(c) July 2007 Oliver Bonten
Seaventures Dive Rig
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Seaventures Dive Rig
July 2007 16 |
The Seaventures Dive Rig is a former oil rig that has been toted to Sabah and converted to a dive resort. It has been mounted near Mabul island, and the sea below the rig is approximately 17m deep (depending on tides). According to some stories, the owner originally intended to anchor the rig just outside Brunei and install an offshore casino there, but never got a license. The rig was then converted into a fishing resort (the tags on the room keys still say "fishing village"), but with little success, and finally it was toted to Mabul where it was converted into a dive base.
Apparently, for the first couple of years it wasn't too successful but now they seem to be doing well. Certainly they profit from the closure of Sipadan Island: previously, seriously diving minded people who didn't need luxury would stay on Sipadan, and other people wouldn't have considered an old oil rig. Now the oil rig seems to be the best choice for the "serious" divers around.
Of course Seaventures is a very diving oriented resort with nothing much else to do. Guests live in the old crew quarters, which are functional but neither spacious nor luxurious - like cabins on a liveaboard - and the food is simple, but good. Every minute that you're not diving, you'll spend on the rig, there is no beach, no spa etc., so you have to be really focused. But if you like to dive, it's great. Because the rig is directly in not-too-shallow water, you can grab a tank at any time and go for a dive underneath the platform. This allows you to make a lot more dives than in beach-based dive centers.
It is similar to diving from a liveaboard boat, with the difference that it is slightly more spacious, it doesn't rock, and you're not woken up by the engine starting at 4am.
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