Borneo Divers Mabul Island Resort - Malaysia

Borneo Divers Mabul Resort is the kind of place that gives you a feeling the local staff is having a wonderful time, at your expense. When I booked a four night, five day stay over New Years 2011, I had high expectations not only because of the resort's good reputation, but also because for the price you'll pay to stay here, you should expect quality. There are a lot of great things about the place, the rooms are clean and comfortable, the facilities attractive and well maintained, and the diving operation is top notch (although you should expect to pay an additional fee for each piece of equipment you borrow, even if you purchase an "all inclusive" dive package.) My complaint is in the general treatment I received. Having spent ten years now, off and on, living and traveling around South East Asia and the Pacific islands, I've come to expect, at the very least, the courtesy and efficiency you would receive at a family-run guesthouse, so at pricey resorts like BDMR, they need to step it up a notch to make it worth the money. Unfortunately, the service doesn't even meet friendly budget guesthouse standards. I know when I'm being treated like a commodity, and I don't appreciate it.

You'll feel this pattern manifest itself even before you ever get to Mabul. If you're waiting at the Seafest (their recommended hotel in Semporna) for a 9:15 pickup, bring something to read for that extra hour you'll have to spend waiting in the lobby before your driver arrives. When finally you do get on the boat, you'll meet the captain, a gruff, bulky man with a strained smile. Be sure you have your camera because he'll demand you take photos and point out to you exactly what you need to be talking photos of. This is not to say the ride is not photo worthy, it's stunning on a sunny day. You could probably figure the whole thing without the orders. But don't mind the captain too much, it's just his way of trying to ingratiate himself to you for when he tries to sell you overpriced trinkets when he gives you the ride back to shore at the end of your stay.

And this is a general experience among guests here, the feeling that the staff is sizing you up to see what they can get off of you. You'll see them all gathered around the beach bar at night, strumming guitars, taking up most of the tables. When the bar tender tries to talk you into letting him give you a tour of tiny Mabul one day (instead of diving Sipadan), don't expect it will be free. When you see the cool, hip boat crewmember diving with you and filming with a video camera, you might ask after the dive if you could see the video some time. "OK, I'll try to get it done before you leave," he'll respond. Amazingly, it will be done for dinner that night, and it will be really good quality too. Once you watch it, he'll try to sell it to you for US $100.

Although I really don't expect that type of free merchandising among the staff at a pricey resort, it didn't ruin the place for me. What really ruined it was being lied to and given the run-around when I tried to get some laundry done. The reception desk is very poorly manned, except for during checkout time (that's 9:30 am, you'll wait in the lobby again until 11:00 when the boat leaves). I brought some laundry to the desk one morning before a dive and no one was there, I was told to come back in half an hour and when I did and no one was there again, I was lied to (in a particularly rude way) about what time the desk opened, even though the hours are clearly posted. That didn't make me feel very valued, nor did the stinky laundry when it was returned to me after being given another run around the next morning of my way back to the mainland.

The meals aren't very flattering to write about either. They're set up buffet style, and some of the dishes are good, but there is a general lack of attention to detail. For example, if you would like to make a salad, you might want lettuce to place those onions, tomatoes and cucumbers on top of, but alas, it somehow seems to have been forgotten along with sugar or syrup for the French toast. We had the same rubbery lamb three nights in a row, cooked three different ways because that's how long it took them to get rid of it. Make sure not to come to breakfast later than the starting time because if you do, you'll have trouble finding a place to sit with all the dirty plates covering the tables. Morning doesn't appear to be a good time for this place.

Believe it or not, I had an absolutely fantastic stay at BDMR, I dove Sipadan eleven times, three out of four days, and it was mind-blowing. I made some great friends here, and we had fun expressing our amazement at the lackluster staff, along with the beauty of the islands. The view from the end of the BDMR pier would be outstanding, by the way, if there weren't a hideous run-down oil rig directly in front of it (converted into another resort). But the crew of the diving operation are fun and professional, with the exception of the boat driver who tried to rush everyone into the water with no regard for safety, "OK-go-go-go."

There is nothing wrong with Borneo Diver's Mabul Resort that a little bit of present, onsite, and competent management couldn't fix. One of the owners showed up with his family for the pleasant New Years celebration, but mysteriously disappeared afterwards and was never seen again, perhaps to his home in Kota Kinabalu. Other than that, there didn't really seem to be anyone in charge of the place. Why not spend a little bit of those high prices to create a well trained staff instead of giving jobs to a cousin or brother-in-law, because the current staff is below what I would expect from any small hotel or guesthouse, much less a high priced dive resort. Diving Sipadan is any tropical diver's dream and not to be missed, but do yourself a favor and find someplace that makes you feel good about spending your money there, this one shouldn't make the final cut until they do a little bit of reorganizing.