SCUBA BUDDY - Diving in Mabul and Sipadan — Hotel in Sabah

Enchanting surroundings, incredibly disappointing experience.

What was meant to be a 3-day, 2-night stay at Scuba Buddy turned into a frustrating waiting game due to poor organization, lies, and zero communication.

Mabul is stunning for diving/snorkeling, but think twice before booking here—it’s overpriced for the quality offered.

Pros:

✔️ Tasty food ✔️ Beautiful setting

Cons:

❌ Poor organization ❌ Lack of communication ❌ Lies ❌ Very low hygiene ❌ Small food portions

We first contacted them via WhatsApp, where an employee was responsive—until we paid. Messages were read but ignored for 3 days before another employee finally sent our receipt (incorrectly). None of the WhatsApp staff actually work at Scuba Buddy, creating confusion.

Arrival & Unclean Rooms

Upon arrival, our room was the only one not ready. The staff rushed to prepare it, but it was clearly unclean—we had to sweep long black hairs off the floor. The sheets and towels smelled musty, but we assumed it was due to humidity.

Snorkeling Deception & Lies

We were told the boat might not go out due to rain, so we waited at Scuba Buddy. The next day, we learned the boat had actually gone out, but no one informed us.

We had paid for three snorkel trips to two islands but only got two trips. When we asked about our third, no one cared. After waiting two hours while divers were prioritized, we were finally told, "You can come along if you want, I guess."

Instead of the promised Kapalai Island, we were taken to a nearby spot for just 20 minutes. When I contacted WhatsApp staff about the missing Kapalai trip, an employee at Scuba Buddy claimed, "Our boat isn’t powerful enough to go 6km." A blatant lie. They simply didn’t want to send a boat just for snorkelers.

The only time we had an actual guide (instead of non-English-speaking locals with a buoy) was during the "extra snorkel" they reluctantly offered to cover their mistake.

Checkout Disaster & Unhygienic Conditions

We were told to check out at 11 AM for our return boat but were taken to another resort to wait over an hour, only to be informed the boat was actually at 3 PM.

When we returned, we asked to set our bags in our old room and realized they had remade the beds with our used sheets. Clearly, they don’t change linens between guests.

The bathrooms were filthy—covered in cat urine and feces, with dirty employee toothbrushes, razors, used soap bars, and wet cigarettes left on shelves. No cleaning was done in three days. When I reported the unusable bathrooms, the staff simply closed the doors and told us not to use them.

Final Thoughts

I am a frequent traveler, adaptable, and low-maintenance. I embrace local experiences—even uncomfortable ones. But Scuba Buddy isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s unhygienic and unfit for guests.

This place has so much potential, but unless management fixes these issues or lowers prices, guests who travel across the world to visit will continue to be...

Unsafe, unprofessional, and emotionally distressing. Avoid this center.

I joined Scuba Buddy Sipadan Diving in July 2025 for the PADI Open Water course. What I experienced was shocking — unsafe training practices, verbal abuse, poorly maintained equipment, and complete lack of support. I felt genuinely unsafe and chose to end the training because I could no longer trust the instructor, the equipment, or the environment.

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🔴 Dangerous, Non-Compliant Training The instructor (Addie) skipped all basic confined water skills and took me directly into 4 meters of open sea with no briefing or practice — on the very first day. It was supposed to be a confined water dive, but we went straight roll over the boat into current with no preparation. I panicked, and instead of helping, he pushed me away underwater.

I later reviewed PADI’s standards and confirmed that nothing about the training followed correct procedure.

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🔴 Verbal Abuse & Public Humiliation After surfacing, the instructor shouted at me in front of others.

On day two, he admitted we “should have done shallow stuff first,” but still repeated the same unsafe descent to 4m — causing another panic situation. He ended the session by telling me I should just “do snorkeling” instead. I was shocked and humiliated.

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🔴 Unsafe, Damaged Equipment Their rental equipment is in very poor condition: • Torn wetsuits • Loose, old BCDs • Hoses that looked dangerously worn

As a beginner diver, I had zero confidence in the gear, which added to my anxiety and sense of physical risk.

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🔴 Unsafe Dive Center Facilities Even getting to the dive center is risky: you walk across a narrow, unstable wooden bridge with no handrail. The jetty stairs are rickety and unsupported — incredibly unsafe for anyone carrying gear or with even minor mobility issues.

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🔴 No Support or Response from Staff After the incident, I contacted the center via phone and messages to discuss what happened — they never replied. Staff on site were just as unhelpful, disappearing when I needed assistance or asking questions.

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🔴 I Ended the Training for My Own Safety After two terrifying days, I ended the course. I then completed the same training (Confined Water 1–5 and Open Water 1–4) safely and successfully with Scuba Junkie, where the instruction followed PADI standards and I felt fully supported. That experience confirmed the issue was not me — it was Scuba Buddy.

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The instructor’s behavior and the dive center’s practices pose a risk to student divers — especially beginners.

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❗ Avoid Scuba Buddy Sipadan Diving. Your safety, your learning, and your first experience underwater deserve far better. I left this center feeling scared, disrespected, and unsupported — exactly the opposite of what...

I booked my OPW (Open Water Dive Course) with Scubba Buddy for my family. 5 of us were taking the course with two parents who were tagging along for a good snorkelling time. We went in June, and despite the horrors of the sudden heavy rain, we still hopped onto the boat from semporna jetty literally fighting the storm. Scubba buddy is a place where the accomodations is on stilts (above water) which is amazing because you get to experience waking up and eating your breakfast overlooking the ocean. If you do head there, wake yourself up at like 3-4am, to witness the dark stillness of the boats where the quiet solitude would keep you in a trance till sunrise.

Unfortunately though, If you're a light sleeper, sometimes during the guests last nights there, they will do some karaoke and some chitchatting. The vibes are very important there and the rooms are not soundproof. (;

Open Water Course I was a really slow learner with alot of anxiety, but with the kind and patient support of our instructor Ronni and his divemaster assistant Samrin, all of us passed our OPW course. They had went out of their way to provide for me a second chance to learn and practice the mask skills, and at the very last 18m dive, I managed to enjoy the beauty of the ocean without the fears that kept attacking me. Both of them experts in their field, with years of knowledge. Kudos to them for taking care of us. Even my 15 year old brother felt safe under our instructor Ronni. He has a calmness to him that shows his expertise in the field and in the ocean. Samrin, who moved from semporna to mabul, is full of laughter and humour. May he continue to spark more happy times for all the guests who come to Scuba Buddy. May they continue be well.

There are many more places to explore in Mabul Island, we will definitely return again to do our fun dives there. To whom it may concern, I have written some smaller notes below:

Best to bring your own Dive computer. Test your prescription masks underwater first before coming. Electricity is from 6pm-6am.

Equipment 3.5/5 Accomodation 3.5/5 Hospitality 5/5 Experience and Knowledge 5/5

Overall, if you want a location where it doesn't have to be too comfy, and still clock your dives in, eat warm food and meet great people, definitely come to Scuba Buddy. (P.s some sea gypses do visit to sell you their seafood, do buy from them and get the staff and scubba buddy to cook. This helps to support their local business. We had shared fresh crabs with some guests who bought some, and the meat is sweet and tasty.)

Hope to see you...