Pom Pom Island Resort
A coral cay island resort near Semporna with five villa categories including water villas, a Sabah Parks-certified turtle hatchery, and dives across Tun Sakaran Marine Park. No Sipadan access.
Pom Pom Island Resort occupies a 2.3km-circumference coral cay in the Celebes Sea, 45 minutes from Semporna. It is a beach resort that also offers diving, rather than a dive resort that happens to have a beach — a distinction worth making clear before you book.
The resort suits couples, honeymooners, and divers who want a more relaxed pace than the Mabul area’s dive-centric operations. Five accommodation types ranging from garden and beach villas through to water villas over the sea give a wide range of budget and experience options within one property.
Diving
Three boat dives run daily, covering Pom Pom’s house reef and sites across Tun Sakaran Marine Park: Bohaydulang, Mantabuan, Timba-Timba, Bohayan, Kalapuan, Pandanan, and Mataking. The park is a reasonable area for turtles and occasional sharks; it is not Sipadan. Sipadan access is not available from this resort.
PADI courses from Discover Scuba through to Divemaster are available on-site. The resort also operates the MV Puteri Pom Pom, an Indonesian-style liveaboard that cruises to nearby islands as an optional add-on.
Turtle Hatchery
The resort’s marine biology team, certified by Sabah Parks, collects and preserves turtle eggs in an on-site hatchery. Guests can adopt a nest and, if timing aligns, observe hatchlings being released into the sea. Hawksbill and green turtles both nest on the island seasonally.
Facilities
The resort has a Yin and Yang Spa with massage, steam room, and Jacuzzi, a gym, a restaurant, beach volleyball, kayaking, and cycling. Wi-Fi is available at the restaurant.
If you are deciding between Pom Pom and one of the Mabul-area resorts, the key question is what you are optimising for: island retreat with diving as one of several activities, or a programme built primarily around diving. Ask us and we can help you match the resort to the trip you actually want.
