By Liz – (Toronto, Canada)
I’m a fairly new snorkeler, only doing it for little over a year now but I LOVE IT! My hubby is a very experienced scuba diver but I’m just not into that, so he was thrilled when I discovered my love for snorkeling on our trip in May 2018 to Mabul Island, Borneo.
If you have not snorkeled there, you must! It was out of this world amazing. I saw stunning coral, several different types of sea turtle (loads and loads of turtles), octopuses, lobsters, giant groupers, bat fish, thousands of jack fish (I was in the middle of the school), parrotfish, loads of moray eels, sea snake, giant barracuda, trumpetfish, blue spotted rays, eagle rays (!), tons of small fish that hang out by the corals and there was even a Whale Shark sighting (not by me though) and so much more.
Scuba Junkie is so welcoming to snorkelers. You can go out three times a day with each of the dive trips and they will have a snorkel guide to show you all the cool stuff, while the divers do their thing. This was awesome for my hubby and I because we were always on the same boat together and I got to visit several different spots (so it was not the same each time).
The guides are incredible and really know their fish and are loads of fun to swim with.
The Mabul Island Resort is an eco-tourism resort and I love this! They have signage everywhere about how you can help protect the oceans, and they actively participate in helping. They do reef and beach cleans weekly. They have programs for the Mabul Island residents on how they can clean up garbage, help the turtles, etc. They also have programs to protect the sea turtles. I saw a group of Hawksbill Turtles hatch while I was there in December 2018.
Lastly, the resort doesn’t serve fish at any of their meals (three meals a day included in your stay), because Malaysia does not have sustainable fishing practices.
If you want an amazing experience, stay here for a week. I stayed 10 days on my second trip and even though I repeated spots on the last three days I saw different stuff each time. Next visit there will be a snorkel trip to Sipidan Island to see Hammerheads!
Please comment gang if you want more info, I would be happy to share all my happy experiences here.
So excited to have found this website.
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Nicole and Galen – Apr 19, 2019 – Thank You!
Hi Liz, thank you for taking the time to share your snorkeling experience on Mabul Island in Borneo. Was the snorkeling any good from the resort beach, or was it only good from boat trips? Folks will want to know that.
Liz – Apr 19, 2019 – Boat Trips
Boat trips are the best but there is great snorkeling right off the jetty. The site is called “Paradise.”