MALAYSIAlonelyplanet.com MALAYSIAN BORNEO – SABAH •• Semporna
you’re trying to fall asleep, except that at
Danum, you get to see the animals too.
An outpost for scientists and research-
ers, the Danum Valley Field Centre (%089-
880441, 088-326318) also welcomes tourists.
Accommodation at the centre is organised
into three categories: hostel, rest house and
VIP. We recommend the rest house rooms,
which are located at arm’s length from
the canteen (the only place to eat). These
rooms are basic but clean, sporting ceiling
fans and twin beds. Towels are provided
for the cold-water showers. The simple
hostel is about a seven-minute walk from
the canteen, and the barrack-style rooms
are separated by gender. All buildings at
the field centre run on generated power,
which shuts off between midnight and 7am.
There are no professionally trained guides
at the centre – only rangers who can show
you the trails. Tourists take their meals in
the cafeteria-style canteen (vegie friendly).
Room and board deals start at around
RM155 per night (for a room in the rest
house). Transportation is RM60 per person
each way – ask about all-inclusive packages
for discounts.
Tourists must board one of the two jungle
-bound vans that leave the booking office
in Lahad Datu at 3.30pm on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays. The vans re-
turn to Lahad Datu from the field centre
at 8.30am on the same days. There are 12
seats in each van and this is the only way to
reach the centre unless you charter a pricey
private vehicle.
SEMPORNA
pop 133,000
Semporna is the kind of town that makes
tourists want to swear – especially if they’re
travelling on a tight schedule. As your
bumpy ride trundles into this sleepy burg,
you’ll quickly realise that you haven’t reached
your oceanic Eden just yet. Semporna is one
of those necessary evils – a lacklustre layover
that’ll snag you for a night on your way to
the Semporna Archipelago.
‘Diving’ is the answer tourists provide when
someone asks them why they’re in Semporna,
and ‘Sipadan’ is the answer to ‘where do you
want to dive?’ Scuba is the town’s lifeline, and
there’s no shortage of places to sign up for some
serious bubble blowing. Operators ( p506 ) are
clustered around the Semporna Seafront, a
newer neighbourhood near the Dragon Inn,
while other companies have offices in KK.Sleeping
Semporna is no great shakes, but the town
offers a lot of passable options at the low end
of the budget spectrum. If you’ve already
signed up with a scuba operator ask them
about sleeping discounts (and don’t be shy
about trying to finagle a good deal, especially
if you’re sticking around for a while).
Try one of the following options:
Dragon Inn (Rumah Rehat Naga; %089-781088; www
.dragoninnfloating.com.my; 1 Jln Kastam; dm RM15-20, r
incl breakfast RM66-88; ai) Long rows of dark rooms
sit on stilts above the greenish tidewater at the far corner
of the town’s dive-centric district. The tiki-chic vibe kind
of falls flat...
Borneo Global Sipadan BackPackers (%089-
785088; [email protected]; Jln Causeway; dm/tr incl
breakfast RM22/90; a) Dozens of dorm beds.
Scuba Junkie Backpackers (%089-785372; www
.scuba-junkie.com; Block B, Lot 36, Semporna Seafront;
dm/r incl breakfast RM30/80; a) Sociable spot offering
50% discounts for divers.
Sipadan Inn (%089-782766; http://www.sipadan-inn.com;
Block D, Semporna Seafront; r incl breakfast RM84; a)
Spotless rooms are light on decor. A better deal than
Dragon Inn’s RM88 rooms.Getting There & Away
The advent of uber-cheap airfares has made
Semporna easily accessible from both KK and
KL. Planes land at Tawau Airport, roughly an
hour’s drive from town. Tawau–Semporna
buses (RM15) will stop at the airport if you ask
the driver. Buses that do not stop at the airport
will let you off at Mile 28, where you will have
to walk a few kilometres to the terminal. Note
that flying less than 24 hours after diving can
cause serious health issues, even death.
The bus ‘terminal’ hovers around the
Milimewa supermarket not too far from the
mosque’s looming minaret. Morning and
night buses to Kota Kinabalu (RM50, nine
hours) leave around 7am or 7pm. Minivans
to/from Tawau (RM10 to RM15, 1½ hours),
Lahad Datu (RM20 to RM25, 2½ hours) and
Sandakan (RM35 to RM40, 5½ hours) arrive
and depart around the grocery store area as
well. All run from early morning until 4pm.SEMPORNA ARCHIPELAGO
The stunning islets of the Semporna
Archipelago freckle the cerulean sea like a505