Kapalai Scuba Diving

Lobster Rock

Diving at Kapalai's Lobster Rock normally means an easy cruise along the reef enjoying the colourful landscape of soft and hard corals. There is a lot to see among the hard corals, such as nudibranchs and small pipefish but you have to look hard as they are well camouflaged. As the name suggests, lobsters are fairly frequent, especially at night.

You can also spot jawfish on the sandy patches. Needless to say, turtles abound all around these reefs so you may see 3 or 4 on each dive, especially in the shallows. There seems to be almost nowhere on earth where turtles are so common as this part of Malaysia.

As is the usual way with diving in Kapalai, you will descend and almost immediately start seeing things of interest. This usually means it takes a while to get down to the maximum depth of the dive. From the shallows you will swim along the reef looking for those rare fish that are well camouflaged in the coral beds, sea fans and on the sandy bottom. Your dive guide may take a few minutes to stop at some sea fans looking for pipefish which can be very tricky to spot.

Moving along deeper and closer to the sandy bottom, there may be a few juvenile banded pipefish in the area. You need to move slowly here since if you get too close, too quickly they can dart away from sight. Similarly, if you spot any jawfish resting at the top of its burrow on the sandy flat, try not to approach too quickly of they will disappear from view only to emerge again when the threat of the big, bubble-blowing creatures has passed.

Lobster Rock Reef Basics: Slope and sandy floor
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 10 - 20m
Currents: Gentle
Surface conditions: Calm
Water temperature: 26 - 30°C
Experience level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving season: All year round
Distance: 1 km (3 minutes) from the Kapalai jetty or 5 km (10 minutes) from Mabul
Access: Kapalai and Mabul dive resorts

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