Mabul Island
Mabul is a small island off the South – eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since the 1970s. In the 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan Island.
Located 15 km from Sipadan, this 20-hectare piece of land surfaces 2-3 metes above sea level, consists mostly flat grounds and aerial view is oval-shaped. Surrounding it are sandy beaches, perched on the northwest corner of a larger two square kilometer reef.
There are two main villages on the island with approx. 2000 villagers living in Mabul. The majority are immigrants from relatively nearby clusters of islands in the Southern Philippines who are mainly Bajau Laut and Suluk Muslims who live a nomadic lifestyle.
Mabul’s reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to a depth of 25 to 30 meters.
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. 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 regularly seen along with most of the scorpion fish family.
There are six resorts and some homestay providing accommodation for scuba divers – most located on the island or on stilts over the water. All the resorts can arrange for scuba diving at Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan islands.
Flights to Tawau airport, the nearest airport to Mabul and then by land to Semporna town where boats will ferry passengers to Mabul island.
Sipadan Island
Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 meters from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop.
Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest Marine habitants in the world. More than 400 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.
Sipadan Island was at the top of Rodale Scuba Diving Magazine Gold List for ‘The Top Dive Destination in the world’. In fact, it shared its top spot with 2 other destinations known for diversity of marine life – the Galapagos Islands and Truk in Micronesia.
Frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan:-
Green and Hawksbill turtles, enormous schools of Barracuda in tornado-like formation as well as large schools of big-eye Trevally, and bumphead Parrotfish.
Pelagic species such as Manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks also visit Sipadan. A turtle tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletons remains of turtles that become lost and drown before finding the surface.
Visiting Sipadan requires a permit issued by Sabah Parks, a Sabah Government agency that allows to issue 178 permits per day.
The island was declared a bird sanctuary in 1933 by the colonial government of North Borneo and regazetted in 1963 by the Malaysian Government. In the film Borneo: The Ghost of the Sea Turtle (1989) by Jacques Cousteau said: “I have seen other places like Sipadan 45 years ago, but no more. Now we have found an untouched peace of art”.