Mabul is an island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. It first became popular due to its proximity to Sipadan island. Mabul is arguably one of the richest 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.

Few years back, it has gained its 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 two square kilometer reef. Muck divers have it particularly good on Mabul. Limited numbers is probably a good idea anyway. Most dive sites are either solid coral reefs sloping down to a silty bottom or a silty slope speckled with clumps of coral outgrowths. Visibility is never endless although it is usually at least 12 metres, but the silt gets kicked up easily which reduces visibility even more and makes photography difficult.

The reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to 25 to 30 m deep. There are several dive resorts operating on Mabul island, such as Mabul Water Bungalows and Borneo Divers Mabul Resort.
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