As others have mentioned the chalets are very basic and there is little to do on this small island near to Sandakan; but the opportunites to get up close to these turtles in their natural environment make the trip more than worthwhile.

In the main building they serve pretty decent buffet meals and the shop is well stocked with beer, water, and soft drinks to help the early evening pass by as you wait to be called to witness the arrival of the first turtle of the evening.

Once you're beckoned onto the beach it's a slick routine which I'm sure is followed every evening with everyone getting a good sight of the egg laying process, the relaying of the eggs back in the hatchery, and the release of newly hatched turtles. You have the chance to handle an egg and a newly hatched turtle wriggling in the palm of your hand before the show is over.

If you're an early riser then an early morning walk on the beach could yield a few surprises. At 6am, in the early morning light, I did come across a couple of turtles still on the beach and working their way back slowly to the waters edge. A chance to see these wonderful creatures in daylight without the clamber of other visitors.

The main reason you go to Turtle Island is for the turtles. You are there for less than 24hrs and I feel the idea is that they provide you with the bare basics when it comes to ammenities. It is a lot of money to see the turtles, but I realise it furthers their conservation not our personal comfort whilst you are there.
We travelled with 2 kids aged 7 & 9, and they had a great time as did we (we are not 5 star travellers anyway).
You are expected to entertain yourself until the turtles come ashore. We found the snorkelling OK. Many people did not seem to work out where the best coral was, and we certainly pointed many in the right direction. You need to go to the right of where the path comes out at the beach (near the hire shack), it also helps to go out half way at least to the buoys. You will see clown fish and some nice coral. Our sons enjoyed splitting the coconuts on rocks and climbing the trees as well.
The rooms are definitely poor quality, yes no hot water, no water supply to the toilet overnight as they have to desalinate their water etc, food average, yes the odd critter too! Turtles, wow!

Visited Turtle Island overnight in Sept 06 to watch the turtles come ashore at night -time and see the release of the baby turtles into the sea. I wanted to write a review of this because I probably hadn't done my research properly and didn't really know much about it so wanted to advise others of what to expect. Firstly I'd advise to pack lightly and put luggage in storage at your hotel if possible. However, if you don't have that option, you can store your luggage at the jetty before you get on the boat to go to the island. We arrived at about 11am and had a bit of time on the beach to sunbathe and snorkel before lunch. As someone else said, there isn't a huge amount to see snorkeling but it passes some time. After lunch (food on the island is nice) we had until 6pm to do as we pleased. We would rather have arrived later in the day to be honest as, besides sitting on the beach, there is nothing else to do on the island. The rooms in the chalet were very basic, old and grubby, although they did have air conditioning. No hot water for the shower either. Not really a room you'd want to spend much time in when you have time to kill. As described by others, dinner is at 6pm and you can't go back to your room until you've seen the turtles. You can either sit in the canteen or on the benches just outside, not very comfortable either way after a while. Bring cards and a book no matter what. You can get alcohol until about 10pm. We were a bit unnerved in the canteen as the night went on when we started to see large cockroaches inside. Also, outside there were quite a few large black rats running along the side of the building. I know you're on a remote island and some might say what do I expect but better to be prepared i think! We got to see a mother turtle at 11.30pm and then saw the different stages in the turtle process until midnight. We definitely enjoyed this part! However we did have a sleepless night in the chalet listening to creatures running up the walls and over the roof outside and scratching at the vents. Don't mean to freak anyone out but I'm a bit nervy about these things and would advise if you are too, research this before going. Not sure if I can recommend this trip unless you really love turtles!

After a very rough trip across to Selingan island in February, we were rewarded by the remarkable sight of a green turtle which laid 104 eggs - we will never foget it!