Korean Job Discussion Forums

nomad-ish · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 8:59 pm Post subject: Borneo help!

alright, so i'm planning to visit malaysian borneo, both sarawak and sabah. right now i'm debating the best way to get to semporna in sabah (a great diving spot). i'm coming from miri in sarawak. i was looking at flights, but it appears i have to first fly to kota kinabalu then tawau then drive to semporna.

has anyone seen a long distance bus in malaysian borneo? i've found a bus that goes from kota kinabalu right to semporna, but it's 8-10 hours long. i've done an overnight 12 hour bus before, but it was a nice kind of bus, you know what i mean. any suggestions?

also, does anyone know of an iban homestay close to kuching?

Enigma · Joined: 20 Mar 2008

I was just in Sabah in August and had a fantastic time. I really wanted to go diving at Semporna, but I decided to skip it because I didn't have enough time.
I flew in and out of KK and caught a flight to Sandakan when I first arrived and then made my way back to KK by bus. I took 2 different buses, and both of them were quite comfortable, with TVs showing crappy Asian movies.
The scenery through the mountains around Mount Kinabalu is nice, but down around Sandakan and further south, the roads were lined with palm plantations as far as the eye could see. I would recommend checking Air Asia, Malaysian Air and MASwings (Malaysian Air's discount arm) for the flights you mentioned (Miri=>KK=>Tawau).

prideofidaho · Joined: 19 Mar 2008

I took public transit from Sandakan to Semporna last month and the roads are fantastic, no problems whatsoever. I'm planning on taking the KK bus in December. I can't imagine it would be so bad. I the problem with getting a bus that goes from Miri to Semporna is that it would have to cover a lot of territory that isn't terribly inhabited, or go through Brunei to get to KK.

Are you going to Gunung Mulu or the Kelabits? You can easily get to either of those places by plane (MAS wings) from Miri, then get flights from Mulu or Bario to KK, then take the bus to Semporna. I'd recommend stopping at Kinabatangan river along the way (take the bus from KK to Sandakan). It's a lovely place to possibly see some wild orang utans. I stayed at Uncle Tan's and it was super.

Hope this helps. I'm in Kalimantan right now and the transport is a thousand times worse than Malaysian Borneo.

And if you're diving Sipadan make sure you book in advance. I wasn't able to in late October, hence returning in December.

AustSaint · Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Location: Yongmun

I have the guidebook if you want it?. I only did Kota Kinabalu and around that area, very beautiful and interesting.

nomad-ish · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 4:28 pm Post subject:

prideofidaho · Joined: 19 Mar 2008

When I was there in late Semptember, the closest available booking was five days away. I didn't want to stay so I made a booking for mid-
December. At that time, they could only offer December 16th as their latest date - everything else was booked up for the xmas / new years holiday (this was through scuba junkies - though there are many diveshops to chose from.

Sipadan only provides about 100 permits per day for diving, and they're divided up between the diveshops, and since some are busier than others you can probably find a last-minute permit (cancellations). I just wouldn't want to be disappointed. We wound up diving on Mabul, and while it was nice enough, we aren't really into nudibranches and pygmy seahorses.

DeMayonnaise · Joined: 02 Nov 2008

I booked a trip to Semporna this winter, and we're flying from KK to Tawau. What days you going to be there? We're staying at Billabong scuba on Mabul.