Mabul Paradise Lodge

Cons: The place is run down, but the prices are high. You won't be able to dive into the water, unless you wish to swim amongst human droppings and rubbish. Besides, forget about sea life, there's very little unless you how a boat trip to go beyond the ref edge. The place is in real need of cleansing and maintenance. The food is poor, same thing meal after meal, and even if you request fruit or an egg you'll have to keep asking for it on every meal (it seems you have to beg for it). The island is full of dirty run down shacks, noisy generators and burning trash piles everywhere. Pros: They invited us to seafood one night and upgraded us to the VIP room (which would actually be equivalent to a 3 star world class). Sipadan reef is pretty well conserved, but extremely expensive and I'd recommend staying at Semporna or similar and hiring the trip from there (it's so expensive to stay in Mabul you will end up saving).

May 2025

Here it is important to highlight and separate. We must separate the environment, from the accommodation, from the service provided... The environment. It's absolutely wonderful. I really think it's one of the best places I've ever visited in my life. The island is a little piece of heaven. The crystal clear waters full of all kinds of fish, starfish and dozens of turtles!!! It's really incredible The accommodation. We were in one of the 3 VIP rooms (in the one facing the sea). Very very correct room. Nothing super luxurious. All very functional. That's right, some moisture stains on the roof... but thanks to my control of expectations it didn't seem so horrible to me assuming that I was looking at the incredible turquoise sea and not at the ceiling. If I had to say something to improve urgently, it would be the air conditioning. Only after all day working and already at night could the air conditioning win the battle against the heat. It was shown every day as very insufficient. The service. Here friend is where you will find all the disappointments. Non-existent service. It gives the whole feeling that they are forgiving you something that you owent them for decades. They have no care, care or kindness towards customers. And the worst comes now... even when we were the only customers (as was the case on the first day). Mr. David (head of the establishment) really showed a carefreeness and lack of attention / empathy / love for his work each and every one of the minutes that we interacted. And as a culmination, it would be time to talk about the food. It represents that it is included (or at least that's what they tell you). What they tell you is that during your entire stay lunch and dinner will be exclusive boiled rice, boiled vegetables, spicy chicken neck and some very dry fish full of thorns. And here comes the pain. Every time we looked if something had changed... having the misfortune on the first day of not having caution and not having a plan that we had to try... we left without dinner. And in fact that was the first and only time we made the attempt. The rest of the lunches and dinners were made outside the accommodation. Luckily, right behind there was a cabin that made some hamburgers that, being fair, would not be the best of my life, but that these days I have valued as if Ronald McDonald himself had cooked them for me!!! And finally. The transfer from Semporna to Mabul. The trip was correct. They picked us up in SEMPORNA next to their offices and took us to the hotel. All normal without setbacks or anything to highlight. But the return was epic. Halfway they tell us that they are going to leave us halfway in a town and that a driver will pick us up there and take us to Semporna. The idea didn't sound bad either... yes... once you get to the "pier" of the town... everything becomes a worthy test of the Hunger Games. A pier 2 meters high from the boat... you have to climb and when you are up you have to jump from lama to lama avoiding falling into the sea again, while you avoid rotten planks that do not give any guarantee ... and all that with the suitcase in tow. Really. Desicable! Very dangerous!!!! So, I'll summarize the experience. Island. Wonderful. Accommodation. Correct Service. Nonexistent Food: the worst. Routes: one way ok. Return worthy of a scary movie In short, the place (island) is wonderful. Of course, be careful to tie your expectations very well and be prepared so that with very little you say "well it's not so bad..."

Dec 2024

We got a standard room which was a collapsing room Dirty towels Collapsing ceiling where rains inside Cockroaches coming from the tubes of the bathroom Yellow water and shower working very bad Noise from the generator all day all night Poor communication w staff Poor and repetitive Chinese food Tried to charge us of a snorkeling trip already paid in advance as the whole stay w packages for Sipadan and Mabul snorkeling. In the end we agreed to don’t pay the boat transfer. Still consider if you really want to go in a place with no maintenance and offer a room like this for 70€ a night

Aug 2024