Pulau Sipadan Travel Forum

I was told by Uncle Chang 2 days ago- no problem, call me 2 weeks before you want to come to Sipadan.
Yesterday they said - big problem, fully booked.
After all the miracles that have been happening with arranging the Mulu, Mnt. Kinabalu, I need one more.

What should I do? We'll be in Sepmporna from May 3rd till May 5th only and then have to catch the flight back home on the 6th.
Please help, advise.....

go there.. something will happen. as far as I know, the permit will be found..
At Semporna I suggest Seafest hotel instead of Dragon Inn....

don't worry. try http://www.scuba-junkie.com i am sure they can arrange something for you.

Yeah- I am a worry-er I called scuba junkies, who told me thaey have the spots for the dates I need, I asked them to confirm it via email, that did not happen yet
I tend to stress little things sometimes, like to have the confirmation at hand , hmmm.
thanks for the advice

Bole, I'm with you. I don't want to go all that way for a big disappointment... is there an official way to get the confirmation we need?

My post is 1 year old, so now I can tell you how it worked :
I kept calling Scuba Junkie and emailing until I got the confirmation, but they are not the best organized outfit there. When we arrived we were told at first that they do not have any reservation for us, then someone asked around and found out that they rearranged something somewhere and shdeuled us to go to Sipadan with another operator (who I highly recommend - www.thereefdivers.com ) even though the original confirmation was with Scuba Junkie. My take is that we were only snorkelers thus paying less then divers and they somehow gave us away to another business....
The same day we arrived with a couple from China, who had confirmation (even confirmed email from Scuba Junkie) for an accommodation at their hostel, however
the hostel did not have any record of then and they ended up looking for alternative accommodation - the owner of Scuba Junkie-Rick took them around in his car and helped them... So you can get the picture.
if I were to do it again I would avoid the stress and go with the reef divers, have the email me the confirmation AND call them just to make sure. SIpadan is worth every penny and it's better to be sure that you will go on the day you were confirmed to go.

I have to confirm www.thereefdivers.com is a good staff, they often work also for Uncle Chang, this mean you might not go straight to Sipadan from Semporna but a short stop (both way) is required at Mabul.

actually they stop at Mabul only if there are divers going to Sipadan with them, they pick them up and after diving drop them off, it's really few minutes only.
that's what we did, instead of staying at Semporna, we stayed on Mabul- and would do so again, much better option, you can go for a swim righ off the deck of the house, watch the sunset...

Thanks for the tip. It's always good to work with organized people who realize that repeat/referral business is the key to financial health. Scuba Junkie is mentioned in LonelyPlanet but The Reef is not. Really appreciate both on the ground reports.

also Dragoon Inn and the restaurant close to it (in this moment I forget the name) are "mentioned in LonelyPlanet" but there are both to be avoided....

why? I slept only one night at Dragoon Inn and the soap has been eaten from mouses *not the pc's ones* and about the restaurant (also mentionated).. I just had brekfast there.. When I saw it I just drunk coffe (hot water).. but with all Dragoon Inn's loos are "delivering" just next to the cages where there are lobsters, fishes....
Not only Semporna, which changed al lot since [only] 2006 (I've been there also last January), but Lonely Planet should be updated and rewritten in all the part of Borneo (it's not the first time I found big "mistake" of Lonely Planet, also last year about Manado, but here we'd be OT)