Mabul Island Sabah, Malaysia

Mabul Island first became popular due to its close proximity to Sipadan Island, However, in the last few years it has gained its own recognition as one of the best "muck-diving" sites in the world. Mabul Island is a small oval shaped island surrounded by sandy beaches and perched on the northwest corner of a larger 200-hectare reef. The reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to 25m-30m deep. There are several Dive resorts operating on Mabul Island.

Mabul is arguably one of the riches single destinations for exotic small marine life anywhere in the world. Flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus and bobtail squids are just a few of the numerous types of cephalopods to be found on Mabul's reef. The sight of harlequin shrimp feeding on sea stars and boxer crabs waving their tiny anemone pom-poms are just a small example of the endless species of crustaceans. Many types of gobies can be found including the spike-fin goby, black sail-fin goby and metallic shrimp goby. Frogfish are everywhere - giant, painted and clown frogfish are all regularly seen. Moray eels and snake eels of many types can be seen along with almost the whole scorpion fish family. It would be quicker to list the species not found at Mabul - crazy critters are in abundance at this magical macro site!

Mabul is located southeast of Semporna on the east coast of Sabah, 15 km to the north of Pulau Sipadan 15 minutes by speedboats. Though physically close to Sipadan, the diving at Mabul is completely different. Mabul's forte lies in the tiny rare creatures that can be found in the sand, rubble and fringing coral reef near the island. Mabul is popular for its 'muck dives' (Muck Diving). If fantastic colorful creatures and Macro Photography are your style, you'll love Mabul.

Mabul is a small 20 hectares oval shaped island, ringed with sandy beaches and perched on the northwest corner of a larger 200 hectare reef. The reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to 25m-30m deep. The island has a resident fishing community and is covered in coconut plantations. This unusual setting makes for some interesting scuba diving. Through small and mostly bottom dwellers, many of Mabul's sea creatures are unique, stunningly colourful, often rare and sometimes bizarre. The astonishing thing is that most of these creatures can be found on the house reef right in front of the resort.

Getting to Mabul requires a little planning. Visitors to the island have to travel to Semporna Town 1 hour drive from Tawau international airport. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Air Asia have daily flights to Tawau. From Semporna, it is a mere 35 minute speed boat ride to the resort. .