Experience the best of Semporna

Semporna sits on a bay on Sabah's south-east coast, facing the Celebes Sea, a town of stilt houses, fish markets and a busy waterfront where boats leave for the islands. The Bajau community, long a seafaring people, lives in houses on stilts above the shallow water, and some families still spend much of their lives on boats. The annual Regatta Lepa festival fills the harbour with decorated lepa boats.

Offshore, Sipadan, a small island rising from very deep water, is rated by divers among the best dive sites in the world, with turtles, barracuda and reef sharks. Mabul and Kapalai have shallow reefs good for snorkelling, and Tun Sakaran Marine Park protects a cluster of islands such as Bodgaya and Bohey Dulang, where a trail climbs to a viewpoint. Tawau, a larger port town with an airport, lies to the west.

Seafood grilled at waterfront stalls, fish, squid and prawns, is the staple meal, and seaweed grown in the shallows is a local product. The east coast is warm and humid all year, and diving is generally best from about April to December.