Just returned from a 5 days/ 4nights stay at Sipadan Water Village (SWV) on Mabul Island ( pic.) The journey from Mabul to Sipadan for the dive normally takes 15 mins but took 45 minutes instead as the seas were rough and choppy due to a typhoon that passed by Philippines. Weather was cloudy for some of the days. It was also just after the full moon and according to the manager usually the sea was a bit rough. The diving at Sipadan as usual was great, and managed to see the school of barracuda and trevally. However, missed the Bumphead Parrot Fish school. I noticed there were not that many turtles this round compared to my previous trip. We only went for 1 day to Sipadan as there is a strict quota of max. 120 divers per day allowed at Sipadan. Each resort is allocated about 12/day. With so many divers wanting to go to Sipadan,most divers only get to go once esp. when it is peak season. Accomodation at Sipadan Water Village (SWV)Resort on Mabul overall was good with friendly smiles from the staffs. Food was overall good but it was better the last time I visited with more variety. On one of the days a police chopper actually landed on the resort. It was one of their rare visits by chopper. Normally, there will be patrol boats surrounding the area so security is good.
