Singamata Reef Resort — Hotel in Sabah

We've spent 3 nights in Semporna after a snorkel and dive trips to Sipadan and some of the other islands. We've chosen Singamata on our 4th night. This was supposed to be the pinnacle of the vacation as we were looking forward for an amazing experience to spend a night in a resort on stilts.

During the welcome briefing, the receptionist was rather firm. Considering this to be a resort, I would expect a rather friendly approach to guests. However this may be subjective to everyone and this would rather be only my personal opinion. Too bad I can't say the same about what transpired after.

We've booked 4 rooms altogether. One of the room had problems with the air conditioning. The receptionist responded that no other guests prior to us filed in a complain about the room. This wasn't the reply we expected as the room was really hot with the AC not working. We've chosen to ignore this hoping things will be better with the technician arriving. Unfortunately, it didn't resolved the issue. We've then asked for an upgrade in which we're willing to pay half of the upgrade price considering that the problem with the AC is entirely on the resort. We've been turned down and was asked to pay an entire upgrade price which we've then declined. Alternatively, we've asked if there was any fan to be used temporarily in the room but none was available neither.

After a couple of heated argument between us and the staffs/manager, we were then offered a full refund and to be taken back to Semporna. To me, this is rather rude as if we're being evicted from the resort. With no place to spend the night in Semporna, we had no choice but to contempt with whatever the resort decides then. After all, we only needed to survive just a night in Singamata.

Other things to consider would also be in the form of food provided. You'd have an hour for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the welcome briefing, you'll be briefed that only the same food will be served on your entire stay. Food is also limited, drinks too for that matter. Considering that you paid quite a ringgit for the stay, I would expect that at least adequate food and drinks are served. A little variety wouldn't hurt the management's pocket neither.

The resort is clean on most parts however sadly the waters around the resort aren't. Expect to swim with garbage and other debris though this is entirely not the resort's fault as the location is close to Semporna.

The resort also provide amenities such as recreational activity in the form of glass kayak and paragliding. There is a confined coral pool that will cost you RM5 per entry. We've helped to clean the bottom while we snorkel there.

If you're hoping to swim around the island or snorkel/dive then probably this isn't the r ight place as you're not allowed to get into the water other than the designated area. It closes at 1800.

I don't give out lashes or provide firm comments but the 1 incident in which we're being asked to vacate the hotel is kind of beyond comprehension when we've only asked to get a room change/upgrade due to the faulty air cond unit.

I hope that the resort take this comment as a constructive feedback and improve on the customer service etiquettes for both the manager and the staff. The technician was helpful and the boatmen were polite. Kudos to the facility team.

Others may have had better times and I hope that if you're reading this comment and planning to visit Singamata, then perhaps a better experience lies...

Overall, a so-so stay. For the price you pay, would expect more than what it is. Perhaps it’s cos Singamata is quite long in semporna already.

1. Check-in: fast, informative, no issues here. Need to sign off liability claim in case of any injuries or mortality.

2. Room: went with 2 other friends. We got the 3-pax room, booked thru agent. The room is pretty average in size for 3-pax. Includes aircond (takes quite sometime to make the room cold), hot shower, bottled water, shampoo and body wash, and hairdryer. No fan, no iron. Satisfactory at best. Washroom is a decent size, with good water pressure and reliable hot water.

3. Facilities: there’s a free snorkelling area in the middle of the resort. But the fishes and corals are not attractive at all. Water isn’t clear. There’s an inflatable slide there, but isn’t well maintained.

If you wanna snorkel at a better area, need to go down via another stairs, need to pay rm5. Didnt opt for this as it was getting a bit too late already.

*life jacket and snorkel set provided.

There are options for banana boat, transparent kayak as well. But it isn’t free. Transparent kayak is rm30 for 20 minutes. Didn’t do this cos I’ve done it in Seastar and it was free and the water visibility and clarity was much better than in Singamata.

4. Food: lunch, dinner and breakfast included in the boarding package. But food is mediocre at best. Taste wise, quality wise, um, had better at other places around semporna (Seastar, Maglami Lami). You’d expect to get a lot of seafood considering being in semporna where seafood is considerably cheaper than other parts of Malaysia. But nah. Only got fish throughout stay. You can opt for other side dishes. But we didn’t try them, cos we were scared we’d be disappointed by the cooking style.

Overall, for the price you pay, I think (having been to 3 floating resorts around semporna so far and heard of many feedbacks for other floating resorts around semporna) you can get your money’s worth...

We booked 2 deluxe villa, consists of 2 queen beds for each room. The room was was ok, but there's a room for improvement. There is no balcony at the villa, so we are not able to enjoy the scenic view comfortably. Instead there are windows which could not accomodate all 4 of us, if we plan to enjoy the view together. There were a lot of instagramable spot, the main reason why we picked this place.

Location is near to the main land. Around 15-20minutes by boat. Being that close, the water is relatively dirty with floating garbage around. There's a snorkeling spot in the middle of the resort, but who want to snorkel with people go by and about and the dirty water somemore. Heck no. The paid area for snorkeling also not cool either. The water there is dirty...... Don't snorkel here.

Check in wasn't that smooth, and they brief us about the resort and the dos and don'ts. We need to sign a liability form or something, cannot remember (excited too much hehehe). The form clearly states that if anything happens you're on yr own. They will not take the responsibility what so evah😏. The staff weren't that friendly imo.

Now the menu. We feel that we got scammed when we were served the same menu for lunch and dinner. The mackerel was hard, not even fresh. The owner was quite stingy i assumed. The staffs scoop the dishes for u, whereas in other places we are doing it on our own. Food wise, this is the worst place to be.

To muslims guests, please bear in mind they have 2 pet dogs here. The dogs were locked in the room with lady owner i guess. But the dogs sometimes were out roaming the compound. Not a nice thing to see in a resort. Not that i hate dogs, okay... But yeah, it gives u different vibes.

Well, will i...