Mabul...
Mabul offers a different world of diving opportunities from most other diving locations. Here is a macro diving paradise where you will be able to find rare macro world inhabitants hard to find at other dive sites. The island's reputation as one of the world's best macro diving site is no secret.
Muck diving in Mabul, a term used to describe limited visibility dives at shallow sites with usually sandy bottoms, is one of diving's new rages. It focuses on encounters with unusual little critters popularly known as macro-life. Muck diving is a world away from steep wall and coral reefs, with their almost limitless visibility and easy-to-spot reef and pelagic life. In other words, muck diving offers you the opportunity to flirt with the more bizarre and unusual life marine life to be found.
Needless to say, diving in Mabul gives macro photographers some great opportunities to capture some extremely rare ecological species which have carved a niche for them in the underwater world around here. Look out for species like multicolored nudibranches, ghost pipefish, devil scorpionfish, stonefish, mantis shrimps, mandarinfish, ribbon eels, snake eels, frogfish, and seahorses.
Sipadan...
More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in these riches of ecosystems. Sipadan is well known for its unusually large numbers of green and hawksbill turtles
which gather there to mate and nest and it is not unusual for a diver to see more than 20 turtles on each dive.The list of attractions is quite staggering and all the more exceptional as it involves plenty of big fish encounters - at Barracuda Point you can find yourself surrounded by a spiraling vortex of barracudas, which gather in thousands forming spectacular tornado-like formations. At South Point there are scores of reef sharks, large schools of passing trevally and herds of massive marauding bumphead parrotfish. This is one of the big fish capitals of the world. With the possibility of seeing pelagic such as mantas, eagle rays and hammerhead sharks, each dive at Sipadan is a highly anticipated event.
Kapalai...
Kapalai is considered a macro-lovers paradise. This does not necessarily mean poor visibility as with so many critter-havens. Here rarities such as frogfish, blue-ringed octopus and the incredible flamboyant cuttlefish are the star attractions. Harlequin ghost pipefish, sea moths and mantis shrimp make up the supporting cast while the mandarinfish provide the love interest.
Most dives here are nice and gentle in warm, relatively shallow water, so are perfect for the less experienced, as well as yielding sufficient rewards for those with plenty of dives under their weight belt. One of the most often dived places (due to its convenience) is straight off the jetty where leaf scorpionfish, crocodilefish, lionfish and all manner of shrimps and gobies add to the fun.
The Resort...
Sipadan Water Village is located on the island of Mabul and has a total of 45 cottages - 4 Grand Deluxe, 2 Deluxe, 29 Standard, 4 Standard Semi-detached and 6 Junior. The resort has been beautifully constructed with Bajau architectural design significant of the Bajau Laut tribe, the world's only nomadic sea gypsies who spend all their lives on the water. The entire structure is built over the water on stilts made of Belian Wood, commonly known as Ironwood and laid in certain points so as to minimize damage to the existing reef. In its design, Sipadan Water Village has achieved near utopia in its over-the-water layout, splendid water cottages with flowered sidewalks, exquisite Asian and Continental cuisine and impeccable service provided by her local staff.
