Mabul resort (actually Mabul Water Bungalows, as there are more than one) is quite impressive. With wonderful flowers along the houses. We visited it as a day tour from Semporna, to dive/snorkle, as our wildlife guide from Sukau (being a native Sempornan) considered it the most beautiful island in the are. The board walk of the resort is beautiful. Each of the wooden slats of tropical hardwood on Palau Mabul cost 120 Ringgit / 20 USD / EUR. The bridge is about 300m long, each meter containing 8 slats. That’s … 48000 EUR just for one board walk, not considered the construction below.
And one of those big wooden beams is 1200 Ringgit, 200 USD / EUR.
The island is also home to the Bajau Laut People, sometimes labeled the “Sea gypsies”. They are stateless, neither Philippine nor Malaysian, and their situation is “precarious”, to name it diplomatically. When we walked through their settlement they seemed pretty peaceful – and very poor. Some try to beg and sell coconuts they bought in Semporna. On improvised boats made of bottles or other stuff. It is really a difficult contrast.
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