Muck diving gets its name from the sediment

Sediment

Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....

 that lies beneath most dives: A normally muddy or "mucky" environment. Other than the muddy sediment, the standard muck dive may consist of dead coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 skeletons, discarded fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 equipment, tires and other man-made garbage

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

. In addition, the visibility is usually subpar to the reef

Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....

 or wreck

Shipwreck

A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....

 sites of the area.

Why people muck dive

It's the "muck" itself that makes them so different and interesting. The muck is the perfect habitat for unusual, exotic and juvenile organisms that make their homes in the sediment and "trash" that compose a muck dive. Creatures like colorful nudibranch

Nudibranch

A nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...

s, anglerfish

Anglerfish

Anglerfishes are members of the teleost order Lophiiformes . They are bony fishes named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein a fleshy growth from the fish's head acts as a lure; this is considered analogous to angling.Some anglerfishes are pelagic , while others are benthic...

, shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, blue-ringed octopus

Blue-ringed octopus

The blue-ringed octopuses are three octopus species that live in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia . They are currently recognized as one of the world's most venomous marine animals...

, and rare pygmy seahorses.

Where people muck dive

Most muck diving is done in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 where there are more marine species than anywhere else in the world. Places like Mabul

Mabul

Mabul is a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since 1970s. Then in 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island....

 and Kapalai in Sabah, Malaysia, Lembeh Straits in Manado

Manado

Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...

, Indonesia and Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 are the most popular because of the amazing creatures found in the muck.

Macro photography

Perhaps those that enjoy muck diving the most are the macro photographers. The calm and shallow water provides amazing opportunities to photograph the creatures that hide amongst the muck.