Mataking Island Resort

Guests evaluate the resort differently depending on what they want from their holiday. Reviewers looking for aesthetics praise the clear water, the internal glass floors in the villas and the interactive turtle release programmes. Families appreciate the space for children to play and the peacock sanctuary.

Divers praise the uncrowded macro diving and the professionalism of the dive guides. The small guided groups receive consistent positive feedback. Honeymooners value the privacy, the beach dinners and the experience of walking the deserted sandbar to Mataking Kecil.

Divers recommend planning your Sipadan permit days ahead and allowing for the long boat run. The premium villas are the rooms guests praise most, so book those if the room is central to your holiday. The team always points out the Sipadan distance and the room differences before you book so you know what to expect.

The resort offers 63 rooms divided into 6 categories. The entry-level options are the twenty-four Garden View Deluxe units and the fourteen Premium Rooms. These sit among the trees on the eastern and western sides of the island. The mid-tier options include four Semi-Detached Beach Chalets and eight standalone Beach Chalets. Eight King Chalets offer more space along the periphery.

The top tier consists of five exclusive Villas. These feature private plunge pools, overwater net beds and internal glass floor panels so you can watch the sea below your living room. The resort uses timber architecture to fit the island setting. Guests on family and non-divers trips are welcome. Child rates are available for younger guests sharing your room. If you want a luxury over water feel the villas are the best option.

Mataking Besar connects to Mataking Kecil by a natural sandbar. This causeway emerges completely at low tide so you can walk across to the uninhabited sister island. High tide reclaims the sandbar to separate the 2 islands by open water.

The Jamu Spa focuses on traditional Southeast Asian healing. The signature treatment is a 150-minute herbal regimen involving a foot bath, a ginger body scrub, a traditional boreh body mask and a herbal pouch massage. You can also book shorter therapies like the Islander Beach Massage or foot reflexology.

Non-divers have plenty to do during the day. The resort runs a natural peacock sanctuary where the birds roam freely. You can take out glass-bottom kayaks to paddle over the shallow coral reefs. The team also organises traditional batik painting sessions. At night you can join guided beach walks to look for luminescent corals in the shallows or go stargazing on the quiet beaches of Mataking Kecil.

Boats stay in for the night, so evening diving is from the resort's own reef.

The resort established its sea-turtle hatchery in 2006. The team needed to protect eggs from natural predators like monitor lizards and ghost crabs. The original enclosure held fifty nests. The facility expanded in 2018 and now holds up to two hundred and fifty nests at a time. The island is one of Sabah's most vital habitats for nesting hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and also hosts nesting green turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations. The hatchery recorded 119 hawksbill nests in 2025 alone.

Mataking signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with WWF-Malaysia and the Sabah Wildlife Department on 8 May 2026. This agreement makes Mataking a pilot site for the ShellBank genetic traceability toolkit. Resident biologists extract DNA from turtles and unhatched eggs to trace populations. The project also uses satellite tracking to map migratory routes for the Blue Corridors for Turtles initiative.

Guests can participate directly in this conservation work. You can adopt a specific nest inside the hatchery to support the fund. The biologists invite you to help release the hatchlings on the beach when your nest matures. The team sends photographs and updates to you at home if the eggs hatch after your departure. Be sure to ask the staff about the current programme to learn when hatchlings might be released.

The PADI 5 Star dive centre suits all experience levels. Professional guides lead certified divers in small groups on the local reefs. Uncertified beginners on try-dives are taken in pairs. Nitrox is available for certified divers wanting to extend their bottom time. Your package includes unlimited unguided buddy shore dives on the house reef. Night dives happen here off the beach. The dive boats visit local sites around Mataking as well as nearby islands like Pom Pom and the Tun Sakaran Marine Park.

The house reef is home to Malaysia's first underwater post office. The dive team scuttled the Mataking 1 wooden cargo ship in March 2006 to create an artificial reef. The 12-metre vessel sits upright on the sandy bottom with a functional mailbox mounted on the wheelhouse. The wooden hull is degrading so penetration is prohibited. Divers can buy a special postcard in the gift shop, seal it in a waterproof vacuum bag and post it underwater. The dive masters descend twice a week to clear the box. They apply a commemorative rubber stamp before entering the mail into the standard postal system. The shipwreck itself attracts giant groupers, sweetlips and resident turtles.

House Reef and Jetty

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 50m The reef slopes gently away from the beach. It offers calm water and excellent visibility for macro photography. You will likely see the resident giant moray eel, schooling goatfish and the occasional stonefish. A large resident barracuda named Charlie patrols the area. The jetty pilings attract dense aggregations of fish. This is the main site for your unlimited buddy shore dives and dusk behavioural observations.

North Point and Alice Channel

Skill level: Advanced | Max depth: 40m The reef drops vertically into the deep Alice Channel here. Deep oceanic upwellings create strong currents that funnel pelagic species along the wall. You can spot grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), eagle rays and passing manta rays. A cleaning station sits at 35 to 37 metres. The site requires strict depth discipline and drift diving experience.

Coral Garden and Sweetlips Rock

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 40m These multi-level sloping terraces feature sandy patches between coral outcrops on the southern and western slopes. You can spot nudibranchs, colourful sponges and large schools of sweetlips. The macro environment is highly productive. Divers need perfect buoyancy to drift over the coral formations without making physical contact.

Garden of Eden

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 30m Soft corals cover this gentle decline on the eastern side. Sea turtles congregate here to rest on the reef and forage. You can see barracuda and occasional blacktip sharks passing in the deeper blue water. The ambient light in the shallows makes it excellent for wide-angle photography.

Turtle Playground

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 30m Green and hawksbill turtles gather on this site most mornings to rest. The current is gentle enough for a relaxed dive while you look for turtles surfacing to breathe. You might also spot moray eels hiding in the coral crevices.

Magic Rock

Skill level: Advanced | Max depth: 25m An offshore rocky pinnacle swept by steady tides. You can shelter behind the rock to look for reef sharks, green turtles and massive schools of tiny reef fish. The current calls for drift diving techniques and often a negative entry. Fast shutter speeds help capture the moving pelagics.

Lobster Lair

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 30m A textured reef face on the southern side with deep crevices, overhangs and mature gorgonian sea fans. Spiny lobsters hide in the shadows during daylight hours. Keep an eye out for leaf fish and scorpionfish resting on the structure. Pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus bargibanti) live on the gorgonians below 20 metres. Focus lights help illuminate the dark overhangs.

Nudibranch Heaven

Skill level: All levels | Max depth: 30m A rocky slope on the western side covered in hydroids and sponges that attract dense populations of sea slugs. The water movement is minimal. This is a brilliant site for macro photographers looking for rare nudibranch species. You might also spot pipefish and rainbow wrasse.

D'Wall and Hump Head Point

Skill level: Intermediate | Max depth: 40m Located off Mataking Kecil, D'Wall features a rubble top dropping steeply into a colourful wall populated by pink and orange soft corals. You can find giant black frogfish (Antennarius spp.) hiding on leathery sponges along the drop-off. Hump Head Point offers a softer slope where bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) and bluefin trevally feed.

Stingray City

Skill level: Intermediate | Max depth: 30m A deeper sandy shelf extending off the Timba Timba reef. A resident school of stingrays glides over the sand. You can also spot enormous cuttlefish and nurse sharks. You must maintain neutral buoyancy off the sand to avoid ruining the visibility.

Frog Fish Farm

Skill level: Beginner | Max depth: 15m Located off the coast of Pandanan Island. This shallow reef transitions into a sandy bottom. The current is extremely mild. It is an ideal site to hunt for elusive frogfish, sea slugs and jawfish.

Sipadan is Malaysia's only oceanic island. It rises roughly 600 m from the Celebes Sea floor on an extinct volcanic seamount. You need an Advanced Open Water certification to dive there. Sabah Parks issues 254 Sipadan permits a day. The history of the quota moved from 120 to 176 and finally to 254. The island is closed to all visitors every November to let the reefs rest. Diving hours at Sipadan run from early morning until the afternoon.

Going to Sipadan from Mataking involves a boat ride of about 80 minutes across the deep Alice Channel. A day's diving in Sipadan gives you 2 dives from Mataking because of the long travel time compared with three from Mabul or Kapalai.

A Guaranteed Sipadan permit is possible as part of your holiday. It comes with the right combination of resort, dive package and minimum number of nights. A five-day diver package is typically required to qualify for the permit rotation queue. Which dates can be guaranteed depends on the resort you choose. The team steers you to the right package to secure your Sipadan permits.

You wake up and head to the dining room for breakfast. The dive boats take you to local sites or nearby islands like Pom Pom. You return to Mataking for lunch. The standard diver package includes 3 boat dives a day. Non-divers can spend the day on the beach, visit the spa or walk the sandbar. You can take an unguided buddy dive on the house reef before dinner. The team organises beach walks in the evening.

Mataking suits honeymoon islands holidaymakers, families and mixed groups of divers and non-divers. The beach, the spa and the gentle house reef make it a great holiday island.

If your main goal is to dive Sipadan every day you should base yourself elsewhere. Look at Kapalai Dive Resort or Mabul Water Bungalows to be closer to the Sipadan jetty.

You fly into Tawau airport. The team meets you for a road transfer to Semporna. The road transfer takes 70 to 90 minutes. You then board a boat for the sea crossing to Mataking. The sea crossing takes 40 to 60 minutes. The exact time depends on the sea state. The resort operates fixed transfer times to match incoming flights. Inbound boats from Semporna leave at 9:30am, 12pm and 3:30pm. Outbound boats from Mataking leave at 6:30am, 11am and 2pm. The island boats do not run after dark. You will need to overnight in Tawau or Semporna if your flight arrives late. Before you travel you should read the travel information guide.

• Pom Pom Island Resort
• Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort
• Mabul Water Bungalows
• Lankayan Island Dive Resort
• Mataking

Send your dates, the names of everyone coming and your certification levels to start planning. The team comes back with what can be arranged for your island stay.