Mabul Backpackers Reviews

It takes an hour by boat from the Dragon Inn Pier in Semporna to get to Mabul Island. The hotel you booked includes a round-trip ticket. You can get on the boat to this homestay by registering at Dragon Inn R2. This is a private homestay on Mabul Island. The cost-effectiveness is relatively high. One room can accommodate three adults. It is suitable for families with children. It is much more affordable than the Mabul Island Resort Hotel next to it. There are simple meals for breakfast and some free lunch at noon. We buy fresh seafood from the Bajau people on the sea every day and let the kitchen of the homestay process it. The seafood is super cheap and fresh. The processing fee is 15-20 Malaysian ringgit. It's still good. It's also good to use the money saved from staying in the resort to buy more seafood. If you want to go to the Mabul Island Resort next to it, you can enter for 50 Malaysian ringgits per person. It's right next door. It's quite comfortable to check in, take pictures, and swim. It's a good trip to save money with children.

There are not many reviews on the platform, and Xiaohongshu can't find them either. I thought about trying it myself and seeing how it is. 1. The room facilities are simple. The triple room is smaller than the double room. When I just checked in, there was water all over the bathroom. It was not cleaned. The toilet door was very difficult to pull, and it was basically impossible to close the door to go to the toilet. No toiletries were provided, and there was no hair dryer. 2. The air conditioner body was leaking, and the bed was below. One-third of the bed was wet. I asked the service staff to solve it. They told us that we could change the sheets and move the bed to avoid the leaking position. We agreed. After waiting for more than an hour, no one came to deal with it. The service staff left us behind. In the end, the three of us went to live in the double room, one small bed and one large bed, two people squeezed in one bed, and the other two people stayed in the single bed of the triple room. They stayed for two days, and the wet bed was empty. No one cared about it during the whole process. 3. There is no running water. The toilet is all seawater. There are time requirements for seawater and hot water. The toilet cannot be flushed before the water is provided. The atmosphere of the homestay is good. The coaches and guests will sing and dance together at night. It is very lively. We participated in it. We are all friends and feel free and comfortable. It’s just that those who like to go to bed early are a bit miserable. The microphone and speakers are probably singing until about 10.30 pm. 4. Price: I paid about 700/person on Ctrip. The price on Qu Na will be about 100 cheaper. After checking in, the tenants living next door paid about 300/person on a certain fish. The premium on Ctrip is very high. In addition, there is a phased power and water outage. A can of Coke at the homestay is 5 Malaysian ringgits, kayaking is 50 Malaysian ringgits, and seafood processing is 10 Malaysian ringgits. For reference 5. Although the accommodation is located on Mabu Island, you still need to pay a 50 MYR/person island entry fee to visit the resort. If you don't go, you will only have the balcony, plank road, and lobby of the homestay. This is a small piece of land 6. The variety and taste of the buffet are very average, with about four dishes, which can fill your stomach, but not delicious 7. After the reservation is successful, I received the hotel's reservation information by email, which clearly stated that the check-out time is 15.30-16.00. As a result, the cleaning staff came to urge us to check out at 12.00. After we provided the check-out time by email, they still insisted that we clean up the room and waited for us to clean up at the door (I didn't see anyone when I changed the sheets, but now they are watching us). Then the cleaning staff cleaned up and locked the door. We had to wait in the lobby with our luggage until we boarded the ship to leave the island at 16.00. The rooms were empty and no one was staying. The guests had already checked in in other rooms long ago that day. Ctrip contact person **** ignored the content of the email notification throughout the whole process, and insisted that the check-out time was 12.00, so the hotel staff's words and emails could be ignored and invalid. After checking in, they said whatever they said. 7. Free snorkeling. After arriving on the island in the morning, we waited until the afternoon, waiting to go snorkeling without playing anything. As a result, no one took us out during the whole process, and no one told us how to arrange it. I communicated with Ctrip contact person ****, and he told me that the boat had left and I couldn't go today, but I could arrange it tomorrow. I said that I signed up for deep diving tomorrow, and I should not have enough time for both. **** clearly told me that both must be arranged for me, snorkeling at 8:30 in the morning and deep diving at noon. As a result, we packed up and waited early in the morning. The coach told us to set off at 10:30. In the end, there was only enough time to choose between deep diving and snorkeling. In the end, we didn't go snorkeling. **** said that snorkeling is free, and there is no way if I can't go. Because the homestay did not arrange it well, the free content was not provided, and they promised me that they would arrange it for me, but they did not arrange it. ****'s solution was: Please understand. However, if we cannot take guests out to sea for snorkeling, we will not book the hotel at all. It is clearly a service content included in the price, and the playable projects in the quotation are not arranged and said to be free. There is nothing we can do if we cannot go. 8. I signed up for deep diving with ****, the contact person of Ctrip. When signing up, I was clearly told that I would be underwater for 30 minutes. As a result, my friend and I only had 15 minutes each, and 30 minutes for the two of us. I went down first, and the seabed gestured to indicate ok. After a while, the coach kept gesturing up, up, up, and took me up. When I looked at the time, it was only 15 minutes. After I went up, my friend went down, and then I waited on the boat. **** said again that the weather was bad and the coach was for safety considerations. I said that everyone else on the boat dived for 30 minutes, and only my friend and I had 30 minutes together, which means that it is safe underwater. Otherwise, why only we came up and others can continue. ****It became your first time diving again, meaning that our own skills are not good. I said that I gestured all the time and there was no problem, so we could continue. They wanted to shorten the time, either saying that the weather was not good or that the guests were not good. I was told before that deep diving and snorkeling were not in the same waters. In fact, deep diving and snorkeling were in the same place. The depth of deep diving was only seven or eight meters. When I looked up, my snorkeling friends were above me, and even my friend could swim to my side with a dive. I don’t know what the meaning of signing up for deep diving is. There are no turtles, no big fish, no sunken ships, and a bunch of small fish. There are not as many fish as I saw in the one-day snorkeling in Dun Sakalan. The one-day tour registration is about 300 a day. I stayed in one place for more than an hour to snorkel, snorkeled in two or three places, and snorkeled for a total of two or three hours. It cost 400 for 15 minutes of deep diving. I was diving just under the snorkelers. It probably means that the snorkelers were floating on the water, and the coach took me to the bottom of the water. It is understandable that you can see natural creatures such as fish and turtles at random, but because you only dived for 15 minutes, you didn't have time to chase and see more fish schools in depth, which is different from not seeing them. You didn't see the sunken ship either. Did the ship run away by itself? You didn't even swim to the deeper side. The deep diving position is so shallow, **** said 1-12 meters is no problem. So I want to say, I stood up and touched the bottom of my feet. The depth is 1.7 meters. I can play by myself. Why do I need you? Those who want to sign up can experience it. Look up and see others snorkeling above you, and you dive under them. If you are lucky, you may even experience a 1-meter deep dive. Play by touching your feet. For all the above, the solution is: Please forgive me. Summary: No word is credible, whoever dares to live can live

Mabul Island is very beautiful, close to the sea, but the facilities are really average. Most of the water houses should be like this. If you want to experience scuba diving, you can really come. I am a little afraid 😂

The room facilities are old, and the door is an aluminum alloy sliding door, which is so broken that it can't be moved. 3 meals are included, but they are very poor. The buffet has 3 dishes, and the quantity is small, and the guests behind are not enough to eat. The air conditioner is basically still around 30 degrees. The toilet seat is broken and the water is salty. I read the guide before and found that there are two boats leaving the island, at 11 am and 4 pm, so I booked a flight at 4:35 pm. As a result, the hotel told me that there is only one boat at 4 pm every day. If you want to leave the island at another time, you must charter a boat for 450 Malaysian ringgits, nearly 700 yuan. I discussed canceling the order, but the hotel disagreed. The money was paid online, so there is no way. I discussed with the hotel and agreed that if there is a favorable wind boat when leaving the island, they will help coordinate. But the hotel charged me 450 Malaysian ringgits for the charter boat before I went to the island. When I was leaving the island, a guest from the same hotel had already chartered a boat, 2 hours earlier than my original time. I negotiated with the guest directly, and they agreed to let me take the boat, so that I could cancel my original boat, but the hotel refused to agree. This is such a poor service attitude, they only care about making money!

The room facilities are average and the hygiene is average, but the scenery is great. It is on Mabu Island

The staff is hospitable, the environment is too poor, not worth recommending

Very bad. The room is hard to describe.

Simple, barely liveable. The price is very expensive. Not worth it at all.

My sister and I went to Mabul for three nights, and we didn't ecpect to much because of the reviews we read before. The rooms are indeed simple, showering wasn't possible the whole day, same with electricity. The food is mostly the same everyday. But honestly we had a wonderful, heartwarming time. The family and Divemasters are so lovely and caring, in the evening we sang together while some are playing the guitar. It was great! Also the Diving was incredible, I did my AOWD with Billy, and couldn't ask for a better instructor. We were really sad to leave and hope to come back again soon. Thanks for everything, we will definetly never forget.

After reading previous reviews I was slightly nervous for my time at Mabul Backpackers, however I couldn’t have been proven more wrong. I had the best time here, was fed three meals a day and the owner made sure we had a room opposite the ocean (even though we paid for a dorm) for no extra cost. The vibe here was just on point that I ended up extending my stay by 4 days and completing my open water. Was so reasonably priced compare to other places i looked into in south east Asia and the dive master acted so professional, he stayed with my friend and I way past work hours to make sure we understood the course/ requirements to past the test. I never had a problem with the gear the week I was here and can honestly say this was one of my favourite experiences during my 7 months in South East Asia.

We appreciated the vibe of this place and the kindness of people working there. They are also very flexible and there fore sometimes the boats are not that much on time. Overall, absolutely recommended. There are different types of rooms for every budget.

Mabul Backpackers is by far one of the most special places I have ever stayed in my life. If you’re a germaphobe and like to stick to strict time schedules then it’s not for you. But I can’t recommend it enough. I did both my advanced open water and lots of fun dives there - the reefs are absolutely stunning. After a morning dive you’re greeted home by grinning staff and you eat delicious food in great company. After an afternoon dive you can finish the day swimming with turtles right on your doorstep, and surface to card games, karaoke, and drinks with anyone and everyone. I wouldn’t be doing this review justice if I didn’t mention my instructor, Billy. Not only was he a total professional, but he allowed me - at first a nervous diver - to become a more confident and happy diver that I ever thought I could be. I loved diving with Billy - he made me feel totally safe, he made everything so much fun, and he was amazing at pointing out even the tiniest of fish! Mabul backpackers is a tiny slice of heaven - whether you’re travelling alone or with friends, it’s totally magic. If you’re reading this Billy, you’re awesome! 🤙🏽

It is a quite inexpensive accommodation compared to the other options on this island, but a bit more invest in service and the food would be necessary. Breakfast, lunch and dinner do not vary much (all 3 days more or less the same). The brooms are not lockable (but it is safe) and the water from the shower is running down directly into the ocean. The staff is nice, but the service could be better (basics like checking toilet paper or emptying the waste bins). Relaxed atmosphere is a plus.

We booked a 3-day, 2-nights all inclusive diving package during which we stayed in a 6-person dorm. I usually don’t easily give a rating below 4 stars, but the totality of the experience was disappointing. Every day was a bit of chaos to find the right dive equipment. The equipment was quite old and not very well taken care of. There were also not a lot of different sizes for BCDs and wetsuits. Leaking equipment was also guaranteed. Staff was also not most helpful in this chaos. Due to the price, we did not go to Sipadan. The dives around Mabul were nice, but not more extraordinary than what we have seen in Thailand for example. There’s also often a lot of current (but this could of course differ by the season). We mostly saw turtles, blue dotted stingrays, flathead crocodile fish, clownfish, some cuttlefish and eel. We did one of our dives with divemaster Billy, who was really friendly and great to dive with. Food was the same every day for dinner and lunch, so you got quite bored of it. Also vegetarians would not have a very varied menu (plain rice + 1 type of vegetable). The room fell far below expectations. The room itself and the beds were old and dirty. We saw the staff just pull the sheets tight after the previous guest instead of changing the linens. The bed was full of ants. We had to ask multiple times for towels, which ended up to be rather dirty as well. Even if taking a private room with airconditioning and private bathroom, I would probably not book here due to the lower level of professionalism by the staff. Irrespective of where you stay, be prepared to see a very dirty island: beaches are full of old clothes, plastic and other trash.