Kapalai Dive Resort

Want to experience the beauty of Maldives but have a limited budget? Kapalai Dive Resort is one of the alternative places you could consider. It is an island located in Sabah, Malaysia and is known for its Scuba diving resort.

People mainly go there for snorkelling and diving. For those interested in diving but do not know how to, you can also take up PADI diving course that's available there.

I went there early June this year for a 5 days 4 night trip with my family members and some family friends. It was amazing as it's a chance to unwind and get disconnected from the world as no Wi-Fi was available on the island. To get to the island, you would have to take a boat from the jetty.

When we arrived at the resort, the staff welcomed us with hot towels and escorted us to the dining hall. They brief us on things we can do in the resort and handed out forms for us to fill in. They told us to take note of the serving time for the three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) as it is served in buffet style in the dinning hall. There is also snacks and bread available 24-hours so we don't have to worry about being hungry. After all the paperwork was done, we have lunch while waiting for our rooms to be ready. After lunch, our rooms were ready and we went to our rooms.

Exterior of our room

Those taking the diving courses started their lessons while the rest of us rested in the room. I didn't get to snorkel on the first day as it started to rain in the late afternoon. However, I managed to see some sea turtles from the balcony of my room.

Can you spot the turtle?

On the second day, some of us signed up for a short day trip to the neighbouring Sipadan-Mabul Resort. There were 2 "tour guides" that brought us there. We tour around the resort for a few hours and went back to our resort.

On the third and forth day, I went snorkelling. Basically, my daily routine was to eat, sleep and snorkel for the next two days hahaha. I got so tanned from all the snorkelling I've done. It was really beautiful underwater. I saw many fishes, starfish and sea cucumber. I even managed to see a moray eel! Below are some pictures that I have taken while snorkelling. Spot the moray eel in one of the pictures.

Starfish

If you do not have snorkelling equipment, fret not as you can rent the snorkelling equipment for free at the dive centre. Other than snorkelling, you can also rent kayaking equipment. However, it is chargeable for the kayaking equipment. The people at the dive centre were really friendly and welcoming.

On our third night there, a few of us were chilling in the dining hall when suddenly, we were asked to be quarantined there. We were surprised and wondered what was happening. We later found out that they were on a high alert for pirates. We asked if we could return to room and they allowed as the "red zone" were at back of the resort and our rooms were near the dining hall. While walking back to our rooms, we noticed that there were many military people patrolling. On normal days, there would be a few military people patrolling the area, but on that night, more of them were present. Luckily, nothing bad happened and everything was resumed back to normal the next day. I guess they were just being cautious which is a good thing as I know that I would be safe in the area.

On the last day, I went to the man-made sand beach in the resort. It is good for chilling and suntanning while enjoying the view. It is also perfect to take your Instagram pictures there.

Took a couple of pictures there, had lunch and it was time to head back to mainland. It was a great experience and I enjoyed myself a lot there!