Semporna

It’s not a place that you can write much about however it is a starting point for Sipadan and Mabul diving. It is also quite characteristic place so I decided to show pictures taken there. The city seems quite uncared, sometimes people look at tourists in unpleasant way, no wonder, you can feel that it’s the poorest region of Malysia. Europeans that come for diving must look very rich. Nevertheless if you look around or need something help will come right away. A man from other bus lines explained us in details how to get to our operator, then while I was exploring the city with camera he saw me and ensured that we found the bus. You don’t miss the kindness in Asia.

How to get to Semporna?

You can get to Semporna easily from Tawau or Kota Kinabalu. Both have good and cheap connections with Kuala Lumpur. It takes about one hour from Tawau. You can catch taxi or get a transport from chosen hostel or resort, sometimes it is included in the price of diving package. Public transport takes about two hours. Flight is the best option to get from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau but if you wish to go by bus then reserve about ten hours for the journey. The bus leaves daily at 7:30 and 19:30 from Kota Kinabalu Bus terminal, cost is about 75 RM. You can also go from Sandakan – we took this route reversed. Bus driver had no problem to drop us near Sepilok which is on the way. The bus leaves daily from Sandakan at 7:30 and 14:00 and the journey takes up to six hours, we pay 40 RM.