staff is amazingly friendly, safe and clean location, dove sipadan several times but truthfully enjoyed the other islands more, sipadan seemed a bit too hyped, the house reef is great for diving or snorkeling

Stayed a night in Tawau before they picked me up for a 2hrs journey to Semporna. After waiting for a short while, we were transferred to a boat to the resort.
We were greeted by the cheerful team of staff at the jetty. We were briefed on the procedures after formalities. Every bungalow consists of 2 units. Room is of good size and bed is comfortable. Bring your own toiletries eg shampoo shower gel.
Free WIFI is available at the lobby. Food quality is average, buffet style. If you have a special occasion eg birthday or clocked a certain number of dives, the staff will be happy to celebrate with a nice cake and songs!
Resort has a pool and located next to villages. Dive centre is located on its private jetty and is spacious. It has a cafe and its a lovely place to enjoy sexy sunset with beer after a long of diving.
Got 2 days of diving permit in Sipidan. Green turtles are almost guaranteed in every dive there. Visibility is not that good despite the good weather. Can be cold in the wall area due to the depth. Variety of fishes and quantity not the best in this region. Unfortunately dive guides there are not fantastic. I do not think we were brought to the best dive site on the island. Sadly below expectation. Variety of fishes and quantity is definately not the best I have seen in this region. Mabul offers a different sights in diving.
There are 2 transfers between the resort and Tawau so its convenient to connect to your flight.

We were picked up from our hotel in Tawau in a very comfortable AC bus. The driver was on time and really helpful.

We arrived in Semporna and were shown to the little transfer office. Our bags etc were transferred for us with no hassle.

The boat over was comfortable and quick.

When we arrived the weather was bad. We were met at the jetty by several BDMR staff with umbrellas and shown through to the dive centre (which was on the large jetty - more later). After showing us round and introducing us to the various people who would be looking after us we proceeded to checkin where we were treated very well. The rep/divemaster filled us in on all the do s and donts in a quick, efficient way. We then did the usual Diving disclaimers and paperwork etc which took 5 mins all with a drink ready for us on arrival.

The room - big. spacious. clean. dated. In definite need of a lick of paint. (This is something the management are aware of and are in the process of sorting it (I am told))

Bathroom - clean. shower is hot and is a little weak but not really an issue.

Pool - decent size. Cleaned daily. Really nice to sit in after a day's diving.

Food - ranged from above average to Excellent. Plenty of choice. The BBQ on the beach is excellent.

The Dive Centre - Excellent. Loads of space to wash and hang your kit. Loads of tubs to clean it so no jostling and unpleasant pushing. All relaxed and stress free. Showers available on the jetty too. Free coffee/tea and biscuits station on the jetty. (Excellent coffee - the guy makes it exactly how you like it without having to be asked after a couple of times). There are sun loungers and tables on the jetty too for your surface interval relaxation which are great.

Dive Rental Kit - no problems at all. I personally have my own but my girlfriend does not. I inspected her rented kit each day and it was all in good working condition so I felt safe that this dive operation knew what it was doing and took guest safety seriously. Bit pricey to rent though.

Dive Sites - Around Mabul they are good. Be warned though. They are no Sipidan. Sipidan has its reputation for a reason.

Tips:
Ask the manager personally for trips to Sipidan early on in your trip. He may be able to swing you an extra one. Permits are limited so dont expect too much but if he knows your name and that you are interested then you have nothing to lose.

Plan and book early. Mabul gets booked up and looking at some of the other places on the island you really dont want to stay there. That said, there are some really expensive and 5 star resorts nearby.

The rest of the island - personally I wouldnt bother. Tis a nice island ruined by rubbish. The local villagers just do not seem to care.

BDMR is towards the nicer end of the resorts and was the best part of my holiday.

My daughter and I traveled here at the beginning of July for a week, we had two days diving at Sipadan and soon learned that NITROX needs to be booked in advance otherwise forget it. The staff are great, but visibility at this time of year was not fantastic due to heavy rains. Another issue was newbie divers with no buoyancy control destroying visibility around photographers, they should be on other dives.

Both of us also ended up with some form of stomach problems that was resolved through self medication. During our stay one diver from the US was hospitalized with suspected food poisoning.

Food and board and okay, free wi-fi is available in the main part of the resort.

Dive staff are very good and knowledgable.

Large monitor lizards live under most huts.

Despite the negative points I will be back there.