Layang Layang Island Resort
Layang Layang 88005 Malaysia
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Layang Layang Island Resort Sdn Bhd is an exclusive resort that dominates the Layang Layang island - an oceanic atoll of Spratly Islands situated approximately 300km northwest of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. Fondly known as "The Jewel of the Borneo Banks", it is truly a diver's paradise. As many as 14 coral reefs have formed here, creating a breathtaking underwater scenery. The dive sites are well known for the intriguing hammerhead sharks and pygmy seahorses among other rare creatures. An hour's flight north of Kota Kinabalu, the island on which Layang Layang Island Resort Sdn Bhd nestled lies in 2,000m of ocean and due partly to the depth, this atoll has become famous for sightings of large pelagic species and for wall diving. Layang Layang Island Resort Sdn Bhd is the only resort on the island besides a Royal Malaysia Navy base. The resort, designed to look like the traditional Long House comprises 86 cosy rooms, restaurant and bar, outdoor swimming pool, Dive Center with certified diving instructors and a variety of diving courses among other facilities for modern comforts. Come for the exclusive and intriguing diving experience at this remote destination out of the world, where rare and uncommon underwater creature awaits you!
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Layang Layang 88005 Malaysia
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I've been in Layaag Layang last May, during hammerhead sensor. It's a simple and honest 3 star resort with friendly staff and plenty of food, often with too much coconut milk and lemongrass for my european palate but who needs Michelin stars with this exquisite diving? Great reefs with lovely corals, plenty of fish, mantas, white-tips, grey reef Sharks and the jewell in the crown, those astounding hammaerhead schools, one in a lifetime experience! Every dive was amazing and I'm rather demanding as I've been diving for almost 20 years all around the world. A special thanks to our excellent divemaster, Ciryl, for making this experience even better. Worth every one of the 36 hours travelling to get there!
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Date of stay: May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
I was a return visitor to Layang Layang having been last year and giving the resort a five star rave review but am certainly unable to repeat such a positive review this year So let's start with the positives The Staff are absolutely fantastic and will greet you every morning with a smile, however if you don't find out there names and tell them yours then you can't fell hard done by for the relationship never to exceed " Good morning Sir " take the time to get to know them and it'll greatly enhance your experience. The food and it's presentation I thought was excellent and varied with something for every one. The diving was hit and miss this year and certainly wouldn't stand up to my experiences last year but then you roll the dice and take your chances, I was there solely for…
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Date of stay: May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, General Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 31 May 2017
Dear James, Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for running out of beer as there was a delay in our supply. I have taken note of your comments and regret that the ineptitude behaviour towards guest by our manager. We value your support for returning to Layang Layang and will address this matter immediately to avoid such recurrence. We will constantly improve ourselves to better enhance the experience of our guest and once again please accept our sincere apologies. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This is the best diving trip i have been on. Our instructors, Roy and Amanda, are very attentive and friendly. The resort is very clean and spacious. The food quality and services are quite high. Most of the dive sites are unique. You will seldom find it bored. Thumbs up for Avillion Layang Layang and its staff.
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Date of stay: May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, General Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 22 May 2017
Thank you for your feedback and i am glad to hear you have enjoyed yourself. Hope to see you again. Regards LLee
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
+1
The remote & unique resort is an absolute paradise for divers. Though a bit old but has all the basic things for a comfy stay -- clean & comfy bed, fully functioning bathroom, nice F&B, and superb staff . DMs & boatman are very experienced with safety in mind, helpful in every aspect. It's reef are so amazingly beautiful and full of life, from pelagic to macro. Truly an unique get away.
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Date of stay: April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
The accommodation, food, diving and staff are very, very good. Spent 7 days on the island during April 2017 which translated into 19 dives, 5 of those with close encounters with large schools of hammerheads. Another couple of dives we saw large schools from a distance. Also saw huge tuna, large schools of jacks, turtles, mantas, reef sharks and even a thresher! Only complaint being that our boat had to be nursed along for 17 of those dives (good job all sites are close to the island) and was taken out of the water for the last two. Arrangements were made to stagger dive times so that two groups of divers could share the same boat but far from ideal on a diving holiday where boats are imperative to get to the sites. Internet almost non-existent - not a problem for me for the…
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Date of stay: April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
This is a place for divers who wanna look for school of hammers. Pros: 1. Good customer service from all staff. 2. Clean and spacious room. Daily housekeeping. 3. Dive equipment in good condition 4. Love the horizon here due to the calm lagoon. 5. The place is properly maintained. 6. Comfy bed and pillows. Cons: 1. Lack of food variety. Proposed to cook variety styles from other countries depending on the crowd you're getting. Some brought own canned food and alcohol. 2. Aged rooms 3. Noise from next door or people walking at the corridor is easily heard. 4. WiFi is available from 4pm daily. But as there are many ppl trying to connect, one needs to be patient to get the connection. 5. Only Celcom line is available. Not even Maxis or Digi.
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Date of stay: April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 1 May 2017
Dear Sir, Thank you for your feedback and we have taken note of your comments especially on food. This matter has been highlighted with our chef and we will make improvements on this. We have already refurbished the rooms with new linens, mattresses and the bathroom has all been refurbished. Meanwhile we will continue to make improvements. Thank you for diving with us.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This sort of diving has to be experienced. Out in the blue, 40m down. Nothing around but other divers - and hopefully a hammerhead! I did 3 morning dives and saw 2 in the distance. Other groups more. Suggest you sit close to 30m for as long as you can. No Nitrox limits dive times. If there are currents, they go with them, so no stress there. Coral/Reefs get a bit same after 1-2 days. But you should see turtles & rays. Boats are small catamaran - 10-15mins to sites. But 8-10 on a boat, so can be crowded. So can under the water if they put two boats in the same location. Hotel - rooms basic, a little tired but fine. You're there to dive ! Food was 5 times a day. Buffet, so not amazing, but varied. Facilities - large dive Center. Pleasant area around the pool to chill.…
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Date of stay: April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 1 May 2017
Dear Sir, Thank you for your feedback. Appreciate it very much and noted on the poor wifi and unfortunately is a via satellite and it is weak especially with many users due to the shared bandwidth around the region. We are constantly providing feedback to our local telco company on this matter. Thank you for diving with us and hope to see you again.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
this is a two part review- the diving and secondly the resort. the diving - Breath taking( no pun intended) the staff were fantastic to say the least, the visibility was great with one day producing about 40 meters of vis. The wildlife? well WOW WOW WOW! we had hoped to see hammerheads and anything else would be a bonus, but the Hammers were just the start. we had loads of white tip Sharks, Black tips, and grey reef Sharks on most dives. We had Big Dogtooth Tuna on most dives, with one site( the Point) providing many interactions, we had a visit from a Whale shark whilst we cruised the Wall near the Point, another Whale Shark appeared at the boat to greet us on the surface. Most dives also presented Manta rays - Schools of Trevally(jacks) and Barracuda, loads of reef fish…
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Date of stay: April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
Yes I wrote a great review for Layang Layang last time but this time was not quite as good.. We still found the staff friendly and amenities sufficient for an island so far out from civilization. Yes the internet is slow but if you pick the time of day and position yourself at the correct spot it is acceptable ( I managed to do all our business emails without a problem). We met a great group of divers that were on our boat - these were chinese like most of the other visitors at that time but so friendly and will now have to visit china - but which part!!! Back to Layang and Diving unfortunately our group kept missing out on seeing hammerheads which meant our divemaster kept taking us out into the blue and deep. In fact one day not only did they an the photographer have to spend…
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Date of stay: June 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, General Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 4 Oct 2016
Hi! Peter, Thank you for your feedback at Trip Advisor. I have taken note of your feedback and will review this matter with my team. I apologised your trip to Layang Layang didnt meet your expectation. Yes the MASWING chartered aircraft broke down and the airline does not pay as it is usually covered by the passengers insurance hence we always recommend all our guest to purchase a dive and travel insurance when coming to Layang Layang or when travel. Therefore additional night stay and cost at the resort is chargeable and therafter to be claim thru the passengers insurance. Besides we charged very minimal to cover our cost only. Nevertheless we sincerely apologised for all the inconvenienced caused. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Lets get the negative stuff out of the way first: 1) The island & the resort are remote - Don't expect a 5 Star resort experience. 2) The only reason you should be here is to dive (or be with someone who dives) - don't expect anything more than the diving! 3) The island is small - and I mean small! Don't expect lots of scenery & things to do other than diving. 4) Yes the rooms might be noisy, but they are comfortable & have everything you need - the housekeeping staff do a great job. 5) Some of the facilities might be ageing - but you are 300 kilometres from everywhere & you are here for the diving. 6) Yes the Wi-Fi is slow, but see points above - you are hundreds of kilometres from anywhere - not in a major urban environment. Thanks all at Layang…
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Date of stay: June 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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ALSO KNOWN AS
avillion layang layang island hotel layang layang, layang island hotel
LOCATION
MalaysiaSabahWest Coast DivisionKota Kinabalu DistrictLayang Layang
NUMBER OF ROOMS
86
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