Mabul is another island in the Celebs Sea, not far from Mataking, where I spent the previous night.

I’ve chosen to visit Mabul for two reasons: the diving is reputed to be excellent, and it’s in close proximity to Sipadan — one of the top dive sites in the world. In fact, because Sipadan is so popular, regulations limit the number of guests who may visit each day and those permits sell out months in advance. Every dive company is limited to a certain number of daily permits, so upon my return from Mataking I call around to ask about cancellations. I find one company — Uncle Chan’s — who has a single Sipadan permit left for two days from now. Sold! I buy a package deal that includes a full day of diving on Mabul ($80 USD), a full day of diving on Sipadan ($206 USD), the Sipadan permit ($13), two nights’ dorm room accommodation at Uncle Chan’s ($45), all meals, and transportation to/from the island.

I depart 30 minutes later on Uncle Chan’s afternoon ferry to Mabul.

I’m really impressed as our boat pulls up to Mabul. I first read about this island over three years ago on the travel blog Camels & Chocolates, as Kristin and her husband enjoyed a luxurious overwater bungalow. My hopes are high.

Here’s the overwater bungalows at Uncle Chan’s. They’re out of my budget, which is why I’ve settled on the dorm room.

Disappointment sets in when I’m escorted to the dorm. It’s $24 per night for a 4-bed room with no A/C. It feels rickety: there are cracks in the floor so in certain places the water below is visible. The bathrooms are gross. And the power is shut off all day until around 5pm (not an issue since I’ll be diving both days). It’s a far cry from paradise on Mataking Island.

But I suck it up. I can stay anywhere for two nights. Plus the other people my room are nice, so we make the best of it.

Before dinner I venture down this dilapidated boardwalk to the island.

The water is polluted by trash. Not what I was expecting.

I make a note to return before it gets dark. I can easily imagine stumbling over this uneven wood in the dark and landing in that gross water.

Within about 15 minutes I’ve found the main beach.

This is a former oil rig that is now a budget dive operator (albeit still quite pricy). The next day we will do one of our three dives under the rig.

Here’s a shot of the fancy bungalows on Mabul:

I head back to Uncle Chan’s around sunset. Love these glowing pastel colors.

Here’s the main room at Uncle Chan’s, very pretty in this light:

The following night I take one more walk around the island, this time heading towards the local village. There’s a mosque, basketball courts, and lots of shanty homes and shops.

I head back down the flimsy wooden path to Uncle Chan’s.

So would I recommend visiting Mabul?

Good question. If you can afford nicer accommodation, by all means visit Mabul. I’d recommend a place with A/C as the weather is hot and humid year-round. There are a few hotels near the main beach that look nice and are in close proximity to a bar / restaurant. Uncle Chan’s is more isolated and their food is BASIC (capital letters warranted). But the most important thing for divers is securing those Sipadan permits. I would have loved to have gone with Scuba Junkie — they have excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, their prices are reasonable, and I was impressed by their hostel on the main beach — but they don’t have any available permits for Sipadan the week I’m there. I’d suggest arranging your Sipadan permits as far ahead as possible with Scuba Junkie and avoid Uncle Chan’s. But if you arrive last-minute and Uncle Chan’s is the only place left with permits, it’s still worth going with them to get to Sipadan.