DIVING IN KOTA BELUD
& MANTANANI

This is one of our most popular dive sites when diving in Kota Belud. With its huge rock formations, this site has an interesting and varied topography which divers want to explore again and again! The giant boulders are covered with pink soft coral and brightly colored feather stars and tube worms. Fusiliers, snapper and sardines swarm over the rocky contours of the reef where larger jacks and mackerel dart in to catch prey. Additionally, the sandy patches commonly host leopard sharks and marble rays. Additionally, this is also a great macro site with critters such as ghost pipe fish, scorpion fish, frog fish, juvenile reef fish, spider crabs, cowries, colorful nudibranchs and tiny shrimps to search for.

Mayne Reef is a huge extensive stretch of very colorful hard coral reef. Drift effortlessly over sandy valleys, huge coral bommies and rivers of neon fusiliers and bright yellow snappers. This is the best place to count numerous stingrays and see how many sharks you can find sleeping under the coral!

This pinnacle dive site is another great place to look for sharks, with many bamboo sharks, cat sharks and possibly leopard sharks resting on the sandy bottom and sleeping between rocky crevices. This is also a great macro site with nudibranchs galore.

Descent into a sandy channel and encounter schooling barracudas or hunting trevally. Continuing outward, you reach the big boulder rocks where giant cuttlefish, octopus and bigfin reef squid make home. Drift over huge flat table corals and round barrel sponges and perhaps sight an eagle ray gliding by. As you reach the shallow rocky area you will encounter an explosion of life, as shimmering schools of fish gather to feed in the current.

A relaxing drift dive north over stunning coral stretching across the landscape. Moreover, this site exhibits our most beautiful and healthy coral coverage. A variety of coral bommies, table corals, brain corals, stag-horn reefs, whip corals, cabbages, barrel sponges and pink soft corals make this our favorite reef. 

Another extensive drift dive over stunning reef, stretches of white sand and colorful soft corals. Spot sharks resting on the sandy bottom and look out for huge patrolling Spanish mackerel, the Apex predators of the reef. Moreover, look closely inside the big round purple barrel sponges for the perfectly matched purple hairy squat lobster. Schools of barracuda and snapper blanket the top of the reef. Keep a look out for eagle rays gliding by.

A stunning reef covered in gorgeous pinkish purple soft coral. This site is situated further out towards open ocean, therefore expect excellent visibility, often over 30 to 50 meters! Expect to see lots of nudibranchs, small sharks, moray eels, cephalopods and larger pelagic fish passing by such as dorado, wahoo and tuna. Advanced divers only, 45 min by boat.

Only 10 minutes away, this reef perfect for beginners; safe, shallow with moderate currents. Local reefs are comprised of hard and soft corals with schools of colorful reef fish. On a dive here you will encounter many different marine species such as lionfish, scorpion fish, stingrays, turtles, lobsters, cuttlefish, squid, giant grouper, moray eels and of course NEMO! If you love macro, be sure to search on the sand bottom for the amazingly camouflaged hairy frog fish. This is a perfect sites to continue your underwater adventure!

Fish Bowl is so called because of the millions of juvenile fish which shelter here on the reef. Black coral thrives here, a particularly unusual type of coral which is actually only black when dried, but under water appears like big pale white, green and yellow bushes. This type of coral is usually only found at depths of 30 meters and below yet here it grows at 14-18 meters deep.

fish bowl is a very busy dive site, with schools of sardines and juvenile scat sheltering among the black coral trees. Take time to hunt in the sand as this can be a great critter dive, with seahorses, pygmy squid, saw-blade and whip coral shrimp to search for.

This tiny uninhabited island is a perfect location for snorkellers and beginners diving in Kota Belud. A great easy dive site, this island has a shallow beach and a sloping coral reef which extends all the way around the island with healthy coral gardens and tropical reef fish.
Pulau Pandan is also a great location for night dives, where you can experience the nocturnal creatures of the reef hunting in the darkness. See strange sponge and decorator crabs, morays eels, barchfin scorpion fish, cat sharks, lobsters and minute critters such as pygmy and bobtail squid. Additionally, remember to turn off your torch for a minute to experience the incredible bio-luminescence glowing in the darkness.