HOW TO GET THERE You will fly from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau (40 minutes) and then take a coach of about 90 minutes to a coastal fishing town of Semporna, from here you are ferried to Mabul Island in about 30-40 minutes.

 

MABUL ISLAND

Situated only about 15 minutes by speedboat from Sipadan, and 30 minutes from mainland Semporna, Mabul is recognized as one of the world's best "muck-diving" sites, has a shallow reef profile with sandy bottom and patches of sea grass and also one of the richest single destinations for exotic small marine life in the world.

The coral reefs at first glance do not look very picturesque and inviting, however it is the diversity of macro animals inhabiting the coral rubble and sea grass sites that put Mabul on the diving map. Flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus, gobies and frogfishes are everywhere, as are moray, snake eels and practically the whole scorpion fish family. There's no doubt about it, Mabul is a magical macro site! The beauty of Mabul will also appeal greatly to non - divers as well.

There are about 8 dive sites in Mabul area such as: -

* Eel Garden (18 - 20 m)
* Ray Point (15 - 25 m)
* Panglima Reef (5 - 20 m)
* Lobster Wall (40 - 75 m)
* Nudibranch Centre
* Crocodile Avenue (2 - 15 m)
* Froggy Lair (5 - 20 m)
* Coral Reef Garden (5 - 15 m)
Some of the dive sites' descriptions are...

 

EEL GARDEN

~ Located towards the southern end of Pulau Mabul. Eel Garden is one of the deeper dives around the area. Divers descend to a sandy flat between 20 to 25 metres sloping towards the open sea.

~ Fining carefully and avoiding stirring up the silty bottom, divers can observe gobies seeking refuge in the tiny crevices and moray eels occupying larger holes. Looking towards the sandy patch, you will see what appear to be blades of long grass swaying with the current. These are the elusive garden eels (Heteroconger Hassi) living in colonies that quickly dart back into their burrows on approaching shadows or excessive movement in the water.

 

RAY POINT

Also located on the southern tip of Pulau Mabul, this site slopes to about 30 metres at the sandy bottom. Currents sweeping through this point bring clear water and good visibility. Sea fans and soft corals that thrive in current areas are home to gobies, blennies, moray eels, butterfly fish, damselfish, parrotfish and stonefish (Synanceia Verrucosa).

 

CROCODILE AVENUE

Mabul, Crocodile Avenue: Flat sandy area from 5m to 20m. It is a sandy area, so there are empty stretches of sand with oases of life. Our dive guide found some seahorses there every time. The absolute record was 8 seahorses. Then there are sand eels, double-ended pipefish, crocodile fish, special tube anemones, ghost pipefish (Harlequin- and Sea grass-), cowfish etc. I even saw some turtles, humpback parrotfish, barracudas, mackerels and a small eagle ray there. Night dives are also very good here. We found lots of sepias, cuttlefish and special nudibranchs (for example the Spanish Dancer, Asteronotus c.) and lots of crabs. One of the highlights was a small boxer crab, found on some rubble.

 

SEAVENTURE PLATFORM

Mabul, Seaventures Platform: Flat sandy area on about 17m. This is an old oil platform that has been converted into a hotel owned by Seaventures Dive Resort. It stands on huge pillars. You dive underneath in 17m of water. An amazing dive site! There are several piles of metal rods, look close, and there are always several frogfish (yellow to red, black and gray) sitting on them. Inside the largest pile there is a huge moray eel. His head must have a diameter of about 15cm! Then we also found: ghost pipefish (Harlequin and sea grass), wasp fish, nudibranchs (Halgerda, Cromodoris etc.), stonefish, flying gurnard and close to the pillars always lots of batfish and flute fish.

 

LOBSTER WALL

Mabul, Lobster Wall: Wall, some small caverns. There are many nudibranchs, anemones, shrimps and in a small cave I even found a baby cowfish. Great night dives.

 

SIPADAN ISLAND

~ Sipadan Island has 11 Marked Dive Sites. All dives are Wall Dives. The following are brief descriptions of some of the sites and marine life you can expect to see.

 

DROP OFF

Just 20 feet from the shore, the wall plunges a staggering 2,000 feet down and is rated as one of the top 5 Beach Dives in the world. The wall is encrusted with different varieties of coral, turtles abound and a multitude of lionfish & smaller reef dwelling fish live on this wall. The entrance to TURTLE CAVERN is also found about 70ft down along this wall.

 

STAGHORN CREST / SOUTH POINT

There is usually a very strong current present at this site. Dives here can take you through up to three marked sites. Very large shoals of pelagic feed here (Barracuda, Jacks, Sharks and Turtles). On the upper reef, a multitude of smaller reef fish abound. Coral is bursting with color, many huge Anemone and Clown Fish at this site.

 

HANGING GARDEN

This wall is covered in a multitude of soft coral. Hawksbill & Green Turtles live on the ledges at this site and the current is usually quite calm. A great spot for photography as colorful corals hang from the interesting cracks and crevices along the wall.

 

TURTLE PATCH

This site is home to a huge number of Hawksbill & Green Turtles. Many reef sharks also frequent this site. It is rather barren in comparison to some of the other sites, but triggerfish and other reef fish dwell on the upper coral reef, making it a well-rounded site.

 

BARRACUDA POINT

As the name suggests, Barracuda Point is where a large concentration of Pelagic's converge. Except to see large shoals of Barracuda, Jacks, Grey and White Tip Reef Sharks. The schools number in the high hundreds. Current is strong. It is a fast moving, high voltage dive site.

 

WHITE TIP AVENUE

As with al the sites on Sipadan Island, the name says it all. Expect to see huge Black & White Tip Reef Sharks, Grey Sharks, massive Green & Hawksbill Turtles as well as large shoals of Jack & Barracuda.

KAPALAI ISLAND

 

MANDARIN VALLEY

Kapalai, Mandarin Valley: Slope to about 20 metres, hard corals then sand with small underwater mound. This dive site has its name from a dragonet that can be found there and that has a beautiful color like the clothes of the Chinese mandarins. It lives during the day under the spines of sea urchins. Go out to the small underwater mound - there were several leaf fish there last time. Leaf fish can shed their skin and in such a way adjust to the surrounding reef. I saw one, where some yellow ascidians were growing on his skin right over the eye. There is also a mushroom coral (Heliofungia a.) on the sand with some white anemone pipefish (Siokunichthys n.) living inside.

 

RAY CHANNEL

Kapalai, Ray Channel: This is a sandy channel with the reef on one side. The special fish, you find here and nowhere else in Mabul is the dragon fish (Pegasus). This small animal lives in pairs on sand and feeds on invertebrates. There are some leaf fish; a spiny devilfish lives close by and there is a small baby-angelfish.

SI AMIL ISLAND (Muck Dive)

1. Maratua Reef
2. Celebes Reef
3. East Point
4. Snoway Point
5. Danawan Small Wall.  

NOTE: Soft Coral, Hard Coral, Marine life such as frogfish, nudibranch and almost the same as Mabul Island but more to Micro Dive.

 

MANTABUAN ISLAND (Muck Dive)

1. Mantabuan Reef
2. Coral Garden
3. Kapitan Reef (Sandy bottom)

 

NOTE: Most of the dives are Muck Dive and sloopy reef down to 50 to 60 meter. Marine life such as barracuda, turtle and the rest similar with Si Amil.