Semporna is a beautiful place near Tawau, Sabah with mixed races of Malays, Chinese, Philipino, Indonesian, Bayao. I am Malaysian but I feel like an overseas trip (my second time been to Sabah, but first time to Tawau), the place is not being developed (I guess that's why all the islands still remain naturally), and people here mostly tan color skin(might due to sunburn I guess?).
You can see tourists everywhere, and 99% of them are China Chinese. Our agent told us that without tourists, Semporna would be a "dead city", coz there's that is the only source of income, luckily this place has many beautiful islands around which can attract tourists. To me, Semporna seems like a combination of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Before I visited the island I had read a lot of negative news about it, eg: some pirate kidnap cases in these areas(near Sipadan), and some cases such as "bomb fish" caused tourists to die during the diving.
Things impressed me
- Beautiful island & crystal clear water.
- Unique culture.
- Cheap seafood.
- Beachboy with passion.
Attention
- Be careful, some of the children might help you carry the luggage and asking for numerous tips.
Semporna, Sabah Trip 16th-19th July 2019
Cost for two people:
Airasia flight: RM900
RM600 Hotels for 3 nights.
RM100(shared van with others) from Tawau airport to our Hotel in Semporna
RM600 Packages for 2 people (2 days-around 6 islands hopping–snorkelling packages)
RM40 Breakfast
RM42 Brunch with agent (KFC)
RM64 Lunch (rice with Abalone & Oyster): RM64
RM350 Seafood dinner for 3 nights
RM300 Local products
The total spend of one person would be less than RM1500 including everything(mixture of budget and luxury lifestyle).
Hotels:
We booked through Agoda, the first 2 nights stay at Memory Boutique Hotel which is slightly far from the Public Jetty, and the last night stay at Grace Hotel which I think it's much more comfortable compared with Memory Boutique.
Transportation:
We took an Airasia flight from Kuala Lumpur–Tawau–Kuala Lumpur (I heard that JB also have flight to Tawau).
Airport to Pekan Semporna–there're lots of shared cars/shared vans (拼车) which you can pre-book with your agent or get the sharing basis van or even your Grab on the spot(one van can fit up to 10 people).
Once reach Pekan Semporna, they do have grab services over there, but it's still not so widely famous to use, suggest booking hotels near the public jetty for convenience as all eateries restaurants, Watson, guardian etc are nearby by walking distance.
1st day (16th July 2019):
When one reaches Sabah or Sarawak, even Malaysians also need to go through their custom with either IC or Passport(it's like going overseas, but it's faster), and they will give you a piece of paper(like a pass to stay for 90 days), please remember to keep properly and DON'T LOST IT, you will need to return it back at the Tawau custom again when you're heading back home, or else it would be quite troublesome(i heard)...
We reached the hotel at Pekan Semporna around 6pm after a 3-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur and a 1.5-hour sharing basis van from Tawau airport. We rest after our check-in and dinner. Dinner at Restaurant Gembira Ah Loong which is just opposite our Memory Boutique hotel, don't really recommend that restaurant, it's quite pricey with so so foods.
2nd day (17th July 2019):
Bohey Dulang, Matabuan, Sibuan Islands and see the Bayao population.
We woke up in the morning and went to this shop named Cham Chuan Kee (詹全记) for their local breakfast, their teh tarik and the local bread are superbly delicious!!~ and their Roti Canai is just okay..
After that our agent Nelson picked us up to the jetty and ready to go for island hopping~
One can see the clear water and can you imagine it's just near the shore, not yet to islandssss...can't wait for it~
The first stop we went to was Bohey Dulang Island at Tun Sakaran Marine Park. One must remember to wear your hiking shoes to climb up the mountain to see the astonishing scenery, it took around 1 hour for all of us to reach the top of the mountain, and there were a lot of big and small ROCKS on the journey going up the hill(that's why must wear sport shoes, or else you'll hurt yourself by one hour up and one hour down)...You can rent the shoes over there–1 pair for RM5.00. I don't know why most of the tourists also wanted to rent(maybe their agents did not let them know to bring sports shoes?), I strongly suggest that you wear your own shoes so that you can save time and no need to wait for the shoes(the quantity of shoes is limited, you'll need to wait for the hikers to come down from the mountain only you can go up if you need to rent).
Here's the awesome and fascinating landscape on top of Bohey Dulang Island(珍珠岛), Tun Sakaran Marine Park(敦沙卡兰海洋公园) (The winds are quite strong on top of the mountain, you're unable to use those flying camera such as DJI etc to capture the scene, only by hands).
After that we went for some islands hopping at Matabuan Island(曼达湾岛) and Sibuan Island(军舰岛). Both of the islands are really peaceful, calm and beautiful, with crystal clear water, like the infinity pool...
My wife loves this transparent boat so much!!!!~~ have lots of fun with it!!
We also see some Bayao population(巴瑶族) who live in the sea. Our boat leaders mentioned don't give them money as don't give them a habit that of taking something for granted. They will just hop onto your boat and ask for food and money(Actually the best is not to give anything, but in the end, we gave candy as we wanted them to stay longer for us to take more photos).
After the island hopping we went back to Pekan Semporna. After rest, we had our dinner at 海滨海鲜餐厅(beside Seafest hotel) with our new friends (boat members young couple China tourists) tonight. They are from Si Chuan(四川) and love seafood so much!!! They said their prawns are super tiny in China..lol...This restaurant also comes with steamboat seafood if you're a steamboat lover~
We ordered sweet and sour Crabs, chillies Prawns, salted egg Squid(sotong), giant garlic Shells, some coconuts as well as Avocado drinks!!~ Do you know that Sabah produces lots of Avocados?! Avocado is one of their local fruits and it's a must to try over here!!
3rd day (18th July 2019): Mabul & Kapalai Islands.
We checked out in the early morning and moved our luggage to Grace Hotel, we could only check in after coming back from the Island Hopping(check in time is after 2pm). Had our breakfast at one of the mamak stalls near the public jetty(same row as Seafest Hotel–Boutique Wing), easier for us to walk to the jetty after that.
After we reached Mabul island, we needed a walk and went to a resort and took photos, snorkelling nearby the resort at Mabul island(but cannot go up to the resort, we can only go in at the entrance just now after we pay RM20), and snorkelling near Kapalai island.
Seriously saying I was a little bit disappointed as I reached Mabul island, at first i thought I can straight away snorkelling, mana tau we went to one of the most beautiful resort at Mabul Island–Mabul Water Bungalow Resort and given time to nearly 1.5 hour (only took photos) before had our lunch and go for snorkelling, some more we need to pay extra RM20 for that(i guess maybe they think tourists like to take lots of photos during their vacation and checked in?, we couldn't do anything but just follow our boat leaders~). Anyhow, we need to pay RM20 as this is a private resort to give us like a "permission" to go in and take photos. The view are outstanding even though it's really a sunny day, which is a good day for outdoor photos. For those who like to take lots of photos, you can consider bringing along your DSLR camera instead of the phone camera.
The astonishing photo on top is where the sunshine around 12pm–brings out the wonderful seawater(the man is selling huge lobsters which are more than 1kg each)
And more seafood–lobsters(they will come to you and sell their seafoods)...Do you know that you can buy seafood from them and ask the restaurant to cook for you? Of course, the restaurant will charge you, but you'll never know that sometimes you can get bigger size seafood than the restaurant. This photo is taken on Kapalai island(Kapalai is considered as private island, we can only snorkelling beside it but can't go up to the beach to play, it is the same as Mabul island).
After heading back to Pekan Semporna, we checked in, took a shower and a nap before having our dinner again. Dinner with four of our boat members today(China tourists from Beijing and Cheng Du). We ordered 3 big chillies Crabs, 1kg salted & pepper Prawns, 5 Abalone(they will cut it slice for you), ginger Shells, and also steamed eggs with Sea Urchin–海胆(seriously saying i never eaten this before, but it tastes not too bad), we also went to a fruits shop for our dessert after that~
4th day (19th July 2019):
Last day in Semporna, woke up early and had our breakfast which is included with the hotel package at 南海渔村(one of the restaurants near our hotel).
虾肠粉prawn Chee Cheong Fun with 豆浆 soya milk
We treat our agent Nelson who brings us around and arranges everything for us nicely at KFC and tealive for our brunch.
Both of us(Nee and I) aren't satisfied in our stomachs saying that must at least eat one seafood meal before heading back to KL. Hence, our lunch is–rice with Abalone and Oyster!!~
Can you see how huge is this fresh oyster? I can't even grab the whole oyster.
We managed to buy some local snacks (豆沙饼) at the old store of Cham Chuan Kee (詹全记) before going to Tawau airport. my wife loves them so much!!~ It tastes not too sweet nor salty, the texture is just nice!!
One can see Musang King culture everywhere, no matter it's the real durian or ice cream etc(probably due to China tourists? They like durians especially Musang King so much)
Before I visited the island I had read a lot of negative news about it, eg: some pirate kidnap cases in these areas(near Sipadan), and some cases such as "bomb fish" caused tourists to die during the diving.
Things impressed me
Things impressed me
- Beautiful island & crystal clear water.
- Unique culture.
- Cheap seafood.
- Beachboy with passion.
- Be careful, some of the children might help you carry the luggage and asking for numerous tips.
Semporna, Sabah Trip 16th-19th July 2019
Cost for two people:
Airasia flight: RM900
RM600 Hotels for 3 nights.
RM100(shared van with others) from Tawau airport to our Hotel in Semporna
RM600 Packages for 2 people (2 days-around 6 islands hopping–snorkelling packages)
RM40 Breakfast
RM42 Brunch with agent (KFC)
RM64 Lunch (rice with Abalone & Oyster): RM64
RM350 Seafood dinner for 3 nights
RM300 Local products
The total spend of one person would be less than RM1500 including everything(mixture of budget and luxury lifestyle).
Hotels:
We booked through Agoda, the first 2 nights stay at Memory Boutique Hotel which is slightly far from the Public Jetty, and the last night stay at Grace Hotel which I think it's much more comfortable compared with Memory Boutique.
Transportation:
We took an Airasia flight from Kuala Lumpur–Tawau–Kuala Lumpur (I heard that JB also have flight to Tawau).
Airport to Pekan Semporna–there're lots of shared cars/shared vans (拼车) which you can pre-book with your agent or get the sharing basis van or even your Grab on the spot(one van can fit up to 10 people).
Once reach Pekan Semporna, they do have grab services over there, but it's still not so widely famous to use, suggest booking hotels near the public jetty for convenience as all eateries restaurants, Watson, guardian etc are nearby by walking distance.
When one reaches Sabah or Sarawak, even Malaysians also need to go through their custom with either IC or Passport(it's like going overseas, but it's faster), and they will give you a piece of paper(like a pass to stay for 90 days), please remember to keep properly and DON'T LOST IT, you will need to return it back at the Tawau custom again when you're heading back home, or else it would be quite troublesome(i heard)...
We reached the hotel at Pekan Semporna around 6pm after a 3-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur and a 1.5-hour sharing basis van from Tawau airport. We rest after our check-in and dinner. Dinner at Restaurant Gembira Ah Loong which is just opposite our Memory Boutique hotel, don't really recommend that restaurant, it's quite pricey with so so foods.
2nd day (17th July 2019):
Bohey Dulang, Matabuan, Sibuan Islands and see the Bayao population.
We woke up in the morning and went to this shop named Cham Chuan Kee (詹全记) for their local breakfast, their teh tarik and the local bread are superbly delicious!!~ and their Roti Canai is just okay..
One can see the clear water and can you imagine it's just near the shore, not yet to islandssss...can't wait for it~
The first stop we went to was Bohey Dulang Island at Tun Sakaran Marine Park. One must remember to wear your hiking shoes to climb up the mountain to see the astonishing scenery, it took around 1 hour for all of us to reach the top of the mountain, and there were a lot of big and small ROCKS on the journey going up the hill(that's why must wear sport shoes, or else you'll hurt yourself by one hour up and one hour down)...You can rent the shoes over there–1 pair for RM5.00. I don't know why most of the tourists also wanted to rent(maybe their agents did not let them know to bring sports shoes?), I strongly suggest that you wear your own shoes so that you can save time and no need to wait for the shoes(the quantity of shoes is limited, you'll need to wait for the hikers to come down from the mountain only you can go up if you need to rent).
Here's the awesome and fascinating landscape on top of Bohey Dulang Island(珍珠岛), Tun Sakaran Marine Park(敦沙卡兰海洋公园) (The winds are quite strong on top of the mountain, you're unable to use those flying camera such as DJI etc to capture the scene, only by hands).
After that we went for some islands hopping at Matabuan Island(曼达湾岛) and Sibuan Island(军舰岛). Both of the islands are really peaceful, calm and beautiful, with crystal clear water, like the infinity pool...
My wife loves this transparent boat so much!!!!~~ have lots of fun with it!!
We also see some Bayao population(巴瑶族) who live in the sea. Our boat leaders mentioned don't give them money as don't give them a habit that of taking something for granted. They will just hop onto your boat and ask for food and money(Actually the best is not to give anything, but in the end, we gave candy as we wanted them to stay longer for us to take more photos).
After the island hopping we went back to Pekan Semporna. After rest, we had our dinner at 海滨海鲜餐厅(beside Seafest hotel) with our new friends (boat members young couple China tourists) tonight. They are from Si Chuan(四川) and love seafood so much!!! They said their prawns are super tiny in China..lol...This restaurant also comes with steamboat seafood if you're a steamboat lover~
We ordered sweet and sour Crabs, chillies Prawns, salted egg Squid(sotong), giant garlic Shells, some coconuts as well as Avocado drinks!!~ Do you know that Sabah produces lots of Avocados?! Avocado is one of their local fruits and it's a must to try over here!!
We checked out in the early morning and moved our luggage to Grace Hotel, we could only check in after coming back from the Island Hopping(check in time is after 2pm). Had our breakfast at one of the mamak stalls near the public jetty(same row as Seafest Hotel–Boutique Wing), easier for us to walk to the jetty after that.
After we reached Mabul island, we needed a walk and went to a resort and took photos, snorkelling nearby the resort at Mabul island(but cannot go up to the resort, we can only go in at the entrance just now after we pay RM20), and snorkelling near Kapalai island.
Seriously saying I was a little bit disappointed as I reached Mabul island, at first i thought I can straight away snorkelling, mana tau we went to one of the most beautiful resort at Mabul Island–Mabul Water Bungalow Resort and given time to nearly 1.5 hour (only took photos) before had our lunch and go for snorkelling, some more we need to pay extra RM20 for that(i guess maybe they think tourists like to take lots of photos during their vacation and checked in?, we couldn't do anything but just follow our boat leaders~). Anyhow, we need to pay RM20 as this is a private resort to give us like a "permission" to go in and take photos. The view are outstanding even though it's really a sunny day, which is a good day for outdoor photos. For those who like to take lots of photos, you can consider bringing along your DSLR camera instead of the phone camera.
The astonishing photo on top is where the sunshine around 12pm–brings out the wonderful seawater(the man is selling huge lobsters which are more than 1kg each)
And more seafood–lobsters(they will come to you and sell their seafoods)...Do you know that you can buy seafood from them and ask the restaurant to cook for you? Of course, the restaurant will charge you, but you'll never know that sometimes you can get bigger size seafood than the restaurant. This photo is taken on Kapalai island(Kapalai is considered as private island, we can only snorkelling beside it but can't go up to the beach to play, it is the same as Mabul island).
After heading back to Pekan Semporna, we checked in, took a shower and a nap before having our dinner again. Dinner with four of our boat members today(China tourists from Beijing and Cheng Du). We ordered 3 big chillies Crabs, 1kg salted & pepper Prawns, 5 Abalone(they will cut it slice for you), ginger Shells, and also steamed eggs with Sea Urchin–海胆(seriously saying i never eaten this before, but it tastes not too bad), we also went to a fruits shop for our dessert after that~
4th day (19th July 2019):
Last day in Semporna, woke up early and had our breakfast which is included with the hotel package at 南海渔村(one of the restaurants near our hotel).
虾肠粉prawn Chee Cheong Fun with 豆浆 soya milk
We treat our agent Nelson who brings us around and arranges everything for us nicely at KFC and tealive for our brunch.
Can you see how huge is this fresh oyster? I can't even grab the whole oyster.
We managed to buy some local snacks (豆沙饼) at the old store of Cham Chuan Kee (詹全记) before going to Tawau airport. my wife loves them so much!!~ It tastes not too sweet nor salty, the texture is just nice!!
One can see Musang King culture everywhere, no matter it's the real durian or ice cream etc(probably due to China tourists? They like durians especially Musang King so much) 
