Semporna is a vivid sea fishing village now often passed by travelers to Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai Island.

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Semporna is a nice, lively and touristic town on the southeast coast of Sabah. It offers cheap and delicious seafood that can be bought on one of its many floating markets. Unfortunately there has been a lot of dynamite and poison fishing on some of the protected reefs; it was even necessary to install a police post at Pulau Mabul, which strongly improved its coral reefs and the amount of fish that lived there. Semporna is mostly used for ongoing trips to Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai, since they are world renowned for its excellent scuba diving and snorkeling possibilities, but some other small islands nearby are definitely as good and much less known.

The Gaya Group consisting out of a few islands and reefs are excellent daytrips just northeast of Semporna. If you are planning to visit Gaya, Mantabuan, Selakan, Sabangkat, Boheydulong, Sibuon, Maiga or one of the offshore reefs such as Church Reef and Kapikan Reef, make sure you bring food and drinks as there are not many facilities. Two of the better known islands are Pulau Mantabuan and Pulau Sibuan, both pristine uninhabited islands covered in dense rainforests. At the northern part of Pulau Sibuan live a few families of the Sea Bajau tribe, some of the sea gypsies. More islands which can offer some spectacular diving are on the Ligitan group and Mataking, all within half an hour speed boat trip from Semporna. There are more things to do besides diving. There are excellent hikes along the jungle trails of Danum Valley Field Centre, some spectacular caves (Batuh Peteh Tulung Burial Caves, Gomantong Caves) and there is the Sepilok Orangutang Rehabilitation Centre.

Many islands, islets and reefs are part of the Semporna Marine Park, protected for too much fishing and its underwater eco system is maintained as good as they can. It is a diverse dive region where you can find steep drop-offs, healthy shallow colorful reefs, most of the common coral fish, but also pelagic, sharks, turtles, manta rays. Muck diving is popular as the rare mandarin fish, pipefish and many different species of nudibranch are common. Enjoy one of Malaysia's best dive destinations.

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