Scuba Diving
Scuba Diving at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai
In addition to diving courses and three daily boat dives to the nearby islands, Mabul Water Bungalows offers unlimited dives on the house reef right in front of the resort.
Dive Centre
The dive centre
SMART-TEC, a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort and TEC centre, offers Nitrox enriched air and technical certification courses (TDI), such as PADI Cavern Diver Specialty or TDI Overhead Environment Diver, so that you can safely explore Sipadan's Turtle Cave.
SMART-TEC is at Mabul Water Bungalows itself.
Nitrox station
With a six-stage filtration system and a computerised panel, the dive centre filling station can provide Nitrox mixes up to 40%, as well as rebreather and advanced decompression mixes up to 100%.
Diving equipment
The dive centre is well equipped with more than 200 aluminium tanks. It uses custom-built fibreglass dive boats able to carry 10 divers each and able to get to Sipadan in about 15 minutes.
Underwater photography
Underwater photography and videography services are provided by Treasure Images professionals.
Dive Sites
Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai dive sites
Sipadan Island
Sipadan has the best scuba diving in Malaysia, and Barracuda Point is often rated among the world's top five dive sites.
Mabul Island
Divers and macro photographers come specially to Mabul Island for its abundant macro life and unique muck diving, sand diving and night diving.
Kapalai Reef
Kapalai is a mecca for macro marine life connoisseurs and underwater photographers, featuring rare and well-camouflaged species of dragonets, gobies, leaf fish, gurnards, sea moths, crocodile fish and giant frogfish.
Sipadan permits are limited each day, so book early; a longer stay gives the best chance of diving Sipadan.
To dive Sipadan you need an Advanced Open Water certification (or equivalent).
Divers: book your Sipadan permits in advance Book your fun dives
Sipadan: pelagic species
- Greenback turtles
- Hawksbill turtles
- Schools of barracudas
- Big-eye trevally
- Bumphead parrotfish
- Giant mantas
- Eagle rays
- Reef sharks
- Scalloped hammerheads
- Whale sharks
- Tunas
Mabul and Kapalai: macro and muck diving species
- Nudibranch
- Crocodilefish
- Octopus
- Pygmy seahorse
- Frogfish
- Mantis shrimp
- Flamboyant cuttlefish
- Blue-ringed octopus
- Lobster
- Garden eels
- Devil scorpionfish
- Bobtail squid
Learn to dive
Learn to dive at Mabul Water Bungalows with SMART-TEC, a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort and TEC centre, and experienced multilingual instructors.
Diving and accommodation packages
To receive more information about Mabul Water Bungalows diving and accommodation packages, please send us your enquiry.