Scuba Junkie Mabul Beach Resort — Hotel in Mabul Island

Highly recommend Scuba Junkie Sipadan. We had a really incredible trip, and it was a very great experience throughout, from the dive staff to the diving itself in Sipadan. ||||I was there between 14-19 Jun, and stayed at the Mabul Beach Resort, diving with with my family (mom (57), dad (63), two brothers (30 and 26)). We're all advanced open water divers except for one brother who is a rescue diver. ||||Pre-trip arrangements||We booked our trip with Cynthia at ADEX in Apr 2025, and the process was very smooth throughout. Ash was helping us handle our booking arrangements, and was patient in answering our many questions (eg on gear, discounts from adex, land/sea transfer from the airport) and accommodating to our requests where possible. For example, while the divemaster to diver ratio is generally 1:4, we had asked for our group of 5 to be kept together, and this was indeed arranged for during our trip. Ash also replied to our emails very quickly, and it therefore made the entire booking process very smooth. ||||Divemasters and staff||A friend who went diving with Scuba Junkie a couple of weeks ago recommended that we ask for Hafiz and Legend (Khai) as our divemasters, and it was an incredible time with them two.||||We were with Hafiz and Shah on Day 1 doing our refresher dives. Day 2 was with Hafiz and Khai, Day 3 was with Khai and Naim, Days 4-5 with Khai and Lee. ||||The refresher dive was important for us as we hadnt been diving for very long, and Hafiz was extremely patient with my parents, doing a full recap of all the important things to note while diving, and emphasising all the safety measures we needed to remember, tips to remember the various components of our buddy check ("breakfast with rice and fish"). He gave off extremely calm energy - vvv important and reassuring in a dive instructor. ||||The next few days were primarily led by Khai as Hafiz went on leave, and he too was very reassuring throughout. He often went above and beyond what he needed to do, eg bringing us to the turtle hatchery at our request (even though there were no baby turtles being released, which is usually only when they bring customers over to the hatchery), sharing all his knowledge on the sea creatures answering all of my mom's questions about the sea creatures (she had many), and then pointing the ones she asked about out during our next dive, hanging out with us at lunch/break and sharing stories, helping us off the boat, advising my mom to remove her BCD in the water before lifting it up onto the boat, lending her his spare mask because hers was too big for her face. ||||After watching my dad's air consumption the first day, Hafiz also recommended my dad take the 15L tank for the Sipadan days. After that point, Khai always made sure that that was set up for us. ||||On the last two days, we were on the same boat as Simon who was taking another customer around. Simon was very knowledgeable and extremely fun. He gave us tips about how to be better at diving (also told us to read his blog post), told us stories about his time at scuba junkie, his experience in Malaysia, about him bringing his family around too, cracked jokes, brought his speakers and tunes to vibe during our surface interval and at lunch. All this made us all feel very connected to the place, to our guides, and overall enhanced the experience because it felt personal. ||||Listening to them two speak about how much they loved diving, loved sipadan, made us all remember why we all loved diving, and in my mom's words, "made her fall in love with diving again". At the end of every dive, Simon would thank us for diving with them, and end off by saying "thank you for diving with scuba junkie, fuel the addiction". And it really is an incredible tagline, made possible by the community that Scuba Junkie has built, with people like Khai and Simon, and by them making us feel at home, and welcoming us into their community with open arms.||||Beyond Khai and Simon, the rest of the crew was also great. There was always a sense of the crew being a part of the same family - and this extended beyond the divemasters, to the boat captains, the guys helping settle the rental logistics etc, the ladies who cooked for us at the cookhouse. ||||When we departed sipadan on the last day, they sang a goodbye song (!!!) - which might sound corny and cheesy, but really made you feel like you really experienced something great, and it was a lovely last moment that we'll all hold onto in our memories. ||||Diving||Diving in Sipadan is truly what they say - unexpected. We were incredibly lucky, and on our second dive at Sipadan, we saw a whaleshark!!!!!!!! This was at the dive site Hanging Garden, which soon quickly became our favourite (may or may not have been influenced by Khai). This site was cool because we'd go out into the blue to search for the elusive hammerheads (unfortunately none for us this trip, but we'll be back), but then we'd come back to the reef to explore a beaaaaautiful coral garden.||||The second day at sipadan, we also saw an incredible huge huge pod of dolphins, that came up to us and played in the wake of our boat. There were probably about a hundred dolphins around us - absolutely magical. We were also lucky enough to see pilot whales just chilling next to the dolphins. ||||The bumphead parrotfish were also really cool to see. We watched "Our Oceans" on Netflix right before coming and didn't realise it was filmed here!!!!! The barraccuda n jackfish also deserve a shout out - huuuuuuuuuuuge balls of them!!!! And the turtles.... Don't think I've ever seen so many chonky bois ever! Loved it. 10/10 recommend!!!! We'll be back for sure - hopefully Simon's still able to haul himself up on the boat when we come back. ||||We booked 4 days in Sipadan, so that meant 2 dives per day in Sipadan, and 1 dive in either Kapalai or Mabul. Kapalai and Mabul were also beautiful - looking for the small critters broke up the dives and gave it variety, and the corals were also wonderful. We especially loved Ribbon Valley - a beautiful dive to end the trip as we drifted along the current. ||||Thank you Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai, and the Scuba Junkie...

A well run SCUBA resort with PADI courses on offer. They can get you to Sipadan Island as well, provided you dive at least one day with them beforehand so they can be sure you aren't a hazard to yourself and the environment. The equipment available for rent is in good repair, tanks are filled to 200bar reliably, and Nitox is available for non-Sipadan dives (buy not really needed). Dives are off of well maintained twin 125hp outboard boats, all back roll entry... With the exception of some BOW/AOW coursework and night dives on the house reefs. There is availability of snokeling right off the house jetty as well, though it is a high boat traffic area.

Most of the ecology of the normal dive sites are ok... Though I typically came up with BC pockets full of garbage. One site was a complete wreck as it looked like a garbage scow had dumped directly over it. Occasionally the local fishermen cyanide bomb for fish, so be prepared for that horror show. The village next to the resort likes to burn their trash as well, so sensitive lungs beware. The resort hauls the village trash away to the mainland for free... But still they burn it. Lots of non-aggressive stray cats around. Sipadan was nearly immaculate, though. Truly a wonderful place.

Food is of a good quality and my bowels actually got back to normal after the horror that was the Philippines. Way too much smoking for my tastes (dining area was smoke free, though people smoke right in front of this open air area)... The dive prep area of the jetty does not have a separated smoking area, so it is not uncommon to show up on your own, start prepping your kit, and suddenly be surrounded by four or five lit cigarettes... Both by other guests and resort staff. The gear room guys (who fill tanks, maintain regs, and hand out equipment) are frequently seen smoking in the gear area. When I was done with my last dive I asked the gear tech to remove my transmitter from their reg... He did so by twisting it off with his hand, not with a wrench on a torque bearing point.

The DMs are generally pretty good, but do be aware that they run a DM internship program that people pay to go through. This means you may be paying to dive under the guidance of another person paying to dive. In these cases, the intern DM will "always" be shadowed by a professional DM... Except when they aren't. I spoke with the staff leadership about one intern DM who was not ready for prime time and had led solo and they were receptive to my input... Still, they had given this dude a DM rating when he was not ready for it... At least in my opinion as a NAUI rated instructor. The typical issue with lots of student divers around are present... Lack of spatial awareness, silting the bottom, touching everything... But such is the life at most teaching resorts.

So with all this negative feedback, why rate 4 stars? Because the diving was really good.. And Sipadan lived up to the hype.

Manta, hammerhead, greys, white tips, giant schools of jacks... I'd go back... I even bought a t-shirt... And I...

Before I booked, it was a bit of a struggle to get in contact with them. But finally I managed to get a contact and from there on, everything went very smooth. ||The resort is well organized, before and during the stay. You get extensive information on the pickup and the stay. You can book a pickup from Tawau Airport, but we came from Sepilok and booked a private transfer on our own with their sister company River Junkie. So we were more relaxed to get in time at the dive shop in Semporna. ||Transfer to Mabul by private boot is twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon and is included in the booking.||At arrival we got information on the resort, the dive shop, the restaurant, bar, etc.||We booked a VIP AC room, which had a nice view on the dive shop, the beach and the ocean. The room was spacious, nicely decorated, basically equipment, but more than enough for our one week stay. We also had a lovely patio with comfortable chairs which were also loved by the resort cats :)||There is no daily cleaning, but you can request your cleaning (basic or all) at the reception by handing in one of the cards in your room. ||The resort is a real dive resort, besides diving there is nothing but the bar, restaurant and a small shop. The training location for water open water training is in the front of the dive shop in a secluded area of the ocean. ||The restaurant was open on fixed hours, but there was always possibility to get water, tea and coffee. The food was basic but delicious and with the large tables you get easily in contact with other divers.||The diving itself was also well organized. Every evening you know the planning of dive sites. We got our own gear and got a spot to keep our gear overnight. Boots were well maintained. Depending on the location we had lunch on the island or we came back to the resort. In our package we also had 3 days of Sipadan, which is well protected and even closed for recovery in November. If you are lucky, you can visit the freshly hatched turtles in the turtle hatchery on the island.||The staff also needs to be mentioned. They were very friendly and helpful. ||Overall we had a nice stay, if you plan to go, book well in advance, it's value for money as this is a resort for...