Mussah Poteh Resort — Hotel in Pom Pom Island

Stay from May 9th to 12th, 2025 Disappointing Experience for a European Traveler

My review is based only on the resort and not the island or the sea.

We stayed at this resort for three nights. Let me start by saying this is not a luxury resort, but rather a mid-range facility focused exclusively on snorkeling and diving activities. In my opinion, it does not live up to the price. It's also worth noting that we were the only western guests during our stay.

Negative aspects:

Beach access is very limited: is forbidden explore freely or go more than a few meters into the water. Moreover, the beach was littered with trash and completely deserted throughout the day.

Excursions are only available in the morning (8:15–11:00) and are exclusively organized by the resort’s own team. After that time, no other activities are offered, so if you don’t take part, you are left with no alternatives to spend your day, with no way to leave the resort via the beach or elsewhere.

Our only excursion was a very negative experience. During the boat trip, the driver, a young and clearly inexperienced man, made abrupt and sharp turns at high speed, tilting the boat dangerously over 45°. These maneuvers were completely unjustified and done purely for “show,” with no regard for safety protocols or the passengers onboard, including a small child and some visibly frightened individuals. I believe those maneuvers were entirely inappropriate for both the type of boat and the context.

Once we reached the snorkeling spot, the crew focused exclusively on the Asian guests, completely ignoring us. This behavior left us puzzled.

After returning to the resort, we immediately canceled all further excursions. No one from the staff asked for explanations or showed any interest in what had happened.

The front desk staff was cold and indifferent throughout our stay.

Neutral/Positive aspects:

The food is typically Asian, of decent quality, but with little variety for those not used to those flavors. The restaurant staff is kind and polite. I recommend going to the restaurant as soon as it opens to avoid limited choices.

The rooms and facilities are average. We booked a sea-view room with two king-size beds, a safe, air conditioning, a functional bathroom, and a hairdryer, all without any particular strengths or flaws.

Conclusion: Based on my experience as an European traveler with numerous international stays for both work and leisure, I strongly advise European tourists against choosing this resort. Unless you are exclusively passionate about snorkeling and diving, and don’t expect much in terms of attention, variety of activities, or guest care, this resort is likely to be a disappointment.

Unfortunately, we only found out after arriving that there is another resort on the island more suited to European tourists, with better food options, more activities, and greater...

Visited Semporna for the first time and decided to stay in this resort for my honeymoon with my partner and travelling friends.

We pay more or less RM637/night per person with a minimum of two nights stay. They don’t charge based on rooms but based on pax and would charge more if you stayed in the room alone. I think the reasoning for this is because of the meals that are included in this package. So in total we pay about RM1900/ per person for a total of 3 nights stay.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons

Pros The island is pretty beautiful with blue water Go for the snorkelling activities, you’ll discover some rly nice sea creatures and beautiful corals they have bbq on Wednesday and Saturday nights out on the beach the island boys working at the jetty are rly nice people and helpful with the snorkelling activities deluxe room has a nice spacious bathtub

Cons Bathroom isn’t cleaned well. You can see dirt and moss on the floor drainage system sucks, so it smells bad sometimes Swimming pool and spa was out of service without any former announcement price on website and reception counter differs. Asked for a night extension and for some reason the price change happened exactly that morning we asked Staffs at reception seems confused and was not Hospitable (almost rude) particularly the lady, Mai Apart from the bbq, Food was less than mediocre There’s a lot of construction happening, so what we thought would be a relaxing trip was accompanied with loud sounds of building, dust and debris there’s a lot of trash in the ocean which is pretty sad considering it’s reputation for being an island with clear blue water overall service was less than satisfactory. Felt that the staffs seemed confused and provided little to no service considering the amount you pay. The most interaction you will receive is during check in and check out.

Was it a bad trip? No Would I come back? No Would I recommend? No

I would suggest to look at other resorts that would offer better services if you’re seeking for a...

Pros very nice and eager staff beautiful island and view great BBQ on wed and sat activities are great, snorkeling is really worth it - we skipped the hike to Bohey Dulang though nice rooms and bathroom especially

Cons pool closed w/o announcement spa closed w/o announcement really mediocre food and limited drinks available. Dont expect that ur paying for food here... it is just average. Really wish that on an island there would be more seafood. unfriendly main reception girl comparatively reasonable prices but still expensive in resort standards. You are paying for the view and the island, not really the service service is so-so. Not much effort done to make it feel luxurious... housekeeping had to be asked for and that took awhile til they actually got to it. That being said the staff were attentive and very nice. Just there isn't that extra effort trash around the island not fully cleaned/maintained. Feel like would be so easy as the island is tiny they're constructing this walkway on the water but seems like it stopped some time ago. This structure is just left 50% done in front of the Seaview Deluxe rooms. Really ugly, full of debris and catches trash. Dangerous for kids cant change booking dates for some reason after paying, even by 1 day quite unreasonable policies despite not having any other guests at all in the resort they have a volleyball court but were surprised and confused when we asked for a ball...

Feel like the whole semporna tourism hasn't fully recovered at all since Covid. Most of their guests comes from China, so they are waiting until the country opens its borders fully. MP will gladly run without guests though 😂

I would say at least this resort has SOME guests...we walked around the islnd and the other 2 resorts are completely barren, no guests at all.

Would say was an average experience with some value given the price, in comparison to other resorts. In general could have...