Regatta Lepa Semporna: Bajau Laut Boat Festival
What is the Regatta Lepa Semporna?
The Regatta Lepa Semporna is a traditional Bajau Laut boat festival held each April since 1994 on the Semporna waterfront. Ornately decorated lepa houseboats race and are judged on craftsmanship, alongside cultural performances and food.
What is the Regatta Lepa Semporna?
The Regatta Lepa Semporna is one of Sabah's most distinctive cultural events — part boat race, part heritage festival. Held on the waterfront of Semporna in southeast Sabah, it celebrates the maritime culture of the Bajau Laut, a seafaring people whose lives have long been tied to the sea.
At the heart of the festival are the lepa, traditional Bajau Laut houseboats, which are decorated with extraordinary care and paraded and raced before crowds of locals and visitors. The event preserves and showcases a living maritime tradition rather than staging a purely competitive race.
When and where it happens
The regatta is held annually in April on the Semporna town waterfront. It has been staged since 1994, building more than three decades of history. Its April date sits in the drier season and overlaps with the peak Sipadan and Semporna diving period, so the town is lively with both festival-goers and divers.
What is a lepa boat?
A lepa is a traditional Bajau Laut houseboat — historically a home as much as a vessel for a people deeply connected to the sea. For the regatta, these boats are transformed: rigged with brightly coloured sails, flags, and intricate ornamentation that reflect Bajau Laut craftsmanship and identity. The result is a flotilla of floating colour that has become the festival's signature image.
How the festival is judged
Unlike a pure speed race, the Regatta Lepa rewards artistry as well as athleticism. Boats are judged on their decoration, colour, and traditional craftsmanship in addition to their performance on the water. This dual judging keeps the focus on cultural heritage, encouraging communities to pour skill and pride into preparing their lepa each year.
Culture, food and performances
The regatta is far more than the boats. Across the race days, the Semporna waterfront fills with cultural performances, traditional costumes, and a food market. For visitors, it is a rare chance to experience Bajau Laut culture in a celebratory setting, with music, dance, dress, and local cuisine all part of the experience.
The Regatta Lepa is rooted in the identity of the Bajau Laut, one of Sabah's seafaring communities. Approach it as a cultural celebration: be respectful when photographing people and boats, and take time to learn the stories behind the decorations and traditions on display.
Visiting the regatta
Semporna is the gateway to Sipadan, Mabul, and Kapalai, which makes the regatta easy to combine with a diving or island-hopping trip. Because April is peak season for both the festival and the dive sites, accommodation in and around Semporna can be tight — book ahead and confirm the festival dates through official Sabah tourism channels before you travel.