Mabul

The island is covered in palm trees and fringed with fine beaches. It is a famous diving spot for divers, both international and local alike, and is well known as the macro diving paradise.
It is located near Pulau Sipadan.

Make your way to Semporna, then take a boat from there. The journey takes about 30 minutes by speed boat, 1.5 hours by slow boat. Resorts and lodges provide boat transfers for their guests. Visitors can also come in on day tours by joining a dive trip organized by one of the dive operators in Semporna.

Mabul is small enough to be explored entirely on foot. There are no roads or cars. Boats take visitors to various diving and snorkeling sites around the island.

Mabul possesses beautiful sandy beaches lined with coconut palm trees. However, the indiscriminate throwing of litter by the local fishermen does much to detract from this beauty, particularly on the island's west side.

Scuba diving - While its famous neighbour Sipadan is a home to large pelagic species, Mabul is the place to find the smaller macro species. Scorpionfishes, frogfishes, nudibranchs, crocodilefishes, various crustaceans and many other interesting and rare forms of marine life can be found here. Most dive sites are quite shallow - 12-18 m - with a maximum depth of around 30 m in a few places. Visibility is around 5-8 m at the real muck sites like Froggy Lair, Paradise Reef, and Seaventure Platform, reaching around 15 m at the seaward site Lobster Wall. Turtles can also be seen in places, although by far not as many as at Sipadan.
NOTE: Most of the dive shops, if not all of them, are operated by the home stay and resorts. They don't like divers to live but dive with other operators. They may not allow you to dive with them if you're not staying with them.
Snorkeling - A few sites close to shore are suitable for snorkeling, primarily around Paradise Reef as well as Lobster Wall.

Besides small shops in resorts and lodges there are no shops on the island.

There are no restaurants, but resorts and lodges provide their guests all meals.

Resorts and lodges provide drinks to their guests. Other than that there are no choices on Mabul.

There are several resorts in the island.

Budget

• Billabong Scuba

  phone: +60 89-781866
  Is a backpackers lodge with diving facility/Sipadan permit. Accommodation range from RM 70 RM. 120.00 with all meal during stay. Sipadan permit available. English, French, Chinese guides on site. Aircon room/attached bathroom/basic room available. Diving package from RM. 300 to 1600.

• Scuba Jeff Sipadan

  phone: +60 178614391
  address: Mabul Island
  Offers budget accommodation.

• Uncle Chang's Sipadan Mabul Dive Lodge

• Big John Scuba

  phone: +60 142843723
  Nice homestay and diveschool with friendly staff. person/night

• Summer Friends HomestayIs an accommodation with diving, snorkeling and hiking packages at Mabul, Sipadan, Kapalai and Bohey Dulang. Accommodation rate is at RM70 per pax per night with meals and snacks.

Mid-range

• Borneo Divers Mabul Dive Resort

• Mabul Dive Lodge

  phone: +60 89 919128, +60 89 781788
  Air-conditioned chalets.

• Scuba Junkie/Mabul Beach Resort

• Seaventures Dive ResortAn old accommodation barge (not an oil rig) that has been converted to a dive resort, just off the north shore of Mabul

• Sipadan Mabul Resort

Splurge

• Mabul Water Bungalows

• Sipadan Water Village Resort

  phone: +60 89 784227, +60 89 784228, +60 89 797008, +60 89 797009
  Very nice chalets on stilts above the water, but very pricey.

Take a boat back to Semporna.