I recently travelled here for a wedding and was a little concerned by the Australian DFAT warnings before I left. It seems there were some issues with kidnappings back in 2003 and countries such as Australia and the USA have never rolled back the warnings. This area is rated as one of the best 'Muck Diving' sites in the world and now well patrolled by the military.
I stayed in the one of the bungalows on the Island (all the same resort), and have to say this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Once I landed at Tawau, the resort runs a very slick operation with a bus transfer to Semporna and then a comfortable fast boat to the Island.
The staff here are amazing, friendly and always helpful, the cleanliness of all the facilities is impecable, a credit to their houskeeping staff. I am not a scuba diver, but I do like to snorkel. The marine life is amazing both at Sipidan Island and the 'House reef'. I felt like I was swimming in a tropical fish tank, Barracudas, reef sharks, turtles etc etc, all in abudance.
At the house reef ( at the water bungalows )you could get out and get a fresh coffee, tea and cakes at any time, and when you were finished at the end of the day, a nice cold beer.
Ther dive instructors are very professional and provide plenty of information and reassurance even to the uninitiated.
I read some othe reviews that said I would get bored if I wasn't a diver... they are wrong, There is plenty to do here with a fantastic day spa , 4 bars, 2 shops, the village shops next door, kayaking (around the island), relaxing on the beach etc
There is a variety of accomodation here all the way to 5 star. The wedding couple were in 5 star water bungalow with a jacuzzi, kitchen , living room with glass floor , big flat screen TV, ensuite and french doors that open up with a private view of the Celebes Sea.
Five to seven days is perfect as the food does get a bit repetitive, but the quality is alway high.
I would certainly recommend this resort to anyone, and will definitely be going back soon.

We stayed at this resort in October for 5 days as non-divers we were not sure if paying the extra to stay in the water bungalows was going to be worth it but it was worth every cent we requested bungalow 212 which we were given... this bungalow looks straight out to the crystal blue sea with no obstructions has a balcony that you can just sit and watch the fish, rays and even turtles go by.
Even though we were non divers were still included in every boat trip to snorkel including 1 full day at Sapadan which was amazing, we found the staff very friendly and eager to help.

Prices like a 5 star, food like a 3 star, service like a 2 star, diving - 3-4 star. As an experienced diver most of my resent dive holidays were on liveaboards, but we chose mbw to dive sipidan due to the lack of good liveaboard options and the pics of mbw looked pretty great.

The bungalows are ok, pretty run down with the electrics in ours malfunctioning on the first night so we could not turn out the lights or turn on the aircon.. Fan also broke later in the week.. Lovely balcony and great size rooms that were well layer out. Really enjoyed the bikes, even thought the needed some serious servicing... Enjoyed diving in Sipidan, but there are only 3 good dive sites.. Looks of reef sharks, turtles, swirling jacks, which was the major highlight.

The food provided on the sipidan days was poor with only the watermelon being really edible.. Would recommend that they do something simple like boiled eggs instead of dogey looking plastic sausages. Onsunnydays, the sipidan days were simply divine .

Dive profiles were pretty simple and relatively shallow, easy diving that is suitable for new divers.. Vis was average, but great opportunities for photos, Especially of the turtles and swirling jacks..
Would be greatly disappointed if we could not dive sipidan as the diving at Kabul and kapali is average.

Overall I really enjoyed my stay here and the diving.

Our diving experiences were great, but lets face it, you're reading this because you want to know about the accommodation. We stayed one night in the chalets - DON'T do it. The one we were given was dreadful. Very dated, fibre board walls that hadn't been re-painted in many years, and an awful bathroom that desperately needs updating. The air conditioner actually dripped onto my pillow all night!!

After the first night we moved to the Water Bungalows. What a great setting. The bungalow was ok, not what we would call "sheer comfort" based on other experiences, but ok. The shower in the bathroom is a joke, no hot water unless you turn the stream down to a dribble! The towels were old and almost threadbare.The rooms are cleaned daily, but you have to tell them if you want the mini bar topped up. They also failed to replenish the toiletries in the bathroom. The balcony space was great, however the sun loungers are not very comfortable and have cheap plastic mattresses and no covers. Getting spare towels to stop yourself burning on the plastic proved harder than it should.

Our major disappointment was the service. On 3 occasions it was impossible to get a beer after the days diving because all the staff were off at the football. The shop was also closed for the same reason. There were several other incidents, which I won't go into, however we felt that the resort was really being run for the benefit of some of the staff rather than the guests. I should in all fairness say that the dive staff were all brilliant.

We did have a great time here and don't want to put anyone off going. Just make sure you set your expectations at the right level.