Dive Review of MV Celebes in
Malaysia/Sabah

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MV Celebes, Jul, 2012, by Jamie Pollack, NY, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 6621 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The MV Celebes is an old, creaky, dilapidated, depressing, smelly boat that should be retired. My cousin and I were booked for one week and it was so bad that we abandoned ship after three nights to go to stay on a resort on the water. The food was very greasy and most of it was fried. On the boat, the dive schedule is 4 dives Sipadan and one dive at Mabul Island. Then at 5:30 am the boat would motor back to Sipadan. The ride back was noisy and sometimes rough. The cabins are small and we stayed in a room with bunk beds-- typical of live aboards but the smell from the bathroom and in the room was awful. We were never introduced to the crew (other liveaboards would introduce the entire crew to make you feel warm and welcome) so it was hard to know who to ask for things. They do not have a separate camera rinse tank on board. So after awhile the water got pretty disgusting. I rinsed my camera in the fresh water shower at the back of the boat. We saw white tips sharks (although I was expecting to see many more), a couple of reef sharks, turtles, large schools of jacks, barracuda and bumphead parrot fish. Only 45 minutes per dive was allowed. I asked to do one-hour dives since I was already wet and underwater but was told that is not the policy and rules can’t be changed. Only on two or three dives around Barracuda Point did we experience strong currents where we had to use a reef hook. Lots of action was seen on these dives. The staffs lack of caring was evidenced when I was doing a cave dive. I was supposed to be diving on Nitrox but when I got to my gear it was air. Then when I checked the air it was barely full. It took them 2 more times to get my Nitox tank correct. Just plain carelessness and not giving a shit. They do not have a separate compressor on board for Nitrox and have to bring them all on board. I would not advise for anyone to stay on this boat. You can dive Sipadan from a land based operation with much better accommodations. My overall feeling for the diving was that is was okay not “Knock Your Socks Off” diving. Traveling for me (coming from the East Coast of the US) is a long way to come and not sure I would recommend it.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Cocos, Bali, Palau, Caribbean, Florida, South Africa, Red Sea, Galapagos, Socorro Islands
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	75-80°F / 24-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Each dive (5 a day) only 45 minutes
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Terrible, no rinse tank no table for cameras....

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of MV Celebes in Malaysia/Sabah

MV Celebes, Jul, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of MV Celebes in
Malaysia/Sabah