Sipadan-Mabul Resort
Mabul Island’s largest resort on the southern shore, with 11 dive boats covering Mabul, Kapalai, Si Amil, and Sipadan. Sipadan permits are rotation-based and should be pre-booked.
Sipadan-Mabul Resort sits at the southern tip of Mabul Island, built from native Borneo hardwood in a style that fits the landscape without trying to dress it up. The 25 chalets accommodate up to 50 guests, which keeps the operation from feeling impersonal while giving the dive centre enough boats to run proper coverage: 11 vessels, each taking up to 10 divers, running three trips a day.
The resort covers Mabul, Kapalai, and Si Amil on the regular programme, and Sipadan on a rotation basis — not a fixed daily allocation, which means the permit situation is less predictable than at some other Mabul resorts. The advice here is to pre-book permits when you make your reservation rather than relying on what is available on arrival.
Your Sipadan Permit Allocation
Sipadan-Mabul Resort cannot guarantee Sipadan permits based on the duration of your stay. To secure your diving experience, we strongly recommend prebooking your permits when you make your reservation.
Permits can also be booked upon arrival at the resort, but please note that this is subject to availability.
Facilities
At the Sipadan-Mabul Resort you can stay as connected to the world as you want. The resort’s business center offers high-speed Internet access as well as a telephone and fax machine. Wireless Internet can be found in the resort’s dining hall where guests gather for meals and socializing. In the evenings the dining hall is opened for dancing or for shows put on by the resort staff. The Sipadan-Mabul Resort offers two bars for guests to lounge in - one by the dining area and another overlooking the beach.
If you’re tired of the salty water take a dip in the resort’s large swimming pool or relax in the whirlpool Jacuzzi. Let your stress melt away at the Mabul Spa with a deep tissue massage or facial scrub. If you want to stay active you can join a game of beach volleyball, table tennis, or take to the ocean in a kayak.
Dive Operations
Three guided boat dives run each day, plus unlimited unguided beach and night dives from the jetty. Equipment rental, underwater videography courses, camera rental, Nitrox certification, and TDI technical diving courses are available through the dive centre.
Mabul’s muck diving is the core draw for most guests: the sandy and rubble terrain around the island holds frogfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, mimic octopus, blue-ringed octopus, pygmy seahorses, and a rotating cast of nudibranchs. Kapalai, 20 minutes away, adds more of the same. Si Amil is a less-visited site worth asking the divemasters about when visibility cooperates.
We recommend enquiring about Sipadan permit availability when you make your initial booking. We can check current allocation and advise on the length of stay that gives you the best odds.
