Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dullish spot is cheap and cheerful. There are posters of fish, to remind you of why you
came to Semporna, we guess.
Eating
Various
kedai kopi
line the 'Semporna Seafront', while restaurants at the Seafest Hotel
complex offer Chinese seafood. If you want to go native, sample the
nasi lemak
or
korchung
(rice dumplings) - Semporna is well known for these two dishes.
Anjung Paghalian Café $
(Jln Kastam; mains RM3-5; 5pm-10pm)
Beside the Tun Sakaran Marine Park entrance
sign, this indoor-outdoor place on a pier features fish, prawn, chicken, squid and venison
sold by portions (for two or more people) and cooked in your choice of up to 12 different
styles. It also has standard Malay hawker stalls and even one which serves burgers.
SEAFOOD
Mabul Steak House $$
( 089-781785; Semporna Seafront; mains from RM11; noon-11pm)
This easygoing
balcony restaurant's large and glacial 'ice-blended juices' are a soothing antidote for suck-
ing bottled air. For further chilling, there's a leather couch and overstuffed chairs around a
huge TV showing movies or sport. Malaysian standards are done well, and the signature
steaks are a surprisingly mouth-watering treat after long days of diving.
STEAKHOUSE
Information
If you're arriving in Semporna under your own steam, leave the bus and minivan drop-off
area and head towards the mosque's spiking minaret. This is the way to the waterfront.
Follow the grid of concrete streets to the right until you reach 'Semporna Seafront' - a
collection of buildings decked out in primary colours that starkly contrast with the charm-
less pastels throughout the rest of town. This neighbourhood is home to the diving outfit-
ters, each stacked one next to the other in a competitive clump. Sleeping and eating op-
tions crowd around here, too.
Decompression Chamber
( 089-783100)
The closest
decompression chamber
is at
the naval base in Semporna.
