Mabul Paradise Lodge

It's good place if you want to explore diving in Mabul and Sipadan on a budget. The staff was very helpful and managed to organize last minute Sipadan dive for us. Diving was amazing, and definitely makes up for all the other inconveniences.

The hotel is ok, but nothing to write home about. The standard room (C), has squat toilets. We upgraded to B (with western toilet) and it was perfectly fine and clean when we checked in. However, it was not cleaned during our stay (5N) and only the last afternoon did they ask if we wanted it cleaned... unnecessary at that point. Often 3-5 of the staff would be sleeping across tables/outside guest rooms and we had to step over them... a bit weird to collapse like that, when rooms were not even being cleaned! We also did not appreciate staff smoking in the restaurant, right in front of a no-smoking sign. Smoke goes into the rooms with windows in that direction, not great when you have asthma! Had to tell one guy several times (and get upset) before he stopped smoking there. The main cook, receptionist and the bar guy were very nice and really did their best. The food was bland and repetitive, the fish dry and the chicken was only gizzards (necks), not something western tourists enjoy, as there is barely any meat, they contain a lot of bones and are tough/chewy. Granted, the hotel mainly caters to the Chinese tourist market. We asked for food without onions because of allergies, but they didn't seem to understand. We got all our food cooked separately... but with onion!? After a few days they finally got it, as we showed them which pieces in our food we can't eat. They tried their best, but also always cooked our food early and put it out an hour or more before we came to eat... it was always cold. Luckily they do have a microwave. We appreciated the fresh water melon after dinner and the fact that they had filtered water for refilling yourself. There are aquariums in the dining area and also some fish trapped in a net between the rooms. It is very dirty and sad. I think someone heard me commenting on it, since a guy started to clean the aquariums, but only the front, so the fish can be seen. The rest of the tanks were covered in algae, as was the vegetation in them. It all looks really bad, not great if you want to impress Europeans. We appreciated our dive guide. He was good and speaks English. The equipment worked, but has seen better days... If you are an experienced diver, ask early on to go only with others who are as well. For our first dive, a guy in our group (AOW certified, but had maybe 10 dives) used all his air in under 30 minutes. Luckily, our dive guide split the group afterwards. We kind of knew what Mabul Paradise would be like, after looking at the pictures and reading the reviews. It is a basic place, catering to the Asian market, with very basic food and therefore it's cheaper than places on the other side of Mabul. If you want to be close to Sipadan, it is an affordable place. Side notes (not comments on the hotel): 1. June is the worst month in the area, as visibility is not great. We saw lots of turtles and other great stuff, but it's not easy or cheap to get here, so rather go when the chances are greater to have good visibility, especially if you intend on going to Sipadan. We had two good dives there, but they do not make our top ten list, due to bad visibility. It would've been amazing otherwise. The hotel does not have their own permits, you go with a company from the mainland, who pick up at Mabul at 9:30. Visibility is best early mornings and apparently you're also more likely to see shark action early. The company was perfectly fine, no complaints really. It's just good to know that others, who have their own permits, start at 6:00. You can book your Sipadan dives with them, even if you stay at Mabul Paradise. These dive shops also do 60 min dives, not only 45 min, that the company we went with claimed was max. 2. There is a lot of plastic and other garbage all around Mabul. It is not a pretty island, but still much better than staying in Semporna. You'll see garbage while snorkelling/diving. Please help with cleaning up while doing so!