Mabul versus Kapalai

"Winethinker" <johnnyaferg@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130456205.988700.150590@g47g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> Hi everyone,
>
>
> I want to get as much Sipadan diving in as possible but noticed that
> there are contradictory info about various resorts and quality of dive
> masters etc.
>
>
>
> I was thinking of the Mabul Water Bungalows howefver they are the most
> expensive of the lot. Any ideas?
>
> Also I was thinking 4 days and 4 nights, is that a reasonable time?

I spent 7 nights Sipadan/Mabul and could have stayed another 3 easily. Not
much to do in the evenings, but the diving was great.
The Borneo Divers resort's grounds weren't the prettiest, but their rooms
were comfy, the great room is quite nice and the food was alright.
Everything was pretty new in spring 2004, but the shop was nice, good boats
and I liked the DM's.

I went down to the Water Village for a walk. It was pretty cool, visually.
Don't know that it was worth any extra money just for that though. Depends
on what your after, I guess.

Just look at Dave Morgan. He likes staying out on the rig platform resort.
To each his own.


>
> cheers
> Wine
>

On 27 Oct 2005 16:36:46 -0700, "Winethinker" <johnnyaferg@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I want to get as much Sipadan diving in as possible but noticed that
>there are contradictory info about various resorts and quality of dive
>masters etc.

You might want to give a look at this message of mine:
gef2i1davlsil9putrcmltdc0lohpkv0j4@4ax.com

You probably know that resorts on Sipadan itself have been closed
down. I would go back to Kapalai: first dive at Sipadan at 6.00am,
back to Kapalai for breakfast, two more dives at Sipadan at 9.00am and
11.00am. Afternoon dive at either Kapalai or Mabul.

>I was thinking of the Mabul Water Bungalows howefver they are the most
>expensive of the lot. Any ideas?

I was there in 99, too far away for comparison. If had to say, I
found rooms and food better at Kapalai, Mabul's DMs were better and
nicer; all of them leave you pretty much on your own... thought it was
great but you might disagree.

>Also I was thinking 4 days and 4 nights, is that a reasonable time?

My advice: stay as long as you can, you won't regret it. On my last
time there, I spent 10 nights and wished I had had more...

Vic

In article <Hng8f.332914$tl2.227478@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada
(chilly) wrote:

>
> Just look at Dave Morgan. He likes staying out on the rig platform
> resort.
> To each his own.

I have been there 5 or 6 times now, mostly on the Rig its quiet, and thats
how i like it. Its cheap/inexpensive, you can strap a tank on and dive as
much as you like, no extra cost for that, i have done 100 + dives around
Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai and for me the best dive is allways under the Rig,
under it and 100 yards around it. We stopped going to Sipadan, how many
Turtles and Sharks do you want to count ? Mabul....Paradise...is ok, full
of surprising critters, the Mandarins are excellent if you can get to see
them. Kapali.....is beautiful and i have had some good dives there but not
as prolific as under the Rig.

The Rig is a bit "industrial" and not to everyones liking, the guides are
good, we enjoy the food, evening meal out on the "helipad" at the back is
great, sitting talking and exchanging dive stories untill sleep beckons.I
think you have to look at these places and judge them on what your looking
for.......

Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk

Thanks for that,


That has given me a lot to go on. Is the Turtle cavern worth going to?

John


Vic wrote:

> On 27 Oct 2005 16:36:46 -0700, "Winethinker" <johnnyaferg@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >I want to get as much Sipadan diving in as possible but noticed that
> >there are contradictory info about various resorts and quality of dive
> >masters etc.
>
> You might want to give a look at this message of mine:
> gef2i1davlsil9putrcmltdc0lohpkv0j4@4ax.com
>
> You probably know that resorts on Sipadan itself have been closed
> down. I would go back to Kapalai: first dive at Sipadan at 6.00am,
> back to Kapalai for breakfast, two more dives at Sipadan at 9.00am and
> 11.00am. Afternoon dive at either Kapalai or Mabul.
>
> >I was thinking of the Mabul Water Bungalows howefver they are the most
> >expensive of the lot. Any ideas?
>
> I was there in 99, too far away for comparison. If had to say, I
> found rooms and food better at Kapalai, Mabul's DMs were better and
> nicer; all of them leave you pretty much on your own... thought it was
> great but you might disagree.
>
> >Also I was thinking 4 days and 4 nights, is that a reasonable time?
>
> My advice: stay as long as you can, you won't regret it. On my last
> time there, I spent 10 nights and wished I had had more...
>
> Vic

In article <1130874456.494080.155010@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups .com>,
winethinker@gmail.com (Winethinker) wrote:

> Is the Turtle cavern worth going to?

For me it was, very memorable, not for the faint hearted though as it is
enourmous in there, once you have entered the entrance and swam in for
some way the entrance to the "Tomb" is up on the left, once in there it is
completely black so you need god torches, and i dont mean dive center
torches, we spent 30 minutes in there, it is completely disorientating,
was for me anyway, at one point we could look out the "window" out to the
reef wall but if lost you would not get out of the window.
It would be easy to get lost in there, personly i think it should be
"lined" but there is an argument for not doing so. Would i do it
again..yes with two of everything.......with 12ltr singles and a shared
torch.............nope........
If Turtles drown in there because they cant find there way out.....(well
we assume that) then it can happen to others......

Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK

Winethinker wrote:
> Thanks for that,
>
>
> That has given me a lot to go on. Is the Turtle cavern worth going to?
>
> John
>

I guess not every dive operator is willing to let divers enter the
cavern, which is actually a very good thing. However, if you're
qualified to do that and have a gear to safely visit the cavern I guess
you won't regret it. I haven't been inside myself, but the images and
videos I've seen are quite impressive, though also a bit sad in a way.

What comes to dive operators, I was very satisfied with Borneo Divers'
quality of service and friendliness and expertise of the staff. Their
Mabul resort is very nice indeed, but that goddamn rig is blocking the
view...

- Miika -

In article <7Iaaf.443$1i5.348@read3.inet.fi>, n@a.com
(=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Miika_H=E4rk=F6nen?=) wrote:

> but that goddamn rig is blocking the
> view...

Of What ???????

Funny thing that.......from my perspective its "that godam Mabul Island
that blocks the view of Sipadan"


Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK

morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
> In article <7Iaaf.443$1i5.348@read3.inet.fi>, n@a.com
> (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Miika_H=E4rk=F6nen?=) wrote:
>
>
>> but that goddamn rig is blocking the
>>view...
>
>
> Of What ???????
>
> Funny thing that.......from my perspective its "that godam Mabul Island
> that blocks the view of Sipadan"
>
>
> Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK

I saw that coming =D

Okay, I'll admit... there's not much to block. But anyway, when you're
looking from the beach you could happily live without the rig being
there. It just doesn't seem to belong there.

On 1 Nov 2005 11:47:36 -0800, the cup of "Winethinker"
<winethinker@gmail.com> overfloweth with the following:

> Thanks for that,
>
>
> That has given me a lot to go on. Is the Turtle cavern worth going to?
>
> John
>
>

There's been a history of people going into the cavern from various dive
centres with a guide from some of the resorts on Sipadan, but they
usually go in without any lines, which I personally think to be close to
insanity. Having been in the cavern numerous times, I would think
definitely think twice before letting any random dive guide leade me in.
As Dave mentioned, the cavern reaches quite far back, and to see the
various turtle remains you are sometimes beyond the reach of cavern
(area from which you still see the light of the entrance). Even going in
this far really requires a couple of good lights and a long reel, so if
you have any sense of self-preservation I recommend you think carefully
about who you let guide you in there. Sipadan Mabul Resort (SMART) have
a technical dive centre, so someone from there should be able to sort
out either a safe guided dive, or a TDI Cavern course, depending on your
whim.

Stan

In article <Khsaf.290$ZA.84@read3.inet.fi>, n@a.com
(=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Miika_H=E4rk=F6nen?=) wrote:

> *From:* Miika_Härkönen<n@a.com>
> *Date:* Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:03:22 GMT

> I saw that coming =D

It was kinda beggin for it.......;^)

> Okay, I'll admit... there's not much to block. But anyway, when you're
> looking from the beach you could happily live without the rig being
> there. It just doesn't seem to belong there.

Yes, it is a little "industrial"..........and if had stayed on Mabul as
often as i had on the platform i would probably be taking your stance.
But i have great memories of our time's on the "Rig".....we have made good
friends there, friends i have had mail from this very morn, so i am biased
by my association.
Having said that it makes for a fantastic artificial reef, when we first
went there we did the normal dive tourist trips out to Sipadan each morn,
but once we actually started to "look" and i mean look, the stuff under
and around the platform is amazing, every dive we would find something
different.
The last two trips out there we never bothered going to Sipadan and only
went to Mabul and Kapalai once, all the diving was done underneath.
So my defence of the "ugly monstrosity" is borne out of a fondness created
over time, i could quite happily dive there 7 days a week. But in our
quest for something different we have decided to try a little further
east, in about 4 weeks we are of to dive the Lembeh Straights for a week,
then on to do some diving for another week around Manado and Bunaken in
Sulawesi, we are looking forward to even stranger critters........

Take care.......
Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
www.seatreker.com