Kapas Island

Ombak Kapas Island Beach Resort is located on Kapas Island off Terengganu State, East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The jetty to the island is 15 minutes’ drive from Kuala Terengganu town and 30 minutes’ drive from Kuala Terengganu Airport. The boat ride from Marang Jetty to Kapas Island Jetty takes approximately 10 minutes by a sheltered speed boat. Marang Jetty provides ample secured parking lots. If one chooses to drive, it will take approximately 5 hours nonstop driving from Kuala Lumpur city to Marang Jetty. Ombak Kapas Island Beach Resort will give you the best services and Kapas Island is the right place to relax and have fun.

The pier beach on Pulau Kapas - the northern third of the beach past the pier is hard to see in this shot. There are 3 resorts on this beach and it is possible to walk to all the other accommodation places within 15 minutes. However many of the island transport services out of Marang will drop you directly in front of your resort.

Kapas island is the nicest I have visited in years. It is compact but has 6 very attractive beaches which can be walked over a period of 25-30 mintues (plus another beach which needs boat/kayak access), very clear water, pretty good snorkelling, good sunsets and a surprisingly supply of accommodation with 8 flash packer/backpacker resorts (some of their chalets may go into the lower midrange) and two camping areas. There are no roads, villages, motor vehicles or dogs. It is part of the Marine National Park and so coral and fish are pretty good. It is much easier to access than Redang, Perhentians, Lang Tengah, Tioman or Langkawi and is uncrowded except for weekends which extend from Thursday night to Sunday morning in this particular part of north-east Malaysia.

Pulau Kapas is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places you will ever visit.  It’s truly an island paradise that has a strange power to keep you there longer than you planned on staying.  It’s not a rich and glamorous place with tons of 5 Star Resorts or expensive restaurants.  It’s a very minimalistic island, which is what makes it so special.  There’s not tons of electricity, or decent internet connection — meaning it’s the perfect holiday escape.  The beach is amazing, the water is perfect, and you’ll be left speechless when you first arrive.

I’m hoping that this Travel Guide for Pulau Kapas will answer all your questions and get you stoked for your time on this idyllic island!

Gem Island Resort & Spa

By far the nicest and most comfortable way to spend your holiday on Pulau Kapas is at the Gem Island Resort & Spa.  While it is technically a 10 minute boat ride off of Kapas Island, it’s home to some of the best snorkeling on the island, relaxing beaches, and delicious food!  Prices as low as 63 per night!

LongSha Campsite Beach Camping

This is for the ultimate budget travelers, backpackers, and camping  fanatics.  It’s an awesome place to stay.  I stayed there for 5 night during my time on Pulau Kapas, and I highly recommend it.  It’s more than a campsite, it’s a community of like-minded people.  You’ll definitely have a blast if you choose to stay here.  Read my review of the Longsha Campsite on Pulau Kapas!

Kapas Island Resort

This place is definitely your best choice if you’re not trying to go camping.  With rooms costing as low as $35 U.S.D, it’s clean, comfortable, and well located right by the ferry.  It’s also one of the only places on the island that has a swimming pool.

The Kapas Island Resort is also the only place you can really book online before you arrive on Pulau Kapas.  So if you’re looking for some guaranteed accommodation, this is your best bet

Captain’s Longhouse

For the people who aren’t fans of beach camping, wander over next door to Captain’s Longhouse.  It isone of the only other budget places to stay on Pulau Kapas.  I stayed here for one night, and had an enjoyable time.  They have double private rooms, and also a large dorm room as well.  The listed price is 40 MYR for a dorm bed, but you can easily talk them down to 30 MYR.  This definitely

Kapas Beach Chalet

By far one of the best places to spend your time on Pulau Kapas!  Kapas Beach Chalet, more commonly referred to as KBC, is where I spent the majority of my days on the island.  The restaurant meals are delicious, there’s tons of books to browse through, and the staff are all really friendly.  The owner of KBC is a Dutch man who moved to Pulau Kapas and fell in love with it.  It’s a really relaxed vibe here, and I highly recommend eating and spending some time here.

Kapas Turtle Valley Resort:  If you’re not on a strict budget, than this is the perfect place for you.  Located at the very end of Kapas, with it’s own private and secluded beach, Kapas Turtle Valley is an amazing place to spend your holiday.  The owners are really friendly, and the snorkeling right outside the property is fantastic.  Double rooms are still somewhat budget friendly for 190 MYR including breakfast.  There is also family rooms that fits up to four people.  Wi-Fi is also available here!

Sipadan Island

Ever since diving celebrity Jacques Cousteau raved about Pulau Sipadan's diversity of marine life, this dive mecca has been indisputably the most famous scuba destination in Malaysia. It is located off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia's eastern most state, and lies on the north-eastern corner of Borneo, the world's third largest island.

The Sipadan legend has passed through the world's diving community to the extent that all divers with an interest in visiting the best sites in the world, have a resort stay near this small island near the top of their wish list. Sipadan Island was at the top of Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine Gold List for 'The Top Dive Destination in the World'. In fact it shared its top spot with 2 other destinations known for the amazing diversity of their marine life - the Galapagos Islands and Truk in Micronesia.

Blue skies, clear waters, convenient diving and tropical scenery, but it is below the surface where this island really excels. The list of attractions is quite staggering and all the more exceptional as it involves plenty of big fish encounters - barracudas, large schools of jacks and marauding bumphead parrotfish. This is one of the big fish capitals of the world!

Everywhere you turn at Sipadan, you'll see turtles, munching on the sponges and algae, or lazing on the wall ledges. If you take the time to look closely at the walls you'll see a wealth of macro life and fish species to rival most destinations, although this is often overlooked due to the other major attractions vying for your attention.

Barracuda Point - There may be no guarantees in diving, but let's just say there is every chance that you can find yourself in the middle of a swirling vortex of chevron or blacktail barracuda at this north coast site, one of the most treasured spots at Sipadan Island.

Coral Garden - Although the temptation of the drop-off is always there, this site is a haven for the underwater photographer. The health and diversity of the coral growth in the shallows atop of the wall, combined with the fact that almost every species to be seen in Pulau Sipadan’s waters is on view here, makes this site ideal for long dives devoted to both macro and wide angle compositions. 

The Drop Off - This site is in many ways the signature dive of Sipadan. When the island had resorts stationed on it, this site was a mere stroll off the beach where a 600 metre drop would welcome you to the underwater world. 

Hanging Gardens - In a nutshell, this is a wall dive which begins with a drop-off just over a metre from the surface, descends gradually to a terrace at about 70 metres and then plunges into an abyss. This is the topography here - hence its name 'Hanging Gardens'. The terraces, filled with a proliferation of Dendronephthya Alcyonarians in various pastel colours of lemon,lavender and antique rose overflowing down to the next level, harks back to the mythological Babylonian gardens after which it is named. 

Midreef - Lazily decend to your required depth down the vertical wall that forms Pulau Sipadan's Midreef, then just drift along with the current, whichever way it takes you - north or south. Once you begin your dive, it won't belong before you come across this sites most discernable guests - dozens of large green turtles, by now very habituated to inquisitive divers. 

South Point - This is a good place to get a bit deeper in the morning as long as you don't mind a thin layer of narcosis-on-toast for breakfast. South Point is one of the more likely sites at Sipadan Island for rare shark sightings such as hammerheads and thresher sharks, both of which tend to stay at depths here of 40+ metres. 

Staghorn Crest - At this dive site, you will find yourself beginning with a gentle descent along the drop-off, followed by a gradual diagonal descent along the wall, at the shallow end of which there is a garden of staghorn corals. Photographers take note - this site has brilliant light conditions during the afternoons which offers excellent illumination for superb underwater images. 

Turtle Cavern - The cavern is a complicated site with the entrance to the cavern located at about 18 m. Sipadan diving is famous for its population of both green turtles and the smaller hawksbill turtles. 

Turtle Patch - Although you can make a typical wall dive, perhaps the best way of taking in Turtle Patch is just to let the current take you along the shallows, and then you can take in the scenery as it unfolds at its own natural and leisurely pace before your eyes. 

Whitetip Avenue - With a name like "Whitetip Avenue", you're probably wondering, does it live up to its name? Well, yes, it does. You can look forward to numerous encounters with schools of gentle whitetip reef sharks. This, however, is only one of the many amazing underwater sights this dive site holds for you. 

  Diving Season

The Sipadan dive season is year round and most normally expressed as having the best conditions from April to December, especially July and August. Surface conditions are normally calm, sometimes glass-calm, but there can be small waves making the speed-boat ride to the island a little bumpy, particularly in the rainy season.

The rainy season tends to be from December to March when unsettled weather may result in a decrease in visibility, however in recent years the timing of the rainy season has been less than certain. The most likely months for unsettled weather are January and February. These months represent the middle of the wet season and although Pulau Sipadan and Mabul seldom experience much rain, the water and air temperature can be towards the cooler end of the usual range. 

Traditionally green and hawksbill turtles come ashore onto the island of Sipadan to nest between April and September. To visit and dive here during these months should mean an even higher number of turtles, although these creatures are ever-present around the island. In fact it has a high proportion of ever-present creatures, rather than seasonal visitors. The jacks, barracuda, bumphead parrotfish and white-tip sharks can be said to be residents of this oceanic island.

This legendary island is very popular and at certain times of the year there is a greater risk of the diving resorts being fully booked. If you wish to visit during these periods you should book well in advance or, alternatively, select other dates. The busiest periods are March to August, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year.

  How to Dive Pulau Sipadan

There are several excellent nearby resorts from which to dive here, the closest being on Mabul and Kapalai. There is only one liveaboard in the area, which stays overnight in Mabul. The resort islands also boast some excellent macro dive sites which are a great complement to the breathtaking big fish action of Sipadan. Special local rates apply at many of these resorts for Malaysians, Singaporeans and expatriates living in those countries with work permits.

For more information on your diving options, and all the other travel information you might need to visit Sipadan and the state of Sabah on Borneo, view our:

Mabul Island

Always on the hunt for the best diving around, I’ve hit up Cambodia, Thailand, and Perhentian Island in Peninsular Malaysia, looking for the best dive spot in the world.All of them had something different to offer and were worth the time and money spent in their own unique ways, but nothing can ever compare to the amazingness that was SCUBA diving in Sipidan in Malaysian Borneo.

I could sit here and wax poetic about it for ages, but why do that when I can simply show you exactly what I saw?

The best time to dive the west coast (Layang Layang or Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park for example) is between March and May. For Sipadan off the east coast the most settled weather is from April to December. For Peninsula Malaysia the best time is from February to November as from December to March is the rainy season.

Malaysia forms an important part of the coral triangle - one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. It has more sea area than it does land.

In 2016 the Sabah State Government created the country's largest marine park off the coast of Northern Borneo - the Tun Mustapha Marine Park. The park lets the local communities continue fishing in designated zones. According to the WWF, it will be an IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature - Category VI Park where sustainable uses are still allowed and local communities living within it are able to continue their activities within designated zones. The productive fishing grounds in the area support more than 80,000 people in coastal and island communities, generating around 100 tonnes of fish catch each day. It will protect almost 1 million hectares of coral reef, mangrove, seagrass and more than 50 islands.

Browse below to read divers' comments and see which dive centres have received the "5 fish" rating. You can rate a diving centre you dived with here.

I love to read trip reports on Scubaboard, so here is a review on my recent trip to Scuba Junkie, Mabul island resort and Sipadan, which I hope is interesting and useful for some planning on going there.

We had booked our trip many months in advance to ensure we got the accommodation we wanted and our Sipadan permit. The email service and help with infos provided by Scuba Junkie was very prompt, kind and professional. Its probably wise to book early if you are traveling in peak holiday season like we were, especially if you stay at Mabul island as Scuba Junkie is so popular there. You have to book 5 days diving to get one day guaranteed Sipadan permit at Scuba Junkie. Other operators have more permits (and probably far less visitors), so depending on your interest its worthwhile to shop around. 

We stayed at the Mabul island resort for 6 nights and did 5 days of diving, including Sipadan.

We were picked up at Tawau airport on time by a good car and brought to Semporna.

We had an easy check-in in the Scuba Junkie shop and then we went off to grab some lunch.

Semporna is a weird and ugly town, so I wouldn't want to stay there and dive from there - though of course you do see some other islands if you stay on the mainland.

We crossed to Mabul island from Semporna in their boat, which was quite small but very adequate, clean and had good life jackets.

We arrived and were assigned our room, which was very spacious, had great AC and a large bathroom. The beds were comfortable. A really great room for a dive lodge.

But we had come here for Sipadan… so we couldn't wait to get there! We prefer diving in the blue and big fish so we were very hopeful to see some big "visitors" to the site. Sipadan was beautiful. The dive sites were pristine. There are huge schools of bumphead parrot fish, jacks, barracuda and trigger fish. You don't see big schools like that in many places, so it is very special. We saw a school of white tips fighting to get to a hiding octopus for a mid-morning snack! There were also a few devil rays on one dive. Sadly we had no "visitors" i.e. hammerheads, pilot whales or the like, but we certainly had some amazing views. South Point and Barracuda Point were by far the best sites we did. Our guide was Simon, who dives 3-4 times a week at Sipdan. He is extremely knowledgeable, he is enthusiastic about his job, he loves the dive site and really shared his experience and love of Sipadan. He made us very aware of the dangers of the currents and briefed very clearly on how to dive in the group in this environment.

We decided to book a second day at Sipadan with another company (Borneo Speedy Divers) who had some spare permits. This was pretty costly at 875 Ringitt (190 EURO) including tax, 3 dives, food, permit etc. The difference in briefing and safety reviews was enormous. Not comparable. However, we were well briefed from the previous day and it was only 2 of us with the guide, so we felt comfortable. During our stay we heard many negative things from other divers about the safety records of some of the operators, such as Uncle Chan. Sipadan is a place where safety MUST come first, so you should make sure you carefully choose your dive operator if you are moving around operators to get more permits.

Things to be aware of when booking to stay on Mabul island:

We are quite surprised that on this "tropical paradise island" the resort is located next to a "village" of boat people. There are two "villages" on the island, which are better described as slums. Im sure that there is no or very little crime, so that is not something to worry about. However, for someone expecting an island paradise, that is not what Mabul island looks like in some parts. Also the boat people (and probably many others also) throw a lot of plastic and other trash in the water, so swimming off the beach in front of the dive lodge, you will see that.

The Scuba Junkie team is really environmentally engaged and does many beach clean ups and educates the villagers about the environment, but still you should be aware this island is effectively a part of the third world.a