Mabul

Verified2026-09-30 checkedMuckMacroNight

Sand, rubbish and stilts — and more small strange animals than almost anywhere.

Depth: 3–25 m10–82 ft
Difficulty: Beginner
Entry: Shore · Boat
Typical current: Light
Coordinates: 4°14.748′N 118°37.764′E
Activities: Scuba · Freediving

Mabul is where everybody stays to dive Sipadan, and it turned out to be one of the best muck dives in the world in its own right. The bottom is sand and seagrass under the water village and the resort stilts, and what lives in it is the whole catalogue of macro: flamboyant cuttlefish, mimic and blue-ringed octopus, frogfish of four colours, ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp. Dive it slowly, close to the bottom, with a guide whose eyes are better than yours — because they are. The house reef is a shore entry and runs all night.

Boat from Semporna, 45 minutes. Resorts on the island and on stilts over the reef.

Best season

ExcellentApr–Jul
GoodAug–Mar

Before you get in

A night site. A backup light and a navigation plan matter more than usual.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 30.8°C87°F
Wave height: 0.3 m1 ft
Air temperature: 28.4°C83°F
Wind speed: 7.7 km/h4.8 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 16:15 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/8

High03:481.54 m
Low10:08-0.18 m
High16:141.48 m
Low22:14-0.16 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Flamboyant cuttlefishMetasepia pfefferiCommon
Mimic octopusThaumoctopus mimicusSeasonal
Blue-ringed octopusHapalochlaena spp.Rare
FrogfishAntennarius spp.Common
Ornate ghost pipefishSolenostomus paradoxusCommon
Harlequin shrimpHymenocera pictaSeasonal
Ribbon eelRhinomuraena quaesitaCommon
Reef stonefishSynanceia verrucosaCommon
Shrimp gobyAmblyeleotris spp.Common
Decorator crabCamposcia retusaCommon
FlatwormPseudoceros spp.Common
NudibranchNudibranchiaCommon

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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