The Firefly Resort

The stuff was extremly pleasant. Very good restaurant.

best staff ever !

The resort is situated about 15 min drive out of Semporna, in a plantation. Semporna itself is not a nice town, therefore I was glad I was not staying in town. The rooms are lovely. Very clean, good lighting, comfortable bed, well working ac, soap, toothbrush, comb etc. available. The girl working at the reception is lovely and helped organize transfer from the harbour to the resort (which was free) and from the resort to Tawau airport as well as a last minute trip to Bohey Dulang, Mantabuan and Sibuan. Being so far out of town, the operate a free shuttle to Semporna which was amazing. The reception girl reliably told me which car will pick me up where and when. The tropical garden around the rooms is lovely and the restaurant was good.

Nothing

It was lovely that it was a bit out of town , as it felt like a small oasis amounts the business of Semporna- the staff were very accomodating to all our needs snd the shuttle bus made getting in snd out of town so easy

I liked the setting of the property, the reception area and the eating area were designed in a modern and tasteful way. The place has a nice tropical resort feel to it, with beautiful big leafed plants planted on the way to rooms and a talking black bird:) The staff were kind and effective in getting your requests sorted, eg. the manager bought the fan i asked for. They tried their best.

There is one structural issue with the rooms and that is that they do not have a natural ventilation system, which is essential in a humid climate. You need at least 2 windows on opposite sides that can open with mosquito nets (one in bathroom) to ensure airflow and a draft from one end to the other. The room uses an air-con system which works if it is on a lot, but a lot of these rooms are locked up without it during the day (everyone snorkeling and diving) and when there are no guests. So this results in a musky smell in the room that is very hard to get rid of over time. Another thing i would recommend is using other dive/snorkelling companies. Dive monster didn’t provide a safe enough experience, and snorkels had mould inside and masks were poor quality. So wasn’t really a snorkelling trip (most people were there for their first time scuba dive to take photos) with a guide but a swim with masks around the boats which makes it quite dangerous in the rainy/windy weather though it was overall fun being in the water with some beautiful coral. E.g. Borneo Speedy Dive we took for the next day were much more professional and smooth in their trip and the snorkelling was guided by a local specialist so we saw a lot!

Comfortable rooms Quiet location You can see the fireflies, make sure to ask the staff for direction. The staff is super nice and helped us book tour for islands hoping. Free shuttle service!

Harder to go home late at night (after 9pm) with grab

Firefly is a lovely place. The staff are really helpful and it’s in a great natural environment. We had a car so it was easy for free parking and travel to and from Semporna. We left very early to drive to Kota Kinabalu so took a packed breakfast from the breakfast buffet. Lovely place and lovely people.

We loved the gardens, restaurant, layout, a relaxed and safe sanctuary after visiting Semporna and islands during the day. Saw fireflies at night too. Great free transport service to and from town, helpful to organise a car to the airport etc. Food was excellent too.