your hands, you have to walk, without shoes, out on it.

They “clean” by not scooping up the shit, but using a broom (!!!), can you imagine how much shot is stuck in that broom?!

Oh yeah, they spray a little water on the spot too.

They have a mop they use for the ie tire balcony to “clean up the shit and pee”… you can imagine, how that using only water and a little soap, will not clean but distribute the shit and pee all over the balcony, where again, YOU HAVE TO WALK BAREFOOT.

I hope they will reconsider having a dog, and instead find a prober home for it. There is no reason to keep a dog chained up on a balcony for its entire life, it is honestly cruel...

Did our Padi open water with zero gravity and stayed at the village homestay for the duration. The homestay was everything we needed clean, comfortable and welcoming and there was always someone available for anything we needed from restaurant recommendations to laundry and everything in between. For the diving our instructors, Joanne and Han, were endlessly patient with our numerous questions and occasional slowness and even went out of their way to help when we had problems transferring the deposit. In the water their experience shon through and they are all round lovely people. Diving in semporna is a phenomenal experience in its self but it was made so much easier and more fun by these...