Artificial Reef
Conditions & tides
Scored by DiveConnect's site-physics model
Marine forecast via Copernicus Marine. Score is a rule-based guide from swell/wind vs. the site's exposure — always dive your own assessment.
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About this site
Mabul Island sits off the southeastern coast of Sabah, on Malaysian Borneo, near the more famous Sipadan island and within the Celebes Sea. The Artificial Reef site here is a shallow, beginner-friendly dive to around 10 metres, built around purpose-sunk structures that fishing and dive communities have used to encourage reef growth on the sandy slopes fringing the island. It's the kind of muck-diving setting where divers have reported frogfish, nudibranchs, and pipefish tucked among the debris and encrusted material.
AI overviewMarine life here
Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.
PipefishPipefishReported here · unconfirmed
FrogfishFrogfishReported here · unconfirmed
NudibranchNudibranchReported here · unconfirmed
Willan's ChromodorisChromodoris willaniReported here · unconfirmed
Anna's ChromodorisChromodoris annaeReported here · unconfirmed
Crocodile FlatheadCymbacephalus beaufortiReported here · unconfirmed
Dusky NembrothaNembrotha kubaryanaReported here · unconfirmed
Blue DragonPteraeolidia semperiReported here · unconfirmed
Alcala's ChromodorisChromodoris alcalaiReported here · unconfirmed
Coi's GoniobranchusGoniobranchus coiReported here · unconfirmed
Pacific TrumpetfishAulostomus chinensisReported here · unconfirmed
Diana's ChromodorisChromodoris dianaeReported here · unconfirmed
Green Sea TurtleChelonia mydasObserved near here · iNaturalist
Whitetip Reef SharkTriaenodon obesusObserved near here · iNaturalist
Durable tips from divers — access, hazards, marine life, facilities. For day-of conditions, use the report tool in the conditions card above.
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