Mabul (Sipadan) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

spearo.app / Malaysia / Mabul (Sipadan)
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◈Mabul (Sipadan) · Malaysia
8.5
wave 0.1 m
visibility~7m

Cleartodive

Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 23:15

Sources & confidence

Sources
Open-Meteo · Copernicus
Method
spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

01
Swell & wave memory
Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
Coast shape & exposure
How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

  • Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
  • An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
  • Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
  • Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
  • Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Entry pointsNo-take zones

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates
Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
Google Play — QR code
point your camera
0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app
updated 23:15
Mabul (Sipadan) — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.1 mwind 9 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 06:00–18:00
today, best window 12:00–15:00
fish · Visibility 7 m · Water 31.1°C
confidence medium · verdict for the selected day
Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.
›
Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.
Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Tuesday · today2026-10-13
05:50–17:52 · waxing crescent
▼ 00:00▲ 06:00▼ 12:00▲ 19:00mid-range tides · 2.2 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.10 m
Wave0.26 m
Wind5 km/h
Water31 °C
fish activity: moon underfoot 01:20 · high · moonrise 07:38 · moderate · moon overhead 13:40 · high · moonset 19:47 · moderate
Conditions window06:00–09:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish
Hs 0.12 m · calmperiod 4.8 swind 3→8surge 0viz 8 m
0.12 mcalm · up to ~0.24 · 109° at an angle
4.8 sswell moderate
3→8gusts 8 km/h
0weak surge
0.17m/s
8 mrecent swell
30.5°C5 mm + hood
▼12:00tide turn near
Atmosphere6 kmovercast
moderatemoonrise
  • calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
  • ebb — weaker inshore
confidence mediumtwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points →
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Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Mabul (Sipadan), we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.

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More spots

Spots in Malaysia

🇲🇾Malaysia

Malaysia map →

Nearby towns

  • Semporna
  • Sandakan
  • Derawan
  • Kota Kinabalu
  • Kudat

Sabah (Malaysian Borneo)

  • Mantanani (Kota Belud)

Peninsular Malaysia — east coast

  • Pulau Tioman
  • Mersing
  • Dungun (Pulau Tenggol)
  • Pulau Kapas (Marang)
  • Pulau Redang
  • Perhentian Islands

Peninsular Malaysia — west coast

  • Port Dickson
  • Pangkor
  • Langkawi

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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Mabul (Sipadan) · a planner, not a safety guaranteePrivacy
Today
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Map
Best window · next 3 days
gotoday · 12:00–15:00
you can see ~7 m ahead fish

Get windows like this by email

Just your email — nothing else needed.

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

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−10 m

The water column

Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.

What it is

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.

Now live: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

See all spots →
−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.

Entry points

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map →
Barracuda PointMabul (Sipadan)
borderline
⛔ Banned here
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 15 m, max 65 m, near shore. No hunting — Sipadan Island Park (Sabah Parks, permit-only); freediving/visibility point. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps
Lobster WallMabul (Sipadan)
borderline
Outside the gazetted marine parks we checked; inside a marine park no speargun may be carried or used (Fisheries Act 1985 s.44). Check state and park rules locally.
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 25 m, max 45 m, near shore. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps
Mandarin Valley (Kapalai)Mabul (Sipadan)
borderline
Outside the gazetted marine parks we checked; inside a marine park no speargun may be carried or used (Fisheries Act 1985 s.44). Check state and park rules locally.
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 8 m, max 20 m, near shore. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps
Panglima ReefMabul (Sipadan)
borderline
Outside the gazetted marine parks we checked; inside a marine park no speargun may be carried or used (Fisheries Act 1985 s.44). Check state and park rules locally.
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 19 m, max 60 m, near shore. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps
Sipadan Drop-OffMabul (Sipadan)
borderline
⛔ Banned here
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 20 m, max 30 m, near shore. No hunting — Sipadan Island Park (Sabah Parks, permit-only); freediving/visibility point. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps
South PointMabul (Sipadan)
borderline
⛔ Banned here
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Listed dive site, typical depth 20 m, max 65 m, boat access. No hunting — Sipadan Island Park (Sabah Parks, permit-only); freediving/visibility point. Coords from a dive-site database, approx.

Google Maps

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

One morning glance — and you know.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
Google Play — QR code
point your camera
≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now
  • no targets this month
Law

    In any Malaysian marine park no speargun or spearfishing equipment may be carried, used or possessed (Fisheries Act 1985, s.44); Sabah Parks prohibit spearfishing in their parks. Outside parks no national ban was found — check state rules.

    Safety protocol
    • Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
    • Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
    • Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
    • Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
    • Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
    • Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
    • UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
    • Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

    FAQ — spearfishing in Mabul (Sipadan)

    Where can I spearfish in Mabul (Sipadan)?

    Mabul (Sipadan) has rock entry points such as Lobster Wall, Panglima Reef and Mandarin Valley (Kapalai). Small island south of Semporna, famous for muck diving, with Kapalai and Sipadan close by. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

    When is the best season in Mabul (Sipadan)?

    March–October is calmest; November–February brings monsoon swell to Sabah's west coast.

    How cold is the water in Mabul (Sipadan)?

    28–30 °C all year — a rashguard or 1.5–3 mm.

    Is Mabul (Sipadan) good for a beginner?

    Coral walls and islands; Sipadan, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Sakaran are parks closed to spearfishing; open water near Mabul, Mantanani and Kudat.

    Do I need a licence in Mabul (Sipadan)?

    Mabul (Sipadan): In any Malaysian marine park no speargun or spearfishing equipment may be carried, used or possessed (Fisheries Act 1985, s.44); Sabah Parks prohibit spearfishing in their parks. Outside parks no national ban was found — check state rules.

    Data partners
    dive centres that send us real visibility readings
    Águas VivasMilfontes · Sagres