Arriving by boat from Manado to a large, fixed pier, guests are greeted by uniformed staff and cheerfully guided to your room through the Gangga Resort set on a flat sandy island. A walk past the dive center and camera room, leads to the main complex open-air reception, lounge, bar (open from 6.30 am) and restaurant overlooking a beautiful infinity pool. Plan to spend any afternoon free time keeping cool in the pool or in your AC bungalow as it can get quite hot.

Spread out along a meandering path, which looked a bit dry with not much green landscaping as other tropical resorts, accommodation is in air-conditioned duplex beachfront bungalows, each with an outdoor day bed and own beach cabana. The rooms are large with every amenity (except WIFI) TV’s, satellite channels, mini-bar, tea and coffee station, water dispensers, bathrobes, and toiletries.

The dining was a highlight, with full service, white tablecloths, and excellent quality meals. On arrival for lunch and dinner, you are greeted and place your order from a menu board of the day with an appetiser, first course, and a choice of 3 main courses and 2 desserts (or ice cream). It really was too much! Breakfast was an extensive buffet with eggs cooked to order. Lunch had mostly western food options and dinner had both local and western choices. Afternoon tea and coffee was served by the pool with a selection of local snacks.

The resort had more snorkellers than divers during my visit and the dive sites were chosen with the snorkellers in mind, so I passed on the 2-tank morning dive and was pleasantly surprised by an afternoon boat dive on the house reef as the only diver. The morning dives from Gangga tend to go to the better Bangka sites.

The boats are comfortable, with a snack and hot beverages between dives, plenty of water and towels provided. On the next days' morning dive were 2 guides for 6 divers and no snorkelers. The normal ratio is 1:4 and my guide was excellent at spotting macro on one of my favourite sites of the trip. The entry was a backward roll and a good ladder was provided to get back on board.

Following my dives I was efficiently transferred to another Bangka resort, so I never even had to repack my dive gear.

We last visited Walindi Plantation Resort over 30 years ago and it is still charming and welcoming by the same family that established the resort.

After a 1-hour Air Niugini flight from Port Moresby to Hoskins and a 50 minute drive, Walindi emerges out of the rainforest. The shore is lined with enormous fig trees and its grounds are lush but tamed by their busy team of landscapers.

12 standalone bungalows with verandas face the sea, providing cooling breezes that supplement the ceiling fans. Rooms are fitted out with comfortable queen or twin beds, ensuite bathroom, tea and coffee station, wardrobe storage and long benchtops. There are also 2 groups of 4 Plantation rooms, smaller but similar style a bit further along the level garden path. These have shared walls and verandas.

The main house has been renovated, overlooking a new infinity pool and Kimbe Bay beyond.
Reception, bar, lounge, boutique, outdoor dining and an indoor airconditioned lounge and dining area make up the complex, where the resort’s WIFI can be used in a pleasant ambience.

A continental breakfast buffet is served indoors, and eggs or pancakes are cooked to order. Brewed local coffee is excellent and available all day.

An a la carte lunch menu is available for those not diving, while the divers have a simple lunch spread on the dive boat.

The generous and tasty dinner buffet was presented outside, usually starting with a soup and bread course. There were a variety of protein choices and different flavours each night, including a beautifully presented whole fish, expertly boned and portioned, with plenty of vegetables and salad. Highly anticipated was the dessert of the night, always accompanied by fresh fruit salad and good quality vanilla ice cream.

Walindi has a large dive operation, as well as being the home port for the MV FeBrina and MV Oceania liveaboards. The dive centre also houses a lockable camera room with several charging stations.

There are 3 sized (S, M & L) dive boats tied up to the jetty which is aligned alongside a natural stream providing a calm area to load up gear, provisions and divers. At 7.45 am divers meet to check their gear already set up on a tank and Nitrox % before it is loaded onto their assigned boat, with their own crate of fins & mask etc. It is a somewhat meticulously guided process.

The plan for the day is made in consultation with divers before dinner the previous night. Either 2 or 3 dives are planned out, with a preference for 3 dives if the boat is travelling to more distant dive sites. With groups and individual divers arriving every day, it is a quite the challenge to optimise diver preferences, sites, and boats to everyone’s satisfaction.

The 2 larger boats were roomy and comfortable with good sun and rain shelter. There is plenty of water, tea or instant coffee, fruit, cookies, a picnic lunch, and a towel each on board. There were 1 or 2 freshwater crates for cameras. Smoking is allowed on the top deck of the boat and unfortunately can filter down into the cabin.

Divers stepped off the back of the boats into the water and cameras were passed in. There was a good ladder to get back in the boat. Dive guide to guest ratio was 1:2-4; or a group of 8 would have a guide in the lead and tail. They were very observant of diver NDL, and air consumption and adjusted groups so similar profile divers were together.
The guides knew the sites well and were very good spotters of both large and small marine life.

See my review of our PNG Diving for more about the diving in Kimbe Bay.

Sipadan Island is highly prized marine sanctuary and therefore very regulated by Malaysian authorities. Where there used to be accommodations, is now a ranger station, day-use pavilions and facilities on the North side of the island. Divers must be certified to advanced open water level and both qualification cards and passports are checked by the rangers each day before being allowed to dive. They are strict about no-touch of anything, even the sand, and there are fines if you are observed and photographed by the rangers that can just appear like any other diver in the water.

Daily, 20-30 boats with up to 257 permits for divers and their guides diving a maximum of 2 dives per day would seem to put some pressure on the marine environment. The resident schools of jacks and bump headed parrot fish did not seem to mind, but the barracuda schools kept away from larger groups and seem to be seen only by smaller groups of 2 - 3 divers.

Depending on the tide and current, most of the dives are at the South point or Barracuda Point on the north side, with boat drops hopefully in the direction of the current, so you will drift along a wall, past colourful corals, fans and sponges and encounter many turtles and occasional sharks until you meet up with the resident schools of Jacks at South point, or Bumpheads at Barracuda point, or sometimes you will see the schools shortly after entering the water and then continue along the wall for the rest of the dive.

On the days you do not have a permit to dive Sipadan, resorts take divers to Mabul, Kapalai and Seaventures Rig for dives. Our favourite was the Kapalai house reef, with many old house frames encrusted with corals making homes for nudibranchs, frog fish and other juvenile species.

The setting for the Sipadan Water Village or SWV as they are known, is all over-water. The nicely appointed bungalows, reception, dive center and restaurant are connected by a series of boardwalks and all enjoy a refreshing ambiance and cooling breeze. The most outstanding quality we encountered was the professional and friendly hospitality of their well-trained staff who are very attuned to the needs of the guests, from the transport, concierge, reception, restaurant and dive centre.

Our over-water bungalow was large, with a huge sea-facing deck, and offered AC, which we did not need. The only downside was the long walk to the dive center, especially when carrying a big camera. Wifi was only available at Reception, which was the center node also housing the bar and jars of fresh baked cookies. The restaurant was nearby and we had a water-side table for most meals. Meals were served buffet style, with eggs cooked to order at breakfast. Plenty of fresh fruit and salads and multiple tasty protein choices including vegetarian, shellfish and crab.

On arrival at the resort, Manny from the dive team provided an orientation and offered a check out dive on their house reef. We were tired from diving Sipadan that morning, so unfortunately missed that dive. But we were given a thorough tour and explanation of dive and gear organisation for our dives the next day. The dive center has a coffee and snack station, also providing water fillls and fresh towels for the boat each day. We set up our gear ready for the early start to Sipadan.

Our dive guide the next morning was Manny again, and with only 4 divers and a guide it was a fast and comfortable trip to Sipadan and nice to dive with such a small group and competent guide. The surface interval between dives was spent at the island where sheltered picnic tables, and shower and restrooms facilities are available. Depending on the dive schedule, we either had breakfast or lunch provided by the resort on the island. We were lucky to have 3 dives at Sipadan that day because our fellow divers had booked prior to the change to the current maximum of 2 dives per day, so it was a long day before returning to the resort, having seen the resident schools of jacks and bump headed parrot fish, and plenty of turtles. The barracuda were elusive, seeming to avoid the crowds, as there are 257 permits for divers every day.

The next day we did local dives around Mabul and Kapalai, with the Kapalai house reef being a trip favourite. We had a different guide who was a great spotter of frog fish and nudis.

We left SWV very satisfied with the whole experience and would not hesitate to recommend it for your stay in Mabul.