Budget Longhouses on Mabul Island
Clean, smart and comfortable it is located in a quiet and beautiful part of Mabul island.
Only 100 RM - 200 RM per night including 3 meals (Dorm or Twin-share basis).
Check the Diving and Snorkeling Prices & Packages.
There are many longhouses accommodation on Mabul that offer simple, good-value lodging for backpacking travelers who are looking to stay above the water on Mabul's shores without the cost of an upscale luxury Mabul dive resort. Mabul Backpackers is one of them, and its own page has the rooms, the deck and the daily routine in more detail. Expect basic wooden rooms in a hostel-style layout, usually with shared bathrooms (with salty water), basic bedding (with cheap foam mattress) and friendly communal areas such as a wooden plateform for eating basic staple such as rice and noodles with chicken (usually the same meals are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner). It suits backpackers, dive students on a budget who want to take a dive course from PADI Open Water to Advanced Open Water Diver all the way (from zero to hero) to a divemaster course.
Location is the main advantage. From the longhouse, it is easy to jump right in the waters, you can view the sea turtles from the balcony and enjoy amazing sunsets and sunrises while joining the daily (3 or 4 times a day)diving or snorkeling sessions around Mabul and Kapalai sandy slopes and reefs or arrange a dive permit to Sipadan with a nearby operators. Mabul's calm and shallow dive sites are ideal for beginners and students, while macro and muck diving enthusiasts can look for camouflage frogfish, tiny nudibranchs, crocodilefish and ghostpipefish hidding among the manmade reef structures. Day trips to Kapalai's sandy bottoms add variety with rare underwater macro species such as the flamboyant cuttlefish and advanced divers can book a Sipadan permit when available (contact us to get your Sipadan permits).
The longhouses facilities are straightforward. Rooms are typically with a fan (no A/C) with limited storage and charging points and a 12 hours per day only electricity schedules. Wi-Fi reliability is scarce and you better bring a sim card compatible with the island mobile operator. Communal dining offers simple Malaysian meals, tea, coffee and drinking water. Guests should not hesitate to buy in the minimarts on the islands some extra snacks or beers. Bring a reef-safe sunscreen and a dry bag for boating days. Don't leave anything outside such as fli flops or any valuables should be locked or left at the longhouse office in Semporna.
Mabul Water House
If you would rather not sleep in a dormitory or a twin-share longhouse room, Mabul Backpackers also operates Mabul Water House, individual water chalets on Mabul. It is a mid-range option rather than a budget one and a chalet costs more per night than a bed in the longhouse. Ask us for current rates and availability and we can quote the longhouse and the chalets together so you can compare them before you choose.
Snorkeling and dive logistics are organized around the weather, the tides, the waves and the mood of the divemaster. Life jackets are sometimes available for snorkeling. The vemaster briefings are brief and the priority is just to jump in the water and try to find some small macro critters (the area is famous for muck diving and sea turtles). Diving runs all year round. The clearest water comes between March and October; mid-February to mid-November is still good diving, with visibility a little softer at each end of that window. Mid-November to mid-February brings a mix of cloud, rain and sunshine. Sipadan itself is closed throughout November.
Getting there is simple: fly to Tawau (TWU), transfer by road to Semporna is often part of the longhouse package (but double check it) then board the next longhouse speedboat to Mabul island. For couple looking for a longer stays, consider a split itinerary 1 night at a water resort near Semporna with an island hopping trip to the Tun Sakaran Marine Park islands such as Bohey Dulang and Siamil and then several nights in a Mabul longhouse such as Mabul Backpackers for meeting friendly fellow budget travellers and a lot of diving or snorkeling across mabul and Kapalai islands.
Overall, a budget longhouse on Mabul provides an excellent affordable base close to the water, enabling more time to explore reefs on a budget. Services and accommodation are super basic so don't expect too much. Once there, enjoy the island vibes, the cruising sea turtles below the deck and the rare and extraordinary muck diving (snorkeling or diving).
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