Bigfin Beach Resort

Beautiful and super chill lil' place! Delicious food and friendly staff. The rooms are clean and fresh! Overall a fantastic stay in between our jungle journey. Definitely will recommend to friends coming to Sabah to stop by :)

One of the best stays I have ever had! The resort is beautiful, it feels very private, people working there are very kind, food is incredible.

Kudos to everyone working at the resort, they care a lot about the environement!

Nestled in an idyllic setting in a lovely bay just outside of Kota Belud, Bigfin is perfect in almost every way possible. We initially booked for six nights and decided that we couldn’t bear to leave and stayed for 15.

First, let’s talk about the feel. The resort enjoys twin vistas of the sea and Mount Kinabalu. Behind you, you’ll find the jungle. In front, you will find a perfect and pristine beach, your gateway to the sea. The whole resort, although rustic, as far as accommodations go with no water, heaters, rainwater, showers, etc. is built for comfort. Each bungalow is equipped with chairs table and two hammocks. There are lots of places around for lounging and taking in the vibe. Immediately coming here you will feel at home and not want to leave.

The main lodge area is where the meals are served and is a central place for gathering. They have boardgames card, games and books available for enjoyment. Most of the time a good eclectic selection of music is playing over the speaker there. It’s always a chill place to hang out if you don’t feel like being alone or on the beach.

The diving here is amazing, the coral is bright and colorful, and the wildlife is very diverse. Rays, sharks, many varieties of fish, and of course, tons of macro opportunities abound. One thing to note that the diving conditions are somewhat seasonal with parts of the year around monsoon have visibility. If this is a concern, best to ask them about it before hand.

The teaching staff here is some of the best I’ve ever seen. The amount of one on one time that they provide with each students is unmatched. Additionally, the the thoroughness observed is second to none. This is the perfect place to be certified or to continue your diving education. If you study with these folks, you will leave as a better diver and have confidence. As a parent, this is probably the best place I can think of to get my child engaged with diving. It is a completely amazing and perfect experience. I can’t say enough nice things about the staff here. The amount of positive energy these folks put into the universe is really something else. Special shoutouts to Maman, Joe and Jan, you guys are amazing instructors and extreme pleasures to be around. The amount of positive vibes you both put into the universe is unparalleled. You are made for this! Thank you!

I should also talk about the food here. It’s amazing. The chef Awie, is a super kind man who is super talented in the kitchen. We were dazzled daily by his tasty breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. In addition to our daily meals, Awie was always happy to assist with any other arrangements we needed made, such as transportation, etc.

Overall, this is one of the best experiences we’ve ever had traveling. I could go on and on and on about night walks, snorkeling, etc etc but I’m not going to, i’ll save all of that for you to discover.

The owners/architects/creators Apex, Ella, and Arya and the magical team that they assembled, have created a masterpiece. The staff, location, the other guests, everything here is just right. If you’re OK with roughing it a little bit without air-conditioning, heated, water, electricity during the daytime (there is Internet though), then you will be rewarded with all of its splendor. I wouldn’t trade our time here for anything. You could most definitely assume that we will be back, and soon.

A little peace of paradise!

We just spent 5 magical days in this resort. The resort is very tastefully integrated in the intact nature, paying every respect to it and minimising its ecological footprint.

The nature is breath taking. You can go scuba diving or snorkeling with their dive center, rent a kayak or a paddleboard. You can also chose to spend your day in the hammock at the beach (in the shadow or not).

There is only solar power produced electricity from 17h30 until 23h30. Wifi connection is available in the lounge area (but you do not go there for internet).

Very comfortable beds and pillows. Very good water pressure in the toilet and the shower.

For breakfast, you can chose between 4 options (but banana pancakes are the best). Lunch is usually a rice meal and a noodles meal. But Awie's dinners are high restaurant quality stars. You would pay serious money in Europe for these dishes. There was always a generous amount of food and no one stayed hungry.

It is possible to buy some snacks, beer and fuzzy drinks.

The staff is very nice. Special thanks goes to the heart of the resort - Awie. Not only is he a great chef, he also impeccably sets lounge playlists. Guests often hum along.

The staff really invests a lot in maintaining the place, including collecting plastic brought by the sea. Unfortunately, it is a never ending job (I collected at least 10 kg in the 5 days). If all guests could contribute a bit more, it would be great!

I stayed at Big Fin for 3 nights after climbing Kinabalu a day prior. This part of my trip was intended as time to relax and unwind. The location is absolutely stunning, beautiful view of the bay and islands, totally surrounded by jungle and with the other nearest resort a 5 minute boat ride away. It feels very secluded and quiet, and there were only a maximum of 10 other people there during my stay.

I spent most of my time sitting in the hammocks reading, but I also took a Kayak out to the island on one of the days and did some snorkelling in the shallows. I was able to see quite a lot of fish even there and without needing to dive.

The room was comfortable and clean and had its own deck with a hammock. The food was simple but really excellent, and Awie made sure that any dietaries were accounted for.

All in all this was a great stay and I would definitely recommend this place.

Special little resort located right on its own beach with plenty of others accessible by kayak. Dive sites are about 20-30 minutes boat ride away.
Fresh and diverse meals cooked on-site by very friendly staff.
Great find for us, only things to recommend about it.

A brilliant experience from start to finish. The fact you can only get in by boat makes it feel so secluded. Lovely clean beach. Rooms excellent (that view!) and the food was really good. Chilling with a beer in the communal area was just perfect. Highly recommended.

Isolated location by just 5-10 min boat, chill vibe with friendly employees and great food provided by chef Awie. It's definitely worth it to heft those heavy luggage s up to the hill😆

We stayed here for 2 nights and wish it would have been more.
This was the „just relax“-part of our travels in Borneo and that’s what we did. Relax in a hammock on the beach, go for a kayaking trip to the next island, enjoy the sunset. The food was really amazing and the best of our entire time in Borneo! After being here we compared all restaurants we went to/ food we had to bigfin, but none could match.
The team was also really helpful as we forgot something at their place to make sure we got it back when we were in KK a few days later. Thanks again for that!
We would highly recommend staying here!

Excellent ambience, food, snorkelling, views. Stairs up to rooms tiring and could be a challenge for elderly or disabled. An idyllic spot to relax, unwind and connect to nature with fairly basic facilities.

One of the best places i have ever been to. The location is quite remote and located in paradise. Very good accomodation and the staff is like family. We sat together with the diveteachers, played guitar and sang songs while having cold beers. Awie (the chef) cooks great meals everyday and the diving is also very nice and affordable. I can highly recommend going here when you come to Borneo!

Amazing place to dive and to relax! Really quiet spot with great views. Especially the staff made our stay really unforgettable. Awie is a great cook!

Great stay. 1.5 hour drive from the city. Park at dragon resort nearby. Free boat shuttle to the resort. Nice meals but call ahead if you want something specific

Super nice place, loved the place, vibes and all the crew there. Nice isolated place, need to take a 5-10min boat ride from a meeting point cuz there’s no road connecting to the resort. Back to basic, there’s no hot water for shower and the electricity in the room is only available from 5 till 11, but it’s not able to support hair dryer.. can live with that tho

It's a amazing experience, the sunset is breathtaking and the coral is colourful and there's a lot different types of fish. The place give you a nature experience of land, water and air.

Really recommend this place if you love diving or snorkelling.

A beautiful place to stay and dive ! Will come back for sure !

A stunning, peaceful escape from the world. Phone went away, uno came out, and we had a super relaxing short break with our two young kids.

Thise place is nice. U can enjoy the relaxing nature. fresh air ang good view of mount kinabalu at morning or day time. And sunset in the sea. And also can enjoy the underwater adventure of diving. can see the marine life in a good bigfin divers diving spot. .

Idyllic location in beautiful garden with jungle backdrop and fabulous ocean views. Staff so friendly and chef excellent. Thanks to everyone for a brilliant relaxing stay.

Awesome place - perfect for diving, hanging out with friends and spending time in a natural spot sea kayaking, paddle boarding & swimming. I can't recommend this place enough!