Mabul Island, Scuba Junkie Dive Resort

I had some of the included breakfast at the hostel, that wasn’t anything spectacular, but saw that there were a lot of people, most probably going to the same place as I.

Across the street was the office, we had to check-in, pay a lot of stuff up front and then we were basically ready for some 1^st class diving. We took the luggage onto two different boats, and then raced out of the harbor toward the open ocean.

About an hour later we arrived at the Mabul island, which is located just South of the most Eastern tip of Borneo. It is supposed to have some pretty good diving around, but is probably more famous for being  the easiest way to go diving at the island called Sipadan.

30minutes later all the gear is unpacked, the camera is setup for some Mabul underwater shooting.
For the price we paid, I would say the package is above average, the room is nice, the patio too and there is even a hammock. Pretty nice.
There is no AC, which is nice, then at least I won’t get sick.
The room itself had a couple of electrical outlets, but as I only had one power plug adapter, it would be hard, almost impossible to have recharged batteries for camera, strobes and computer all the times. I had to create a little fix myself, so cut the wires of one appliance cable and threaded the copper through the small holes on the tip of American male power plugs. Never ever had use for the holes before, but now i had, worked wonderfully.

The diving here is in relatively clear waters, but there is a lot of trash around that can be seen just floating around. There are sea gypsies living on the beach in designated areas, not under control by large resorts and corporations, I guess they needed a spot too. It looks very trashy and a big contrast to the view the resorts would like to show.
 

There is food included in the stay at Scuba Junkie, so either you like the food being served as a buffet style, or you go hungry to bed.

There is a huge eating area, with a bar on top for entertainment. As I did not have a chance to exchange money enough, I was on a low budget when it comes to drinking from the bar, which is maybe a good thing.