In Semporna itself you mostly spend your evenings: by day you are on a speedboat, on a sandbank or underwater. The town is where you sleep, the sea is where you are going. And that sea is bigger than most people think when they come only for Sipadan.
Sipadan is the name everyone knows, but not everyone gets in. The permits are gone, your certification is not high enough yet, or you simply do not dive. No problem, because some of the best days here need no air from a tank at all.
So what do you spend your days on the water on, and in what order?
How many days you need, where to sleep and how to get there is all on our Semporna page.
Climbing Bohey Dulang
Bohey Dulang is an old volcano that is half underwater. You jump off the boat, climb a steep path with ropes and steps, and after half an hour to three quarters of an hour of sweating you are standing on the crater rim. Below you lies a lagoon in every shade of turquoise, ringed by green. This is the picture of Semporna, and the view makes the climb more than worth it.
The climb is nearly always part of a day tour with Mantabuan and Sibuan, from about €55 including the park fee and lunch. Go in the morning, before the heat hits and before the sun is shining straight into your photo.
Wear shoes with grip and bring plenty of water. The path is steep and can be slippery, and flip flops are no friend of yours here.
Our verdict: the view you will remember Semporna by
Diving Sipadan
Underwater, Sipadan drops away like a wall, hundreds of metres down, and it starts right next to the beach. You hang in the blue beside the wall, turtles swim past as if you are not there, reef sharks patrol, and somewhere above you a school of barracuda spins round like a tornado.
You need at least Advanced Open Water and you do two dives a day at most. The permit alone costs about €70, and a full dive day often comes to €250 or more. Sabah Parks issues only a limited number of permits a day, shared out among the licensed dive shops, and the earlier you book, the better your chance of a fixed date.
Sipadan is one of the islands off eastern Sabah that several governments, including the UK, advise against all but essential travel to, and in November the island closes to let the reef recover. Check your own government’s advice, your insurance and the dates before you lock in your permit.
Our verdict: the dive you will keep talking about as a diver
Macro diving and snorkelling at Mabul and Kapalai
Mabul is the world of the small stuff. On the sandy bottom you search with your dive guide for frogfish, seahorses, little cuttlefish and nudibranchs, and in between a turtle swims past on almost every dive. Above your head stand the stilt houses, their posts in the water.
You get there in about three quarters of an hour by speedboat. Diving is possible from Open Water, and with just a snorkel you have a beautiful day here too. The same government travel advice covers Mabul and Kapalai, so give it a read before you book.
If Sipadan is full, this is your plan B, and honestly a plan B you will never regret. With three dives in a day you see more here than you can remember.
Our verdict: for macro fans, maybe the best day of the whole trip
Snorkelling at Mantabuan and Sibuan
Mantabuan and Sibuan are tiny islands with white sand and water so clear and shallow that you can see the coral from the boat. You jump in with your snorkel and float over the reef, and afterwards you lie on the sand until the boat leaves again.
They are nearly always in the same day tour as Bohey Dulang, so you do them all in one go. On the way you pass the stilt houses of the Bajau Laut, and at the jetty you pay a fee of about €2 per person.
Do not touch the coral and take your rubbish back from the sandbanks. That way the water stays as clear as you found it.
Our verdict: the day that shows you straight away why you travelled this far
Getting your dive certification
Cannot dive yet? Then Semporna is a lovely place to learn. The water around Mabul is shallow, warm and full of life, so you make your first dives among turtles instead of in a bare swimming pool.
Your Open Water takes about four days, from about €285. Add the Advanced and you have both within a week, and with that you can go to Sipadan later too. Plenty of dive shops work with small groups.
When you book your course, ask about their Sipadan permits straight away. If you are staying a week anyway, you can make your first dive and your best dive on the same trip.
Our verdict: learning to dive with a reward that is nowhere else this big
Fish and seafood on the waterfront
Semporna eats fish, and you notice it as soon as the sun goes down. On the waterfront there are restaurants on stilts where you pick your fish, prawns and squid from the tanks yourself and have them grilled. At the market you buy grilled fish for a few euros.
This is the moment your dive group shares a table and every story of the day comes round one more time. Order ikan bakar, fish off the charcoal grill, and whatever else is in the tanks that day.
With reef fish, ask how it was caught, and if nobody knows, simply pick something else from the tanks. You eat just as well, and the reef you were floating over by day stays as it is.
Our verdict: the best way to end every day on the water
Got time to spare in Semporna?
Sunset over the jetty
After a day on the water, all the boats come back to the jetty in the centre. Hang around there for a while at the end of the afternoon: the sun sinks over the water, the speedboats lie still and the town goes quiet.
A rest day before you fly
After your last dive you have to wait at least a day before flying. Do not see it as lost time, but as a day to fill in your logbook, let your gear dry and take your time getting to Tawau airport.
Breakfast at a kopitiam
Your boat leaves early, so you have breakfast where the locals do: nasi lemak or roti canai at a kopitiam, with a glass of teh tarik. Quick, cheap and just enough for a morning at sea.
The Bajau Laut, with respect
On the way to the islands, Bajau Laut children sometimes paddle up to your boat. Do not give them money, sweets or stuff, do not ask anyone to swim or pose for you, and ask permission before you take a photo. That way you leave their village on the water as you found it.
Our top five in Semporna
Got three or four days? Then these are the five we would do no matter what:
- Climbing Bohey Dulang for the view over the lagoon
- Diving the Sipadan wall, once your permit is sorted
- Macro diving or snorkelling around Mabul and Kapalai
- Snorkelling over the coral at Mantabuan and Sibuan
- Picking your fish and seafood on the waterfront
Staying a week? Get your certification here, and keep one afternoon free for the sunset over the jetty.
So what do you really have to do in Semporna?
If you do one thing: the day tour to Bohey Dulang, Mantabuan and Sibuan. You need no certification, you see the most famous view in Sabah and afterwards you float over the coral. Do it on your first day, and you know straight away why you came all this way.
If you dive, Sipadan is of course the goal. Sort that permit as early as you can, and plan the rest of your days in Semporna around it.
And if Sipadan does not work out, let it go. With Mabul, the sandbanks and a plate of fish on the waterfront you still have a week you will be talking about for years.
