I stayed at Kapalai 14 - 18 March 2008. 5 days is not enough and the resort is fantastic. It's a diver's paradise! One is spoilt rotten. Everything is taken care of - all you need to do is show up for your dives.

There are 3 boat dives a day and unlimited pier dives at the resort. Everything is very well organised.The dive masters are GREAT. I was a bit unsure on my first day since I haven't dived for a few years - I got one-on-one sessions with the dive masters and couldn't get enough of diving by the 2nd/3rd day. I loved it and wished i stayed longer. Meet a guy who stayed there for 3 weeks and wanted to further extend his stay! Many who were there wished they had more time there to

Kapalai resort is the only eco friendly resort at Sipadan. They invest a lot in their water treatment and are serious about conservation. Rubbish is taken back to the mainland for disposal unlike many who just throw it back into the sea. They do a lot to conserve the marine life. For more info on the resort besides their website see www.downbelow.co.uk

The staff can't do enough to help and make my stay comfortable. Very friendly! Food's good. I travelled on my own and had a blast! The resort will pair you up with another traveller (same gender) if you don't want to pay for a single supplement.

I would definitely return!

I see some people complain about the service and the ammenities of the resort. I don't know what they are expecting when they go to a dive resort in the middle of the ocean. This place is all about diving. I found the dive master to be very helpful and excited in locating the critters we wanted to find. They found everything we were looking for from the ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish to the impossible to see pygmy seahorses. The diving was simply amazing especially if you like looking for little critters. I actually preferred diving in the sand looking for the little things. The diving on the house reef was great, you just have to slow down and keep your eyes open. We chose to do the early boat dives that left the resort at 5:30 AM so we could get 5 dives a day in. 28 dives for the week. Water was 82 degrees farenheit.

From an American stand point, the only thing I tend to agree with from other reviews is the food got a little old. I'm not used to eating fish and rice for every meal. They did bbq for dinner a couple nights and that was good. Breakfast they served eggs and waffles. Food was edible but nothing spectacular. Safety was not a concern anywhere in Malaysia.
Rooms were beautiful. I loved going to sleep to the sound of the water. The rooms made it seem like you had your own personal fish tank. The walk to the restaurant was maybe 5 minutes but often took us 15 to 20 because we were always stopping to look at the fish and coral. Overall it was an awesome trip. If it wasn't so far I would go back every year.

We stayed at Kapalai in December on our first ever diving trip. And what diving! Being complete novices, having completed our Open Water course in a freezing, flooded quarry in Lancashire in late November the seas around Kapalai and Sipadan were like bathwater! The marine life was breathtaking. We didn't see much big stuff but that didn't matter given the number of turtles, sharks, barracuda etc that we saw. The best dive we had was off the coral garden on Sipadan. Just drifting on the current at about 8 metres with thousands of fish and coral of such beautiful colours - superb. Thanks to Alvin and George for taking us there.

Kapalai itself is quite superb. The setting is near perfect and we were lucky that the weather was pretty good too, despite it being monsoon season. Be warned, from November until March it can get very wet, very quickly. The rooms are wonderful, the dive centre well-equipped and reasonably priced, the dive crew were fantastic (I couldn't believe that we never had to gear up properly the entire time - all the kit was pre-prepared!), the dive masters were good - although there was some irresponsible diving as people went off on their own - and the overall ambience was relaxed.

The only issue we had was with the food. Whilst it was plentiful it was rather like school dinners, Chinese-style. If that floats your boat then you'll love it. It didn't help that I was made really ill after eating a dodgy prawn from the BBQ on our first night and ended up missing three dives. It did put the dampners on the stay and I hardly ate another thing. However, that can happen anywhere and I must make it clear that the rest of the resort is quite wonderful. If only they could cater for more diverse culinary tastes it would be truly perfect.

The resort itself is fascinating and quite worth exploring. Apparanently they recycle their own sewage, grow their own crops and are building an artificial island. Security is everywhere but quite unobtrusive. The FCO site will tell you to stay clear but we felt quite safe with the military presence both at Kapalai and at Sipadan - even if the soldiers do look about 16 years old! If somebody does want to try to kidnap tourists they'll face pretty stiff resistance.

Overall the place is excellent and well worth styaing at if you want to dive Sipadan. The transfers are quick and efficient and the resort is very well run. Highly recommended.

The location is fabulous, like staying in the middle of the ocean. It is a live aboard with out the seasickness! Only drawback were the mediocre food and high priced internet, but the rooms, transport, diving, scenery, and value for money were terrific. I would go there again, even though it took 24 hours to get there :)