
Incredible dives and amazing team, thank you for everything. Shoutout to Khai and Simon - you've definitely fuelled the addictio
Highly recommend Scuba Junkie Sipadan. We had a really incredible trip, and it was a very great experience throughout, from the dive staff to the diving itself in Sipadan.
I was there between 14-19 Jun, and stayed at the Mabul Beach Resort, diving with with my family (mom (57), dad (63), two brothers (30 and 26)). We're all advanced open water divers except for one brother who is a rescue diver.
**Pre-trip arrangements**
We booked our trip with Cynthia at ADEX in Apr 2025, and the process was very smooth throughout. Ash was helping us handle our booking arrangements, and was patient in answering our many questions (eg on gear, discounts from adex, land/sea transfer from the airport) and accommodating to our requests where possible. For example, while the divemaster to diver ratio is generally 1:4, we had asked for our group of 5 to be kept together, and this was indeed arranged for during our trip. Ash also replied to our emails very quickly, and it therefore made the entire booking process very smooth.
**Divemasters and staff**
A friend who went diving with Scuba Junkie a couple of weeks ago recommended that we ask for Hafiz and Legend (Khai) as our divemasters, and it was an incredible time with them two.
We were with Hafiz and Shah on Day 1 doing our refresher dives. Day 2 was with Hafiz and Khai, Day 3 was with Khai and Naim, Days 4-5 with Khai and Lee.
The refresher dive was important for us as we hadnt been diving for very long, and Hafiz was extremely patient with my parents, doing a full recap of all the important things to note while diving, and emphasising all the safety measures we needed to remember, tips to remember the various components of our buddy check ("breakfast with rice and fish"). He gave off extremely calm energy - vvv important and reassuring in a dive instructor.
The next few days were primarily led by Khai as Hafiz went on leave, and he too was very reassuring throughout. He often went above and beyond what he needed to do, eg bringing us to the turtle hatchery at our request (even though there were no baby turtles being released, which is usually only when they bring customers over to the hatchery), sharing all his knowledge on the sea creatures answering all of my mom's questions about the sea creatures (she had many), and then pointing the ones she asked about out during our next dive, hanging out with us at lunch/break and sharing stories, helping us off the boat, advising my mom to remove her BCD in the water before lifting it up onto the boat, lending her his spare mask because hers was too big for her face.
After watching my dad's air consumption the first day, Hafiz also recommended my dad take the 15L tank for the Sipadan days. After that point, Khai always made sure that that was set up for us.
On the last two days, we were on the same boat as Simon who was taking another customer around. Simon was very knowledgeable and extremely fun. He gave us tips about how to be better at diving (also told us to read his blog post), told us stories about his time at scuba junkie, his experience in Malaysia, about him bringing his family around too, cracked jokes, brought his speakers and tunes to vibe during our surface interval and at lunch. All this made us all feel very connected to the place, to our guides, and overall enhanced the experience because it felt personal.
Listening to them two speak about how much they loved diving, loved sipadan, made us all remember why we all loved diving, and in my mom's words, "made her fall in love with diving again". At the end of every dive, Simon would thank us for diving with them, and end off by saying "thank you for diving with scuba junkie, fuel the addiction". And it really is an incredible tagline, made possible by the community that Scuba Junkie has built, with people like Khai and Simon, and by them making us feel at home, and welcoming us into their community with open arms.
Beyond Khai and Simon, the rest of the crew was also great. There was always a sense of the crew being a part of the same family - and this extended beyond the divemasters, to the boat captains, the guys helping settle the rental logistics etc, the ladies who cooked for us at the cookhouse.
When we departed sipadan on the last day, they sang a goodbye song (!!!) - which might sound corny and cheesy, but really made you feel like you really experienced something great, and it was a lovely last moment that we'll all hold onto in our memories.
**Diving**
Diving in Sipadan is truly what they say - unexpected. We were incredibly lucky, and on our second dive at Sipadan, we saw a whaleshark!!!!!!!! This was at the dive site Hanging Garden, which soon quickly became our favourite (may or may not have been influenced by Khai). This site was cool because we'd go out into the blue to search for the elusive hammerheads (unfortunately none for us this trip, but we'll be back), but then we'd come back to the reef to explore a beaaaaautiful coral garden.
The second day at sipadan, we also saw an incredible huge huge pod of dolphins, that came up to us and played in the wake of our boat. There were probably about a hundred dolphins around us - absolutely magical. We were also lucky enough to see pilot whales just chilling next to the dolphins.
The bumphead parrotfish were also really cool to see. We watched "Our Oceans" on Netflix right before coming and didn't realise it was filmed here!!!!! The barraccuda n jackfish also deserve a shout out - huuuuuuuuuuuge balls of them!!!! And the turtles.... Don't think I've ever seen so many chonky bois ever! Loved it. 10/10 recommend!!!! We'll be back for sure - hopefully Simon's still able to haul himself up on the boat when we come back.
We booked 4 days in Sipadan, so that meant 2 dives per day in Sipadan, and 1 dive in either Kapalai or Mabul. Kapalai and Mabul were also beautiful - looking for the small critters broke up the dives and gave it variety, and the corals were also wonderful. We especially loved Ribbon Valley - a beautiful dive to end the trip as we drifted along the current.
Thank you Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai, and the Scuba Junkie team!!!!! Amazing.

Don’t think, just book your holiday with Scuba Junkie already
I highly recommend a holiday with Scuba Junkie! We stayed for 6days (5nights) and we have nothing to complain. Everything went so smoothly and was well organized. We had a deluxe ac room, which was extremely comfortable and tidy.
The food was tasty and there was plenty of variety. Even for a vegan like myself, there was always some sort of tofu, tempeh, etc served. I do recommend you bringing some snacks, since the time between lunch and dinner is quite long. We did three dives a day (plus one night dive) and the wait after the third dive was a tad long. There are some pastries you can snack on.
The diving was exceptional at best. They highly prioritize eco-friendliness in diving and at the resort. The day we arrived we went almost straight to diving, and did three dives at Mabul island. The next four days we went to Sipadan for two dives, and the third we did somewhere on the way back to the resort. Bring a drybag with you, or buy one at the resort, since everything will get wet in the boat :) also if you get cold easily and do repeated dives, I’d recommend you bring your own long wetsuit or a heat vest, because they only have a few longs available, and usually the ones going early get them.
When diving in Sipadan, make sure you go to Barracuda point. It is an amazing divesite, with pristine coral and regular encounters with massive schools of barracuda and bumphead parrotfish to name a couple. The surface interval at Sipadan is 90minutes, so you can chill at the island, get some coffee and eat lunch there. There are plenty of friendly cats waiting for cuddles at Sipadan island.
I’d also recommend bringing a pair of earplugs, ’cause there are some roosters living near the resort, and they sang their songs at 5am. We weren’t too bothered, ’cause we got up early anyways, but just a heads up if you’re wishing to get a sleep in :)
There is a little shop at the resort, where they sell t-shirts, hoodies, some small diving equipment like tank bangers and such. There is also a bar in the resort and at the jetty, where you can get deco beer after dives :)
All in all, book your holiday now and thank yourself later. It is amazing!

Best dive experience ever
It was almost perfect to have stayed at SJ Mabul resort
1. Staff was professional, helpful. From I sent email inquiry to help arrange logistics to check in. It was well organized, made my whole trip wonderful
2. I stayed at the AC room, close to the canteen/bar; food was just what you could expect from an island that is remote from mainland, but u get the meat, fresh fruits, desserts, and fresh coffee every morning-which is def a must before diving. Room was clean.
3. In addition to diving, can always chill at the second floor bar area-they have a nice archive of books, also can walk around the island-it is really small. I went jogging, 1.5 km a lap for the whole island. But can get a peak of how the local folks live
4. I had 4 days fun dive, had good experience interacting with different DMs and boat capitans. They are all very helpful, professional. Most of all, i appreciate their environmental awareness and always reminding me to be a responsible diver-no silly attempts when we are in the ocean. and at the Sipadan days, the DM would ask every diver where they have been previously(if any), to make sure the divers got the most of the view-esp the permit fee, and only two dives per day per diver. It was very considerate
5. I was witnessing the hutch of hundreds of baby turtles-it was a life experience. It was so nice the crew would knock at everyone's door to ensure ppl get to see it. It was also such a great approach for SJ as a dive center to help protect the marine life as best as possible
I def would come back, and in fact i have booked my next dive with SJ Penida. because of how much i appreciate SJ's efforts of making the experience amazing. Thank you to the team.