Seaventures Dive Rig review: Bucket list dive resort in Borneo

Seaventures Dive Rig, near Sipadan in Borneo, is one of the most unique dive experiences in the world. Here’s an honest, detailed review of my time staying on the Seaventures rig, so you know exactly what to expect.

When planning my solo trip to Borneo, scuba diving and wildlife-spotting were my top priorities.

Seeing wild orangutans and proboscis monkeys were ticked off my bucket list with my Borneo wildlife tour, and I had five days spare of my two week Borneo itinerary to explore the underwater world.

Sipadan was a no-brainer, there’s no way I could come aaaall the way to Borneo and not dive there!

I first heard about this magical dive site from my scuba instructor when I got my PADI Open Water License way back in 2015, and despite multiple round the world trips since then, my travels hadn’t yet taken me to Borneo. Until now 🤿

While researching the best dive resorts in Sipadan, I stumbled upon the epic Seaventures Dive Rig, and was immediately obsessed.

If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok you’ll know that I am constantly searching for unique places to stay everywhere I visit, from geodesic glamping domes to observatory towers to Jurassic Park-like resorts. I’m pretty sure staying on the world’s only dive rig fits that bill!

It’s basically a cross between a liveaboard and a dive resort, with comforts like delicious buffet meals, plenty of space and comfortable cabins, while offering unimpeded access to insane dive sites, and a crew to make your dive trip absolutely unforgettable.

Here’s a detailed review of Seaventures Dive Rig, with loads of photos to show you exactly what it’s like to eat, sleep, dive and repeat on this insane structure in the middle of the ocean.

Seaventures Dive Rig: Everything you need to know

What is Seaventures?

Seaventures is a super unique dive resort in Malaysian Borneo, located on an ex-oil rig that’s been repurposed into an eco-friendly tourism operation.

Guests transfer here by boat, sleep in comfy private cabins, eat delicious buffet meals, and can dive straight from the rig itself or enjoy boat dives to nearby islands.

Where is Seaventures?

Seaventures Dive Rig is located in the Celebes Sea, about 45 minutes by boat from Semporna, on the southeastern coast of the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

The rig is right next to Mabul Island which has a bunch of dive resorts (but the rig is better!), and it’s 20km from Sipadan Island, with countless other world-class dive sites within easy reach.

It’s certainly remote, and takes a bit of planning to get to, but it’s a worthy addition to any Malaysia and Borneo itinerary if you’re a keen diver.

How do you get to Seaventures?

Seaventures is pretty remote, so there are a few steps to get here. If you’re arriving by plane, you need to:

• Fly to Tawau Airport (TWU): You can get direct flights to Tawau from Kota Kinabalu (KK) or Sandakan in Borneo, Kuala Lumpur (KL) or Johor Bahru in Peninsular Malaysia, or a few cities in China.
• Transfer to Semporna: From Tawau, it’s 1.5-2h by taxi or transfer to Semporna. If you arrive in the morning then Seaventures can organise a transfer for you to get straight to their office for the boat out to the rig, or if you arrive too late you can book your own transfer (I booked this one, save 10% with the promocode FINDINGALEXX) and spend a night in Semporna before the boat the following day.
• Boat transfer to Seaventures Rig: Head to Semporna Jetty to the Seaventures office, then jump on the boat which takes about 45 minutes to get out to the rig.

If you’re already in Borneo and want to reach Semporna by land, you can book a long bus from Sandakan (6 hours) or Kota Kinabalu (11.5 hours). You can book these buses online, I’ve heard easybook.com is best. I’ve heard mixed things about the reliability of these buses though so just do your research and make sure you’ve got some leeway in case of any issues.

What do you do on the Seaventures dive rig?

Dive, duh!

Scuba diving is obviously the main drawcard of the rig, your package here includes three boat dives each day, as well as giving you unlimited house reef dives. Yes, you read that right!

If three boat dives isn’t enough for you, you can explore the underwater world at your own pace right below the rig itself. Simply take the elevator down to the water, jump in, descend to the bottom and you’ll be swimming amongst abundant marine life that call the rig their home.

The house reef dives are unguided so you’ll need a buddy, if you’re travelling solo (like me!) then the crew can pair you with another diver if you’re both comfortable with that, or for a small surcharge you can get one of the dive centre team to come down with you.

Aside from diving, the rig has enough going on to fill your time.

There’s a games room where you can play pool, darts, cards or boardgames, a huge sun deck with loungers, beanbags and hammocks, a rig massage therapist for when your body needs a break, a lounge to watch movies or sports and a bar with happy hour deals.

Can you dive at Sipadan with Seaventures?

Absolutely, Seaventures is one of the best places to stay if you want to dive Sipadan, but you need to stay for at least three nights to guarantee a Sipadan day.

Sipadan has super strict rules for scuba divers to protect its pristine environment, including:

• A limit of 254 permits each day, divided between local dive operators
• 450RM fee for a one day Sipadan permit (about $90USD), that’s usually on top of the dive operator package price
• Only allowing two dives at Sipadan with your permit
• Divers must have their Advanced Open Water Certification to dive at Sipadan

Different resorts have different minimum stays in order to get a guaranteed Sipadan day.

At Seaventures you get one Sipadan day for a 3N or 4N stay, or two Sipadan days for a 5N or more stay.

Quite a few resorts have a minimum four or five night stay to guarantee a Sipadan day (like Mabul Water Bungalows, Sipadan Water Village and Borneo Divers Mabul Resort), so Seaventures is one of the best options for Sipadan diving.

How long can you stay at Seaventures?

It depends on how much diving you want to do!

If Sipadan is the reason you’re coming then obviously three days minimum, or five days if you want extra dives there.

I stayed for four nights and it was ideal, other people on the rig with me ranged from three night stays through to week-long stays.

What does your Seaventures stay include?

Your Seaventures package includes:

• Boat transfers to and from Semporna
• Accommodation in a private room with en-suite, options for twin, double, triple rooms or you can upgrade to a deluxe room
• Full-board with a delicious buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Toast and spreads + something sweet (like cake or pudding) available at all times
• Tea, coffee, juice, Milo available at all times
• Three daily boat dives to nearby dive sites like Mabul, Kapalai or Sipadan if you have a permit
• Unlimited house reef dives under the rig

Is Seaventures a certified dive centre?

Yep, Seaventures is a PADI 5* IDC Center.

Getting the 5* accolade means they meet all of PADI’s (rigorous!) standards to be a top level dive resort, in terms of service, safety, equipment and professionalism. The ‘IDC’ means it’s an instructor development centre, so the rig has a divemaster on site who’s qualified to train dive instructors.

TLDR: The rig’s dive centre is top tier.

How do you book Seaventures?

Get in touch with their team through their website >>

How much does it cost to stay and dive at Seaventures?

The rates for a Seaventures dive package are as follows, these are based on twin-share and the rate is per diver:

• 4D3N: 3975RM per diver
• 5D4N: 4875RM per diver
• 6D5N: 5830RM per diver
• Each additional night after that is 980RM per diver per night

If you’re diving Sipadan, the two additional fees for each Sipadan day are:

• Sipadan entrance fee: 100RM per diver
• Sipadan diving fee: 350RM per diver

If you’re travelling Borneo solo, there’s a 30% surcharge on top of the per diver price, and this gets you your own private cabin with an en suite.

An honest & detailed Seaventures Dive Rig review

There’s not a huge amount of info online about the full Seaventures experience, so here’s a total brain dump of everything from start to finish. If you have any further questions for me then just let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you 🥰

Arriving to the rig

I was in Kota Kinabalu before I headed out to the rig, so I booked a one way Air Asia flight to Tawau, which cost me $60USD including a checked bag. I use Skyscanner to find the best flight options for every journey, then I’ll always book direct with the airline.

My flight landed in the afternoon, too late to make it to Semporna for the boat out to the rig, so I booked my own shared transfer to Semporna and spent a night at Bubble House homestay. Basic but very clean and comfortable, I had a private room but they have dorms too, and only a few minutes’ drive from the jetty.

The following day I got to the Seaventures office at Semporna jetty to start my Seaventures adventure!

There were just three of us heading out to the rig that day, and the sea was a liiiiittle rough so it was a bumpy ride. If you get seasick then you’ll want to take something before the trip.

45 minutes later we arrived, jumped onto the rig elevator which slowly clicked and clanked its way up to the top, and met the crew.

The check in process was quick and easy, just the usual forms for any scuba trip, and then had a quick rig tour before getting our keys.

My cabin

I stayed in a twin room, it was cosy but totally fine, honestly better than I expected for a repurposed oil rig!

It had twin beds (very comfortable), air con, a dressing table, a bit of storage to hang clothes, and a bathroom with a hot shower and flushing toilet.

Other cabins

There are also double rooms and triple rooms available in a similar style, or deluxe rooms that have a bit more space and a couch.

The rig facilities

The main floor of the rig is where you’ll find the dive centre, a dedicated room for charging cameras and GoPros, the dining area where you’ll have the buffet meals as well as snacks, tea and coffee, a bar, and loads of space to chill.

The next floor up has the massage therapist’s room, a kind of class room for anyone doing dive courses, and a games room with pool tables, dartboards, cards and a bunch of boardgames. There’s a small lounge on the way up to that floor too, with comfy couches, books and a TV.

The next couple of floors have all of the cabins, then there’s the sundeck (which used to be the oil rig helicopter pad) with loungers, beanbags, hammocks and bar leaners for sunbathing, watching the sunset, or stargazing.

Diving with Seaventures Dive Rig

Your dive schedule will depend on when you arrive, if you have a Sipadan day, if you’re doing any courses or training dives, and when you fly out.

My dive schedule for my four night stay (with my Advanced course on days 1 & 2) was:

• Day 1: Pre-lunch navigation training dive, afternoon deep training dive
• Day 2: Morning Nitrox training dive, pre-lunch drift dive, afternoon fun dive (this was extra), night training dive. That’s my Advanced done 💃🏼
• Day 3: SIPADAN DAY! Two morning dives there, then a pre-lunch boat dive on the way back to the rig, and then I did a house reef dive that afternoon
• Day 4: Morning dive, pre-lunch dive, afternoon dive
• Day 5: Morning dive, pre-lunch dive (I wasn’t flying out til the following afternoon, if you fly out straight after your time at Seaventures you’ll need the usual 24 hour surface interval so won’t be able to dive on your final day)

Diving at Seaventures is brilliant, for a number of reasons:

• Convenience: It was less than 250 steps to get from my room, to my dive gear, to the ocean to jump on the boat or descend to the house rig. Trust me, I counted!
• Variety and quality of the dive sites: There are so many dive sites within a short boat ride from the rig, with marine life so intense it’ll blow your mind. Mabul and Kapalai are particularly renowned for macro life that live amongst the coral and sunken wrecks, you can spot little critters like frogfish, sea moths, Mandarin fish and nudibranches, as well as literally the biggest turtles I’ve ever seen (and lots of them!). Sipadan is better known for bigger creatures like sharks, rays and huge schools of barracuda, trevally and bumpheads.
• Super smooth operation: The dive centre on the rig runs like a well-oiled machine (excuse the pun), with top level gear, a fantastic crew, a camera-charging room for keeping your devices ready, courses for those who need them, as well as a few underwater cameras to rent.
• PADI courses: This might’ve been a fluke so I can’t guarantee anything, but I was the only one doing my Advanced so I got a guide all to myself for five dives (shout out Lorence!), and another girl on the rig was the only one doing her Open Water so she had her own guide too (shout out Tark)! I’d say this part of the world is mostly on the radar for intermediate and above divers given how remote it is, and it would be best to come here with a bit of experience under your (weight) belt to really soak up the marine life without the worries of a beginner diver, but if you’re considering coming here for your Advanced pre-Sipadan then I highly recommend it.

Unlimited house reef dives

Having unlimited house reef dives is almost unheard of in the scuba diving world, especially to a reef as good as this one.

P.S. Mabul Water Bungalows (across the water from Seaventures) also offers unlimited house reef dives, but their Sipadan guarantee requires a five night stay, so Seaventures wins!

If you have a dive buddy, you can gear up on the rig, write your name on the house reef check in board, jump on the elevator to get down to sea level, and descend down the rope to see what’s living underneath where you’re sleeping.

There are sunken structures down there that have been claimed by sea creatures of all shapes and sizes, including giant moray eels, catsharks, crocodile fish, pufferfish, octopus, scorpionfish, and plenty more.

If you’re coming to Seaventures for a solo dive trip, you’ll need to be paired up with another diver to take advantage of the free house reef dives, because solo diving isn’t allowed for safety reasons (obviously). If you’re not comfortable with that and would prefer a guide, you can get one of the available dive crew to come down with you for a small surcharge.

Food & drink on the rig

After having some okay-but-not-great buffet experiences on my 8 day Borneo wildlife tour, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to five more days of the same kind of food.

Thankfully, my concerns were completely unnecessary! The food on the rig was honestly delicious, the best non-luxury buffet I’ve had on all my travels.

They’ve got a few chefs on the rig who serve up a mix of Western, Japanese and other Asian dishes, and there’s always a range of meat, seafood and vegetarian options on offer, as well as fresh fruit, salad and rice. They can cater to most dietary requirements too, just let them know before you book.

Breakfast usually had things like hash browns, sausages, eggs, savoury porridge, grilled tomato, baked beans, and noodles.

Lunch and dinner included meals like chicken karaage, sweet and sour fish, stirfried tofu, spaghetti bolognese, fried calamari, ginger beef, and steamed fish.

There’s also some sweet treats for afternoon tea, like banana fritters (THE BEST).

Toast is available 24/7 if you need a midnight snack, there’s always something sweet in the fridge like profiteroles or pudding of some sort, and there’s also tea, coffee, Milo and juice that you can get at any time.

If you’re desperate for other food outside of meal times, there are some snacks like noodles and chips that you can buy, or there’s a shop on Mabul Island if you catch the afternoon boat there.

The bar onboard serves beer, wine, whiskey and soju, with happy hour deals from 4-7pm.

Sustainability at Seaventures

There’s something so poetic about this structure being transformed from something so damaging to the environment, an oil rig, into an eco-friendly scuba diving experience that’s all about protecting the underwater ecosystem. We love to see it!

And it’s not just a marketing ploy either, they really walk the talk.

Seaventures has recently been recognised as a PADI Eco Center, which means they’ve shown a dedication to sustainable diving and marine conservation. To get this title there are a few key criteria, including:

• Adopting their own dive site! They have a site just off the rig called Panama Point, it’s soft coral heaven. The Seaventures crew are responsible for maintaining it, keeping it clean, and keeping an eye on it from a conservation perspective. I joined one of the crew and a couple of others on a clean up dive there, we filled a whole mesh bag with trash 😬
• Taking part in regular beach or underwater clean ups
• Having sustainable waste management on the rig
• Preventing any toxic chemicals from entering the ocean
• Educating staff and guests around sustainability and conservation when it comes to diving
• Monitoring marine life and reporting the data to the Green Fins database

Side note: The trash problem in the Celebes Sea

The one negative thing about my dive trip in Borneo (nothing to do with the rig!) was the amount of trash in the ocean.

The Celebes Sea is infamous for plastic pollution, and the magical dive sites at Mabul and Kapalai Islands aren’t immune to the trash problem. There’s nothing that brings you back to earth from a scuba diving high than seeing a Coke bottle stuck between coral reef when you’re 15m below the surface.

While the trash here can partly be attributed to high plastic use in local villages and by fishermen due to lack of education or alternatives, as well as limited waste infrastructure on the Borneo coast + islands, and some caused by badly-behaved tourists, it’s likely that a lot of it due to the proximity to the Philippines.

The Philippines has 115 million people living on 7000 islands with a developing economy, combined with extremely high plastic waste generation, total lack of waste management resources due to local corruption, and very few plastic alternatives. The result is, unfortunately, an estimated 2.7 million tons of plastic waste annually, with a bunch of that ending up in the ocean.

I didn’t see any floating lumps of rubbish during my time here, but at some of the dive sites there were plastic bags, wrappers and bottles sitting amongst the fish (which the dive guides picked up when they were able to).

The exception to this was Sipadan, which was literally so pristine it felt like another planet. They have full-time conservation staff here who manage the sites meticulously.

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, I just want to let you know the reality so you aren’t shocked when you get there!

The vibe on the rig

The vibe at Seaventures is exactly what you’d expect if you threw a bunch of passionate scuba divers onto a diving platform in the middle of the ocean: GOOD VIBES ALL ROUND.

As a solo traveller it was super easy to meet and chat with other divers, there was a real range of ages, nationalities and experience levels, and the crew were always up for a hang out too.

They also did a big celebration for one of the diver’s 100th scuba dive, complete with a cake that was shared around all of us!

Seaventures FAQs

Is there WiFi on the Seaventures rig?

There is WiFi on the rig, but as you’d expect with a platform in the ocean, it’s not the strongest signal.

I had a Malaysia eSIM from MobiMatter though and I had full coverage the whole time, and could use it to hotspot my laptop for streaming and my dive course theory. You can get extra cashback on your MobiMatter eSIM with the promocode FINDINGALEXX (and they are WAY cheaper than all the major eSIM companies like Airalo and Holafly).

What is the rig jump?

If you’re a bit of a daredevil, you could give one of the rig jumps a go!

You can either jump off the elevator which is about 8m above the water, or if that’s not enough to get your heart pumping, the sundeck jump is a whopping 20m high. Do this at your own risk though, and keep in mind that the closest hospital is at least 45 minutes away by boat 🙃

Can you go to Seaventures if you aren’t diving?

While the primary focus of the rig is scuba diving, non-divers can still join their diving friends and go snorkelling instead.

Can kids stay on Seaventures Dive Rig?

There’s no minimum age for who can stay at Seaventures, but it’s a pretty hazardous environment, sitting high above the water with open areas that young kids could easily fall down, slippery steel floors, and heavy dive tanks sitting around the place.

If your kiddo is old enough, well-behaved, and can handle an extended period of time somewhere relatively remote then you’ll be fine, but if your kid is prone to clumsiness, lacks spatial awareness or needs to be watched 24/7, it’s probably not going to be very fun for you as the guardian!

When is the best time to dive in Sipadan?

Aside from the month-long Sipadan close-down period each year (generally the month of November, used to be December), you can actually dive here year-round.

Everyone I spoke to before my trip had very different answers for the best time to dive here, and a quick Google search returns the same mixed messages, so I’d take anything you read with a grain of salt. That’s perhaps a sign of the globe’s changing weather patterns.

I visited in early July and it was warm, calm and we had pretty good visibility, not the best they’ve had but not bad at all.

July and August are busy, as are Christmas, Lunar New Year and any major Malaysian/Chinese/Korean/Japanese holiday periods.

What should I pack for Seaventures?

You don’t need to take too much with you, if you’re travelling Southeast Asia with a decent amount of luggage I’d recommend asking to leave a bag at a hotel on the mainland to avoid taking up unnecessary space.

Some important things to bring are:

• Reef-safe sunscreen
• One set of warm clothes if you like being cosy after a day underwater
• Swimwear for under your wetsuit
• A GoPro
• A dry bag if you want to keep anything dry on the dive boat while you’re underwater
• Any dive gear if you like using your own
• Your PADI certification card or app
• Lightweight, quick-dry clothing
• Slip on shoes
• Basic toiletries
• Any medication you might need, the rig has a first aid kit for emergencies but take your own pain relief etc.
• A good book or Kindle

The final verdict: Is Seaventures dive resort worth it?

I don’t say this lightly as someone who travels full-time and lives out of my suitcase, but Seaventures Dive Rig truly felt like a home away from home after only four days there. Leaving was HARD.

I loved the people I met, I loved the premise of the rig going from zero to hero in terms of the environment, and of course I LOVED the diving. I’ve already convinced my dad and brother to join me for my next Seaventures trip, and I’m working on all my diving friends too!

If you’re considering a dive trip to Seaventures Dive Rig, I cannot recommend it enough. The diving in this corner of the world is actually insane, but staying on the rig is a bucket list experience in itself.

I hope this Seaventures Dive Rig review has helped you figure out if this is the right Borneo dive resort for you!

If you want to see some footage of the rig then I have a few videos in my Malaysia playlist on TikTok, and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Happy diving!

OTHER MALAYSIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA TRAVEL GUIDES:

• The ultimate two week Borneo itinerary
• The ultimate three week Malaysia itinerary
• G Adventures Sabah tour review: The best Borneo wildlife tour
• The best luxury cruise in Halong Bay: Capella Cruise review
• How to spend three weeks in Vietnam

OTHER BUCKET LIST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES AROUND THE GLOBE:

• The best scenic flight in Queenstown: Milford Sound Flyover
• Sailing Greece with MedSailors
• Glamping amongst wildlife in Sri Lanka
• Swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura, New Zealand
• Sleeping under the stars on the Great Barrier Reef
• The most beautiful train in Europe: The Glacier Express

MY GO-TO TRAVEL PLANNING RESOURCES

Flights ✈️ I use Skyscanner to find the best flights for my trip and then I’ll always book direct with the airline to protect myself from having to deal with dodgy third parties if anything goes wrong.

Trains 🚂 If I’m travelling through Europe, I try to travel by train wherever possible! For an extended trip (2+ weeks) I’ll calculate if a Eurail Pass is worth it, or I’ll book point-to-point tickets through RailEurope or the local train operator.

Accommodation 🛎️ I book almost all of my accommodation through booking.com, they have a user-friendly website + app and many of their options are free cancellation, easily cancelled with a simple click of a button.

Activities 🗽I use GetYourGuide, Klook and Viator to look for activities in the places I visit, or I just Google ‘things to do in [city]’! P.S. If you book anything on Klook you can use the promocode FINDINGALEXXKLOOK to get 10% off

Travel cards 💳 I’m a Wise gal through and through, they’ve been my chosen travel card for more than five years now. You can easily top up your card from your bank account or through Apple Pay, convert your money to local currency, and spend money with minimal fees and the best exchange rates around.

Travel insurance 🩺 I use Cover-More NZ travel insurance for my own trips, I have a comprehensive policy and I’ve only had good experiences with them. Cover-More also has an Australian company, but if you’re from elsewhere then two popular insurance options for global travellers are SafetyWing (cheaper policy, lower coverage) and World Nomads (more expensive but significantly better coverage).

Luggage 💼 I travel with Samsonite Cosmolite suitcases, one 75cm check in bag and a 55cm carry on bag, and I absolutely adore them and will never travel with anything else! They are SUPER lightweight (2.8kg and 1.9kg respectively) so I have much more space for my actual stuff.

Camera gear 📸 I use a iPhone 15 Pro Max for phone photos/videos, and my camera kit includes a Lumix S9 (incredible lightweight full-frame camera, a game changer for travel creators!) with a 20-60mm lens, a Lumix G9 with an 8-18mm and 12-60mm lens, a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone and a GoPro Hero 10. I do all my writing and editing on my ASUS Zenbook 14, it’s lightweight but powerful enough for photo editing and intense blogging sessions.