The record
The islands off Semporna sit inside the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE), created in 2013 after cross-border kidnapping incidents in the 2000s and mid-2010s. Since then the security build-up has produced a measurable result: no kidnap-for-ransom incidents in the zone since January 2020 — a record maintained across more than six years, publicly tracked, and the reason multiple foreign governments have been lowering their advisories through 2025 and 2026.
What the advisories currently say
They vary by country, and they typically rate the islands one step above the mainland: the United States holds the eastern Sabah mainland at its lowest advisory level with increased caution for the islands and maritime areas; Australia and Canada advise a higher degree of caution offshore; Japan retains restrictions on the islands off Semporna while relaxing the mainland; several European governments revised theirs recently. The honest summary: no government bans travel here, several still advise caution offshore, and the trend across 2025–2026 has been downward. Check your own government's current advisory before booking — it also affects whether your travel insurance applies.
What security looks like on the ground
- ESSCOM presence: maritime patrols, monitoring of island resorts, and security personnel stationed at larger facilities.
- Guest manifests: licensed operators submit visitor records to the authorities — part of why the record holds. Book licensed, always.
- The sea curfew: a dusk-to-dawn curfew applies to boat movement in the zone. Practically, this is why all transfers and dives run in daylight and why nobody offers night crossings — it shapes the schedule, not the experience.
What this means for your trip
Book through licensed operators, travel on scheduled daylight boats, follow resort and guide instructions on the water — the same things a well-run trip involves anyway. Everyday risks on a small island (sun, boats, currents, minor injuries far from a clinic) deserve at least as much of your attention as the headline question, which is why dive insurance and common sense remain the real safety equipment.
This page carries a quarterly re-verification duty: advisory levels and curfew details change. Update the "last verified" stamp each cycle or take the page down — a stale safety page is worse than none.