The Weird and Wonderful Magic of Mabul

A world away from Sipadan’s mind-blowing wide-angle opportunities is nearby Pulau Mabul, a muck mecca where the critters will give your macro lens a serious workout, as Cat McCann explains

- Cat McCann

Pulau Mabul, a small island off the east coast of Sabah, is known for its proximity to one of the most iconic diving destinations in the world – Pulau Sipadan. Sipadan needs no introduction. Divers flock to this island all year round, drawn by opportunities to see big schools of barracuda, bumphead parrotfish, bigeye trevally, sharks and countless turtles – sometimes all at one site like Barracuda Point – as well as spectacular coral gardens and jaw–dropping 600-metre walls. There’s also the chance of seeing something out of the ordinary, such as schooling hammerheads, whale sharks, mantas, the list goes on. You get the idea. Epic, big scale, wide–angle–lens kind of diving.

Pulau Mabul, on the other hand, is just as spectacular. You just need a different type of lens.

Mabul is the island of choice for many muck diving and macro diving enthusiasts who travel there all year round for the chance of seeing one of those rare, elusive animals that are the stuff of legends. Animals that are not quite what they seem and are not visibly apparent at first glance – and small. Usually for macro and muck divers – the smaller the better.

Mabul does have beautiful reefs and a great diversity of dive sites such as wall dives, sloping coral reefs and artificial sites. However, it is famous for muck diving. In fact, many people argue that the phrase “muck diving” was first coined on Pulau Mabul. Typically, muck dive sites are flat or slope gradually, and depths range from six to 20-plus metres (nitrox is fantastic for these dive sites). The phrase is used to describe dive sites such as Scuba Junkie’s house reef, Awas. Sandy bottomed sites, sometimes with rubble and sea grass or Halimeda cover, where the objective is to find small, well-hidden animals – creatures disguised as something else, invisible to all but the most experienced eyes.