Built and launched in October 2019, MV Celebes Explorer 9 is the only Sipadan liveaboard diving option and clearly the best way to dive Sipadan dive sites every day. You can join different lengths of cruises every Tuesday and Friday - 3, 4 or 7 nights. It is also a great option for full charter for groups of 10 to 16 people.
This 35m motor yacht is uniquely placed to allow 16 lucky guests to maximise their time underwater at the dive sites around the legendary Sipadan island. When not diving, you can hang out in the main deck's air-conditioned saloon reading a book from the library or playing cards. This doubles as the dining area where buffet-style meals are served. There is also a separate audio-visual room with TV and music system, where you can listen to music and watch films or underwater clips. There is also a 3rd indoor relaxation room on the upper deck where you can lounge on the sofa and have a drink.
Open air chill-out spaces include the sun deck, and the shaded and furnished open-air zone at the stern of the main deck. Here you can stretch out on sun loungers and soak up the sun or enjoy a cool refreshing drink as the sun sets over the Celebes Sea.
All 8 spacious and comfortable cabins have air-conditioning, plenty of storage and ensuite bathrooms. 2 double bed cabins are on the middle deck (with large seaview windows and with doors that open to the outside deck), 6 twin bed cabins are on the lower deck (with portholes and with doors that open to a central corridor).
Divers suit up and step down to the dive tender where the can put on their BCD, mask and fins before diving the delights of Sipadan. Note that diving is at Sipadan every day. There are 2 dives at Sipadan, plus an additional dive at Mabul every diving day. So if you want to experience more time underwater at Sipadan than any other option can provide, it is time to act now and take your place on the MV Celebes Explorer 9.
There are 8 Standard cabins on board. 6 twin bed cabins are on the lower deck and 2 double bed (2 single beds pushed together) cabins on the main deck, all with ensuite bathrooms.
All the cabins have:
- Air-conditioning
- Private en-suite bathrooms with hot water shower
- Towels, hairdryer and soap
- Cabinet, shelves & mirror
- Reading lights
- Bedding
- 24-hour, 240V electricity supply with universal sockets
- Life jackets
No. of bathrooms / showers - 10 / 10 - hot water
Sipadan Island (8 Days / 7 Nights - 18 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, very popular, wall diving
Dive sites and activities: Sipadan: Barracuda Point, South Point, The Drop-Off, Turtle Patch, Lobster Lair, Staghorn Crest, Hanging Garden, West Ridge, White-tip Avenue, Mid Reef, Coral Gardens; Mabul Island
Day 1
Your extended liveaboard vacation starts mid-afternoon when you meet at the Semporna office. Half an hour later, you will board the Celebes Explorer and overnight in Mabul. Once underway, you'll receive your cabin assignment and a comprehensive boat briefing to help you get oriented. Use this first day to set up your dive gear at leisure -there are no scheduled dives on arrival day. After dinner, rest well in preparation for the exciting diving adventures that begin tomorrow!
Days 2-7
Diving at Sipadan is just amazing! Expect to see reef sharks and trevallies on every dive, sometimes hunting prey on the reef, countless turtles and endless swarms of triggerfish. Leopard sharks resting on sandy bottoms, enormous schools of barracudas and bumphead parrotfish that will leave you in awe. Eagle rays, octopus, several lionfish, and another endless list of marine life for you to discover. You can even tell your dive guides which kind of fish you are interested in and they will choose the dive spot accordingly. Around Sipadan there are 12 different diving sites that never disappoint the lucky divers.
Mabul Island is a world-class macro diving destination, where keen-eyed divers can spot rare species camouflaged among the sandy seabed like painted frogfish, harlequin ghost pipefish, and emperor shrimp at home on the arms of starfish. The nutrient-rich waters also host ribbon eels, leaffish, delicate nudibranchs, and the elusive blue-ringed octopus, making every dive a treasure hunt.
Day 8
Enjoy your last breakfast on board before disembarking in Semporna.
Sipadan Island (4 Days / 3 Nights - 6 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, very popular, wall diving
Dive sites and activities: Sipadan: Barracuda Point, South Point, The Drop-Off, Turtle Patch; Mabul Island
Day 1
Upon boarding Celebes Explorer liveaboard for this mini-safari, cabin assignments and a boat briefing will take place as you settle into your new home and spend the night in Mabul. There will be time to set up your equipment, as there is no diving on the first day. Dinner will be served before a good night’s sleep to prepare you for the exciting days ahead.
Days 2-3
Sipadan delivers exhilarating big animal encounters for captivated divers - swirling barracuda tornadoes, hunting grey reef sharks, and turtle-filled drop-offs in crystal visibility. Its dramatic walls and thriving reefs balance pelagic action with a lively coral ecosystem, capped by the haunting Turtle Cavern.
Mabul specialises in extraordinary macro life, from flamboyant cuttlefish dances to rare crustaceans. This sandy-bottomed paradise fascinates divers with nonstop critter encounters, and night dives revealing bobtail squids and snake eels.
Day 4
Enjoy your last breakfast on board before checkout.
Sipadan Island (5 Days / 4 Nights - 9 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, very popular, wall diving
Dive sites and activities: Sipadan: Barracuda Point, South Point, The Drop-Off, Turtle Patch, Lobster Lair, Staghorn Crest, Hanging Garden; Mabul Island
Day 1
Your liveaboard tour begins with a mid-afternoon meeting at the office. Around 30 minutes later, you’ll board the transfer boat to arrive at the Celebes Explorer and overnight in Mabul. After a boat briefing and cabin assignment, you can set up your gear. There’s no diving on day 1. Dinner is served onboard before a restful night.
Days 2-4
Diving in Sipadan offers breathtaking encounters with swirling vortexes of barracuda and massive schools of jacks that create mesmerising underwater spectacles. The island's famous drop-offs plunge vertically into the deep, where white tip reef sharks nap in caves and green sea turtles glide gracefully through clear waters. Hammerhead sharks occasionally patrol the deeper sites during certain seasons, while colourful coral gardens host marauding bumphead parrotfish, a variety of reef fish, and delicate macro critters. The legendary Turtle Cavern system fascinates advanced divers with its eerie chambers filled with skeletal remains of turtles. Every dive showcases Sipadan's perfect balance of thrilling pelagic action and a fabulous reef ecosystem in visibility that often exceeds 30 metres.
Mabul Island offers world-class macro diving where rare critters hide among the sandy bottoms and coral rubble. The reefs are refuge for juvenile marine life, frogfish, seahorses, and nudibranchs, making it a macro photographer's paradise. Artificial structures like the Seaventures oil rig attract flamboyant cuttlefish that parade across the sandy patches with their incredible colour displays, as well as rare crustaceans like harlequin shrimp and orangutan crabs. Night dives reveal an entirely new cast of creatures, from hunting bobtail squids, candy crabs and squat lobsters, to elusive wonderpus that emerge at dusk.
Day 5
Enjoy your final breakfast on board before disembarking the liveaboard.
[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].
The daily routine onboard the Celebes Explorer follows this pattern:
* 1st Dive - 7:30 am. Then breakfast is served after the first dive - a choice of eggs on toast alongside a buffet of Malaysian and Chinese breakfast options.
* 2nd Dive - 10 am
* 3rd Dive - 1 pm. Lunch follows the second dive and is served buffet-style in the air-conditioned dining saloon. Expect a variety of dishes including Chinese noodles or rice, French fries, beef, lamb (no pork), fresh fish, shrimp, squid, cooked vegetables, and fresh fruit.
* 4th Dive - 4 pm
Dinner is served in the evening and includes a rotating selection of Asian dishes, international favourites, and warm soups.
For safety reasons, diving at Sipadan is not permitted after 6 pm. So each dive day typically includes 2 morning dives at Sipadan followed by 1 dive at Mabul. Guest requests for a 4th dive each day may be granted, depending on conditions.
"
Diving was excellent, staff was friendly but the choice of food was rather basic, quality was good but some items ran out of stock (no toast for breakfast one day, no milk, no more Coke) and the cleanliness of the boat could also be improved.
All went super well (during the Dive the World booking service), all transfers were on time." -
Brigitte Streller, Austria, 1 July 2025 ...
"
If you want guaranteed diving around Sipadan Island, this live aboard is the only way to do it - 2 dives in Sipadan every morning. Sipadan was excellent and afternoon diving at surrounding islands was very interesting, but lacked the magnificent healthy reef experience that Sipadan offered. The Celebes Explorer 9 didn't have some of the luxury elements of other live aboards, but was a very good boat, and we were very comfortable in our ensuite cabin on the main deck. The staff were all friendly and attentive and there was all the necessary attentions to safety that one would expect on a live aboard. The all-buffet meals were basic, (noodles, pasta, fish, vegetables, curry), but we always something we liked and were never hungry. There was cereal, bread/toast, cookies/biscuits and cordial or water available 24 hr x 7d.
Dive The World were able to make and confirm our reservation for the Celebes Explorer 9 and answered our questions very timely. We were very frustrated when a group chartered the boat for the sailing we wanted, and our reservation was cancelled. Fortunately, some sailings are guaranteed and we were able to secure a reservation on a slightly less convenient sailing." -
Margaret Fagan, United States, 5 June 2025 ...
Wonderful week of diving in Sipadan. Excellent staff, divemaster Tom was first rate. Accommodation onboard quite roomy. Food not gourmet but very tasty and always plenty of it. Main dining area - too many ways to knock shins on awkward corners and edges. But a minor complaint really, the diving was brilliant - turtles on every dive and 20 sharks before breakfast one day, who could want more?
I chose Sipadan on the advice of Sheldon at Dive the World, and I must say it was not really on my radar. It was great to get such helpful guidance, always a pleasure to book. Thank you Sheldon." -
John Loy, United Kingdom, 17 December 2024 ...
"
The staff is very good and professional but the boat definitely needs a lot of improvement. The food could be more diverse too. DTW The crews members were very professional and funny, but there needs to be a renovation of the boat." -
Radu Dragu, Brussels, 10 December 2024 ...
"
Very comfortable cabins and good use of space on the boat. Not the most polished or refined liveaboard I've been on and very little to offer in terms of drinks; really just beer and Coke.
Food was good, but nil snacks between dives, no dessert, and soup was usually very watery. Coffee was very low quality.
Diving equipment is old but all generally worked fine, guides are excellent and the diving itself was unparalleled." -
Alex Vantyghem, United Kingdom, 26 December 2023 ...
"
The diving was great, as was the divemaster and all the staff. The boat was average, compared to other liveaboards for a similar price. The food was okay.
Dive The World provided efficient and timely responses." -
Adele Gruber, Australia, 10 November 2023 ...
"
The experience on board the ship was good, the cabin was comfortable, the staff onboard were friendly and helpful, The food was ok but very basic.
We felt we were let down by the diving - out of the 6 scheduled dives around Sipadan Island we went to the same spot Barracuda Point 5 times and 1 different spot, the Drop Off, which ended at Barracuda Point. We booked to dive the many dive sites around Sipadan, but only saw 2 locations. Our dive guide did point out interesting things to see, but didn't really give us much time on the subjects.
Also apart from the diving activity, the ship was boring during the down times with very little to do. Most of our downtime was spent in the cabin. Our dive guide was never around. Plan more activities at the end of the day's diving to make guests feel welcomed and appreciated." -
Duncan Wise, England, 5 September 2023 ...
"
Good, cheerful, skilled staff. Everyone was very helpful. Worst food I have had from any liveaboard.. All meats and fish were not edible. If one could imagine what eating cardboard tasted like; that would be how I equate the food taste. The vegetable dish only were good most evenings. The rice was made with too much water, resulting in mushy rice. Pastas never had any flavor. The melons and fruits were good." -
Debbie You, United States, 25 July 2023 ...
"
The food was the worst I have ever had on a liveaboard dive boat. My room leaked from the ceiling and port windows during rain storms.I told the operator and they said yes, they know. The dive masters were great." -
Michael Hines, ISA, 20 July 2023 ...
Great guide Mahathir (Maadil), knowing the right time to go to the right spot. Crew there are also very friendly and accommodating. Food should be placed at the 3rd level while joining the wooden tables together to force interactions by sitting together and eating, allowing less isolation like how it currently is.
Vic (Dive The World) is going above and beyond what great customer service. I have pushed this trip back 2 to 3 time spanning almost year due to having too many issues cropping up but Vic always accommodated me. Great guy," -
Chan Teng Fong Wesley, Singapore, 30 May 2023 ...
"
The staff are very kind and knowledgeable, but the owner of the boat is obviously cutting costs on things like food and safety. Not all of the lifeboats have been serviced within their dates. The tanks have not been hydrostatically tested in the last 5 years. In terms of safety there is only one escape route from the cabin deck and no fire extinguishers in the cabins. Also there was no safety briefing. There was no vegetarian option offered ever (other than the side dishes). Most of the divers were living off white toast bread because insufficient food was provided and what was provided was made with cheap ingredients - almost entirely rice and noodles. That said, the cabins were nice and the new boat is much nicer than what I understand the old one was." -
Heather Kertyzia, Canada, 24 May 2023 ...
"
The vessel is fine and comfortable. Equipment I rent was in good condition. Staff very good, particularly dive guides: very careful and expert. Very clean. Very comfortable cabin. Food was under expectation (not much variety). Beer expensive! They could use the upper decks of the boat in a wiser way:
Dive The World give a very good service: they were present at every step." -
Luigi Carta, Italy, 28 April 2023 ...
"
The ship could be more comfortable. There is little space to relax on the deck after the dives. Food was monotonous and not too good quality. Staff excellent.
Dive The World are always offering good products. Good information and promptly answering questions." -
Francisco Asencio, Spain, 27 April 2023 ...
"
Diving staff faultless, very helpful and knowledgeable. Diving amazing. Food - very average and could be improved, not of the best quality. Dessert only melon every night. Very poor quality chicken nuggets.
No social activities arranged for the evening like other liveaboards e.g. videos of the area, diving etc....Helped rearrange the holiday 3 times due to Covid" -
Lisa Heaps, United Kingdom, 12 April 2023 ...
"
Diving is good and staff are friendly. 1 dive guide per 5 divers instead of 4. Food variety is low. Room service is so-so (no cleaning/changing towels or refilling things)." -
Cheng Han Yun, Taiwan, 11 April 2023 ...
"
The diving is undoubtedly stunning; however, regrettably the quality of food served on the boat failed to meet our expectations. Furthermore, our dive manager, Tom, was unresponsive and unsympathetic to our concerns. We had 5 divers (per guide), which felt like false advertising. We also received insufficient answers to other issues, such as why the maximum diving time was limited to only 50 minutes or why specific dive were chosen." -
Fu Chun Hsu, Taiwan, 11 April 2023 ...
"
Comfortable liveboard with not much people. Professional dives and divemasters offering additional 1 dive in Mabul everyday after Sipadan. Nice service during the whole trip.
Food and kitchen was the only disappointment. Food served often cold and very repetitive, in order to get fish on the menu we had to buy it ourselves from local fisherman's." -
Anna Kaczmarek, Belgium, 30 August 2022 ...
Everything was amazing, Our full charter of CE9 was the highlight of our holiday and the boat surpassed expectations.They went over and beyond and changed the services based on our request (an extra night away from the port so we could do a snorkeling stop in Mabul on our last morning). Staff were amazing, boat was amazing, dives were great." -
Skye Cornell, Cambodia, 18 February 2020 ...
The older boat has its fair share of bad reviews on the internet and maybe rightfully so. But the Celebes Explorer 9 is positively luxurious. Huge lounge/dining area, sunning deck and the common rooms are almost worthy of a 5-star resort. It probably helped that we were 4 guests on a boat meant for 14 and so really had lots of space. The housekeeping crew are warm attentive and helpful. The chef cooked up a variety of simple but delicious dishes during the 4 nights I spent here. Cookies, bananas, milk, tea and coffee are almost on tap. Fresh fruits are served with every meal and during the surface intervals.
Diving in Sipadan is truly world class. The currents are gentle here allowing for relaxed dives, The marine life is diverse and bountiful. Healthy corals (for now) and beautiful vistas made for good diving. The visibility was not always crystal clear, but we always had 10-15m visibility. Sharks and turtles are a given on almost every dive. Barracudas, schools of jack, humphead parrotfish, batfish etc are abundant and make this a wonderful place to dive at." -
Ramnarayan Rajagopal, India, 03 March 2020 ...
