Floating Semporna

Day 2 – 5 August 2011 / 1 Night

The Express Bus that we took from Tawau reached Semporna at about 4pm.

Harish and Rishi in Semporna town

Semporna is a town located in Tawau Division in the east coast of Sabah. It is located at the tip of Semporna Peninsula, and is visited by tourists as a base for scuba diving or snorkeling trips to the nearby islands off Semporna. The island that is most popular is of course Pulau Sipadan (Sipadan Island), said to be one of the top rated dive destinations in the world. Others are Pulau Mabul, Pulau Kapalai and Pulau Mataking.

Semporna town

Upon arrival in what looked like a run-down town, we took a long walk looking for one of the famous floating chalet in Semporna. As we were all much in need of a drink, we stopped for tea at a Mamak Restaurant (Indian Muslim). A plate of Mee Goreng cost us RM6! The town of Semporna is frequented by foreigners (especially Caucasians) on their way to the islands. So we were charged foreigner price.

The floating chalets of Semporna

We checked in at the Floating Chalet for a night stay a RM77. The chalet stood on stilts over the water. In fact, stilt houses are very common in Semporna. The majority of the Bajau people (locals) live in stilt villages on the outskirts of town. These Sea Bajaus are expert fishermen and boatmakers.

The room came with a Queen Bed, breakfast for two and an attached bathroom.

The boys in love with the room..they could see the ocean thru the cracks on the wood flooring

Guests can also visit the Semporna Ocean Aquarium for free, which we did. We walked on boardwalks and sat on the many benches and watched the sunset.

At the Semporna Ocean Aquarium

The bathroom was unique as the water from the shower went straight into the ocean below through the cracks. I did enquire if it’s the same with the toilets and the hotel staff assured us that toilets are connected with pipes to an underwater tank and these tanks are cleared once full.

We all liked this place as it felt so exotic like staying in a longhouse, where everything is connected in a bunch of zig zagging maze.

N outside our chalet

Me attempting a nice shot

A panoramic view of the floating chalets

N especially liked the bathroom as it was outside the room but still inside our unit; and very cowboy-styled; the top and bottom part of the door is bare, and everything is made of wood. It came with hot shower and a huge red container.

We also booked an Island Package for the next day for RM480. Yes, very expensive right? But it seems this is the cheapest of them all. The package included a return boat transfer at RM100 per adult and RM50 per child, an overnight stay in Mabul Island including 3 meals a day for RM60 per adult and RM30 per child and 2 snorkelling/diving trips per day. The boat transfer cost us RM300 and the board/lodge RM180.

The boats docked just outside our chalet

The boys had fun peeping through the gaps on the floor to see the ocean and fish underneath. We saw many fishermen boats in the sea and some had family units living in the boats. Were these people homeless, it looked as though the women were fetching their husbands after work by boat?

Harish against the sunset

After settling in, we took a long walk into Semporna town for dinner and as it was Ramadhan, many market stalls were visible. Food bazaars, roadside stalls selling vegetables, and small shacks selling Indonesian products. The ‘tamu’ or 'pasar’ (markets) were everywhere and jamming up the roads.

Rishi at the Pasar Tamu (Market Bazaar)

Night vegetable market

We couldn’t find any decent place to eat so we ended up at the Mamak Restaurant again. We packed ‘roti telur’ at RM2 each and headed back to the chalet. That night, the four of us shared one bed and cosily curled up as it rained heavily throughout the night.

A view during sunset

We could the boats leaving to the islands from our chalet



The one at the corner was our room



I liked the concept of stilt houses, villages, chalets and resorts in Semporna. This is a heritage of the Bajau community.

There is something else I noted, the foreigners (whites) in Semporna like to keep close to their own kind. Even to have an eye contact may be difficult. Its like I just want to do my own thing and get going. There was one guy sitting right next to our table who was so immersed in his laptop. never did he even look our way. The only time he did look was when the boys got a little noisy to his taste. I find this very rude, you come to a foreign land, you get away with all that's cheap, have your holiday, see our reefs and corals, but you don't want nothing to do with the locals. Like you are so wary of them. I saw this same behaviour in Mabul Island.  And I always had the impression that the Caucasians were the friendlier lots.


Some tips :-


1. Like Tawau, everything you need in Semporna is just a walk away.


2. You may not find that many restaurants or fast food outlets, but they are there, just look for them


3. Be prepared for a lesser clean town, as we saw rubbish strewn roads, pavements at many places


4. Be warned of spits, as in saliva...I have another update on this in my 'Spitful Semporna' story



5. Nearing the dock, is where the whites/foreigners hang out and there are special food outlets catering to them, so if you were to patronise these food outlets, you may end up paying their price.

All photos are copyrighted. I can be reached at sivakay2009@gmail.com.