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DIVING IN MABUL
Mabul Island is another gem in the South China Sea. Close to both Kapalai and Sipadan, this island has a reputation for all things macro. Critter life is extremely prolific around her gently sloping shores.
There are several resorts on the island, including, just off-shore, one housed in a not-so-pretty oil derrick that was relocated from Borneo's west coast. It’s not the sort of place we would want to stay in, but the marine life beneath it’s platform is pretty impressive. There are swarms of jacks, snappers and rabbit fish, but the big interest is the critters. Lime green, football sized frogfish and midnight black ones; stone fish lurk on the sand and a huge moray is ensconced at the base of a pylon. His size has earned him the title Elvis and we visited him on every dive we did there. There’s loads of crocodile fish and scorpion fish and nudibranchs.
The beach area has good muck diving - flying gurnards, fingered dragonets, long snout pipefish, snake eels and several sorts of file fish. One day found a palm frond hanging off the buoy lines. There were a dozen or more squid laying their eggs on it. The males were swooping in over the females to protect them and some of the males even started to have fights over who belonged to who. It was a breathtaking event to watch and meant we almost missed the seahorse at our feet.
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TRAVELOGUE: Flights: Malaysian Airlines to Kota Kinabalu and Tawau |
PROS AND CONS: For underwater photographers or those interested in unusual creatures, this Mabul has a top reputation. Some people prefer to stay here, we like Kapalai as it's just so romantic. UPDATE: now that there is no accommodation on Sipadan, Kapalai has expanded and there are many more rooms here. The expansion appears to have been done sympathetically. Likewise there are now far more rooms on Mabul than in the past. |
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| Complete reports on this area are in Diving the World | ||||||
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