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
141Reviews7Q+A30Room tips
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Tired and so-so resort and staff. Dive masters were good, but they had to be: more divers than sharks. Not our best experience. A bit like staying on a land-based liveaboard in terms of facilities, food and drink and privacy.
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Date of stay: May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 28 Jun 2015
HI! Ronald, Thank you for your feedback. We are currently refurbishing our rooms and we hope you can visit us again to experience some changes by next season. Happy and Safe Diving! Regards Avillion Layang Layang Team
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
+1
For the diving, I think one divemaster vs 9 divers is not enough; should be at least two DM. The current is sometimes quite strong and changing direction; the water would become murky with low visibility. It is better for you to have at least advance open water cert and 80+ diving experience before coming to this place. Usually the first 20 minutes will swim into the blue at around 25M looking for hammerhead sharks, you may see them if lucky or nothing. Then will swim back to the wall looking for other stuff, but there are several times the current was too strong, we can't swim back to the wall, just do the safety stop at the blue and surface. The corals are not very colorful and there are not much small stuff to see. We have seen the hammerhead sharks twice and one…
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Date of stay: May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
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+1
An island where you can escape from the busy city life and focus for diving and meet school of hammerhead sharks at deep blue water, swim with manta ray. Not suggest for non diver as the island has limited outdoor activities. Best season for hammerhead sharks is between end of April to mid of May every year, expecting strong current and suggest for experience divers only. Overall for room consider clean as the resort is doing weekly pest control and the house keeping would greet you with different of towel decoration on your bed - hammerhead shark, turtle or manta ray. Daily you can enjoy 5 meals at restaurant or near pool side, at night you can have some beers or cocktail at hammerhead bar. The only disadvantage is the wifi signal quite poor and only limited at bar, pool,…
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Date of stay: May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
This place is all about the diving, especially the schooling hammerheads and we were not disappointed. The diving was well organised and our dive master Alvin was great. The reef is not as colourful as some we have seen but the underwater life is very good and yes the Hammerheads were there on 4 of our 18 dives - one was a mass sighting of 50+ & was worth the trip. The resort is well run but slightly tired - it would be a good thing to get rid of the stained carpets (why would you haved carpets in the tropics??) and utilise timber as in the public areas. The customer service was excellent and the food pretty good.
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Date of stay: May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
I returned from Layang Layang a few days ago having spent 7 nights and 8 days there. It is a beautiful place, very peaceful and well maintained. The staff go out of their way to make your experience a good one and could not have been more friendly or helpful. The things other people have complained about were really not an issue for me. Yes the wifi is not great but when you are on holiday does this really matter? The accommodation blocks are wooden and the walls are thin but you are so tired after diving that it does not keep you awake. The food is good considering they have to fly everything in and bbq night was great. My main area of concern is the lack of overall management in the dive centre. The dive masters do a good job but they are there just as guides, they do not go…
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Date of stay: May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Lawrence L, Manager at Layang Layang Island Resort
Responded 13 May 2015
Dear Sir, Thank you for posting your reviews in trip advisor and I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. We appreciate your feedback as this will help us to improve further our safety and service standards. We will do the necessary improvements. Thank you. Regards The Avillion Layang Layang Team
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
*Alert - This comment is from a newbie diver* OMG! I had the best time ever in Layang Layang Island! I've always heard about its treasures but never had a chance to experience it until I stayed there in March 2015. I was actually among the least experienced diver with few dives on my log. But that doesn't stop me from diving. I'm glad that Avilion LL added another Divemaster to take care of us. We had very responsible Divemasters in our group and very lucky to have them -- Noel and Cyril! I've read reviews from other people about Open Water Diver at 30m or more but we stayed at our comfortable depth. I definitely recommend you to bring your own mask and wetsuit, since it took me 3 times to find the most comfortable mask and wetsuit for rent in Avilion are Shorties. We…
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Date of stay: March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
This is the only resort on Layang Layang so u dont hv a choice if you want to dive here which is known for sightings of big stuff like hammerheads, sharks & mantas. Unfortunately we were unlucky and the only highlight was the school of jacks & barracudas on one dive. Other than that it was just the "deep blue" at depths of 30metre+. Having said that it is a whole experience on its own and as a diver you will appreciate it!! Nothing much to see at the reefs and shallower waters so it was a disappointing trip. Accomodation was OK although the resort looks a little worn out. Service staff were great and food was good. In the interest of safety the biggest negative for me was the ratio of divers to dive guide. Considering we were diving to such depths daily, 10 divers to 1…
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Date of stay: April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Stay there recently on our 5D/4N trip. The island is very private and peaceful. Good hospitality, spacious and clean room, food is yummy and diving is so much fun. We saw a school off bumpheads, Napoleon fish, a school of hammerheads at Wrasser Strip, white tip sharks every dives, Mantas every dives, lobsters, huge tuna fish, jack fish and etc etc etc. Did 2 times night dive near the jetty and surprisingly there's alot of thing to see especially micro stuff, shrimps, crabs, sword fish, nudi and more. The dive masters and boat man are more then helpful and friendly and they treat everyone equal. Although the internet/coverage is weak or sometimes no service at all but we had a pleasant stay here and met alot of new friends.
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Date of stay: April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
if you are reading this review then you are a diver and your main interest will be in the quality of the diving. As has been stated elsewhere, diving in the Blue is not like visiting a zoo. You may get to see Hammerheads and you may not. We were lucky and we did and it was an amazing experience. If you are a fairly experienced diver then the sharks apart there is not much to hold the attention from adiving perspective. The reefs are not that interesting but we did get to see and Eagle Ray and a Bull shark around the reefs (plus the usual Jack, Cleverly, Whiye Tips and so on). Deep Blue diving can be a challenge so beware. The DM's are pretty security conscious but of course they cannot be held responsible for the irresponsibility of some Divers that we saw who are a danger to…
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Date of stay: April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
As background, Layang Layang is an atoll 300 km from anywhere, it's an airstrip with a very well run dive centre attached. The staff act as one team to ensure that you have the best experience possible, nothing is too much trouble. The accommodation is comfortable (deluxe rooms) the food a very simple and well executed Asian Buffet, and the beer is ice cold Tiger. The Dive shop runs to a plan; you are assigned to a boat and Dive master. Your gear stays on it for your stay, and you dive 3 times a day, meals are organised around the dive times. The diving can be challenging, to get the maximum enjoyment PADI AOW is essential, and say 30+ dives including drift and deep. The washing machine at LL is an experience like no other. The dive masters are guides, not instructors…
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Date of stay: April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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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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