Most people who come to dive the Sipadan area stay on nearby Mabul Island and their diving experience is a combination of Sipadan's walls and big fish action and Mabul's macro sites and critters. Mabul is a small sandy island with coconut trees, dive resorts and a local fishing village, and only 25 minutes or so from Sipadan itself.
Mabul has long lived in the shadow of its famous neighbour but is now emerging as a dive destination in its own right. As critter-diving has increased in popularity many divers come here not for the big fish action of Sipadan but for the incredible array of macro-life to be seen in Mabul. Sandy sea-beds, coral outcrops, small walls and artificial reefs and jetties, are all home to some of the seas most amazing little creatures.
It is often a good sign when underwater photographers are around and there are always a few diving in Mabul (often only here, and not Sipadan!), so you can be sure there are a wealth of interesting sights lurking in every nook and cranny around the island.
Highlights
Froggy Lair - Typically for Mabul, this site is full of wonderful critters and a keen pair of eyes can be treated to sights such as crocodilefish, an awesome variety of nudibranchs, garden eels, mantis shrimps and, as the name of the site suggests, lots of different species of frogfish in various colours and sizes. Photographers tend to love the line up of critters here and if you are lucky you may even spot the likes of a flamboyant cuttlefish and blue-ringed octopus.
How to Dive Mabul
Staying in a resort here means you can either concentrate on all the local sites around the island where the critters abound. Most however choose to take a 2 tank diving trip each day to Sipadan and make their third dive back at Mabul.
There are several resorts on the island that should have something for everyone, from a budget resort to stilted bungalow luxury. See our Malaysia resorts section for more details.
潛水季節：
You can dive in Mabul year round with the best conditions occurring outside the rainy season which occurs normally between December and March. However the weather and diving conditions are often very good at this time too.
潛點總結：
Great for: Small animals, underwater photography and beginner divers
Not so great for: Visibility and non-diving activities
Depth: 5 - 20m
Visibility: 5 - 15m
Currents: Gentle
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 27 - 29°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 12
Distance: 12 km (25 minutes) north from Sipadan and 5 km west of Kapalai
Access: Diving resorts
Recommended length of stay: 5 - 14 days, including Mabul, Sipadan and Kapalai
潛點：
Crocodile Avenue
Opinion is divided on the quality of this site. For high adrenaline-junky Borneo divers, Mabul Island may seem a little sedate, but for macro-lovers it is a haven of discovery. As with many of the dive sites here, progress should be slow and deliberate with eyes scanning the floor and every feature on it for sightings that you will miss if you fin off looking straight ahead. To dive here is to cover a gentle sandy slope peppered with little areas of activity. With a pair of sharp eyes you will find a seahorse or ten. Patches of weed and stringy areas often harbour at least one seahorse, clinging on with its prehensile tail.
Other joys which may escape the attention of inattentive divers include the eponymous crocodilefish lying in wait on the sandy floor, its large flat snout resting just above the ground. Your guide will also surely identify the occasional ghost pipefish riding delicately in the movement of the water. As you make your way along it may also be worth looking forward where you may see the long protruding bodies of garden eels shrinking back to safety as you and your fellow divers approach.
There can be no doubt that Mabul's crowning glory is the abundance of critters and small stuff, however occasionally the bigger things might put in a visit such as a passing eagle ray. If you are investigative by nature, Mabul diving will be ideal for you. Equally popular as a night dive, nocturnal outings will yield excellent rewards with sightings including cuttlefish, nudibranchs and crabs all making their way into the beam of your flashlight.
Crocodile Avenue Reef Basics: muck dive
Depth: 5 - 20m
Visibility: 10 - 20m
Currents: None
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: 1 km (5 minutes) from Borneo Divers Mabul Resort or 5 km (10 minutes) from Kapalai
Access: Mabul dive resorts or Kapalai resorts
Froggy Lair
As with many of the sites around Mabul a keen pair of eyes and deliberate approach are necessary here if you are not to emerge saying you saw nothing. Suspended particles in the water can make for what would normally be considered poor visibility. The point is this should not matter, as you won't be staring off in the distance looking for passing sharks, rather you should be seeking out delights closer to your mask. That explains why there are mixed reviews for this Mabul scuba diving site.
On the one hand, the suspended particles, the seabed with stunted corals and rubbish fragments like old fishing nets and tyres which litter this site have led many a diver to categorise it as a poor one, with very little to offer the diver. On the other hand, diehard macro divers have come back raving about unusual finds. Several frogfish are often spotted well camouflaged as they sit in wait ready for the fastest lethal strike in the natural world. The two more celebrated of these are blue in colour and about the size of a football (or if you insist a 'soccer' ball). Cowries can be seen both in the daytime as well as at night.
There are any number of species of nudibranchs in splashes of colour that are extraordinarily pretty as well as some fabulously ornate ghost pipefish. Perhaps the most sought after prize here at Froggy Lair and the one that dominates most pre-dive conversation is the holy grail of muck diving in Mabul, the flamboyant cuttlefish. This little beauty, most often seen at night, is a gem making its way along the sandy bottom moving its ornate purplish, yellow body to the delight of all wide-eyed witnesses.
Froggy Lair Reef Basics: Sandy sea bed
Depth: 10m
Visibility: 5 - 15m
Currents: None
Surface Conditions: Can be choppy
Water Temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience Level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: 1 km (5 minutes) from Mabul Island pier or 5 km (10 minutes) from Kapalai
Access: Sipadan Mabul resorts or Kapalai Resort
Eel Garden
Mabul scuba diving offers rich rewards for patient divers, those who are willing to move slowly but surely in search in rare species hard to find at other dive destinations. At the sandy seabed which you can find at a depth of about 20 metres onwards, you'll spot loads of small lairs and tunnels. These are home to shy colourful gobies of various species, blue ribbon eels swaying around with gaping mouths and cleaning shrimp who might conduct a little dental work for you if you ask nicely.
As its name suggests, there are a large number of garden eels which rise out of the sandy seabed. From a distance they stand very tall swaying with the water and looking like a field of stalks. Within the small groups of coral, exploration will yield sightings of the rare lemon coloured moray, and frogfish in colours of blue, rose red and black.
As you work your way up, you'll come upon the reef at a depth of between 2 and 15 metres. Along with wrasse and damselfish, is a very unusual creature, the gigantic mantis shrimp from the genus odontodactylus. This predatory crustacean literally jumps out of its lair (holes on the sandy seabed) to grab passing fish for dinner. The force that its front claws have on passing fish has been compared to a 22-calibre bullet. They are built to pierce tough marine exoskeletons and can cut through human flesh like a hot knife through butter so divers, be warned, don't provoke them, you won't like them when they're angry.
Eel Garden Reef Basics: Coral reef on sandy bed
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 10 - 20m
Currents: None
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: 1 km (5 minutes) from Mabul Island pier or 5 km (10 minutes) from Kapalai
Access: Mabul dive resorts or Kapalai resorts
Seaventure Platform
Is beauty only skin deep or is that just something ugly people say? People see this converted oil rig and are aghast at the thought of diving beneath it. Ugly, big metal legs support what is now converted into accommodation but it looks like the last place you would think about diving beneath. Underwater however, is a very different story.
The site is only a stone's throw from Mabul (well, if you are particularly good stonethrower) and is sheltered by the structure of the platform. This means that surface conditions are almost always flat calm and there is also little current. This means you can relax and take your time to explore.
Among the piles of metal rods on a site that varies in depth between 12 and around 17 metres, you will find a whole batch of frogfish in varying hues of red, yellow and black. Cruising around this post-apocalyptic landscape, the joy of discovery can be intense as you spot huge moray eels, ghostpipefish and nudibranchs galore where you thought there was nothing. The amazing thing is that what looks like a desolate wasteland is in fact home to a flourishing marine island community.
Every diver of this Mabul scuba diving site seems to come back with their own tales of things they have found and the site of everyone poking around makes it look like some bizarre industrial archeological site! Delights in the debris. Rarities in the rubble. Joy in the junk. Certainly unique and unquestionably rewarding for critter fans - a special, idiosyncratic site and one that will stay with you for a long time.
Seaventure Platform Reef Basics: wreck dive
Depth: 12 - 17m
Visibility: 10 - 20m
Currents: None
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: Less than 2 km (5 minutes) from Mabul Island pier or 5 km (10 minutes) from Kapalai
Access: Mabul scuba diving or Kapalai resorts
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