Malaysia

A rapidly developing country, Malaysia is a melting pot of nationalities, religions and cultures. Malaysia has everything you could ever ask of warm-water diving.

A rapidly developing country, Malaysia is a melting pot of nationalities, religions and cultures. People have been diving here since the 1950s, but the complexity and sheer size of the coastal and offshore environment are such that new sites are being discovered all the time. Malaysia has everything you could ever ask of warm-water diving: there are excellent wreck sites across a range of depths, coral gardens, muck-diving venues brimming with benthic life, offshore sites with big currents and bigger fish.

From a diving point of view, Malaysia is split into three parts: the peninsula, which stretches south from Thailand to Singapore, and two states in northern Borneo – Sabah and Sarawak. Generally, the resorts on Peninsular Malaysia have good qualityreef diving and a high level of creature comforts while the island resorts off Sabah offer superior, though more specialised, diving. Sarawak is still regarded as virgin territory and is an area where diving has only recently started to open up.

Best times to visit

Peninsular Malaysia (east coast): Best from March to October

Sabah: While good all year round, Sabah is best from April to September. Most turtles appear in August. The sea is roughest between November and February.

Sarawak: Best from March to September. Heavy rains in December and March affect currents and visibility at some sites, including the offshore islands of the eastern peninsula.

The atoll of Layang Layang in Sabah is closed from November to March due to high waves and heavy rains.

Water temperature is usually 27–28ºC and often rises as high as 31ºC in the dry months. Thick wetsuits are not necessary – anything between a 1.5mm skin or a 3mm shortie should be adequate.

Sabah security

Several islands on Sabah’s remote east coast are within boat range of politically unstable islands in the southern Philippines. In April 2000 tourists and staff were kidnapped from Sipadan by the separatist group Abu Sayyaf and released several months later when, in a bizarre twist, ransom demands were met by the Libyan dictator, Colonel Gaddafi.

Since then, the islands have been subject to high-visibility patrols by the Malaysian Navy, who have a small fleet of super-fast pursuit boats at their disposal. There have been no further kidnappings in Malaysia and the presence of the Navy has provided reassurance for the tourism industry. However, the isolation of this region, coupled with the continued presence of renegade groups in the southern Philippines, means there remains an element of risk. As with so many issues in the travel market, the final call is left with the consumer. The Foreign Office advises that visitors exercise caution.

If Sabah is the dive aficionado’s corner of Malaysia, the state of Sarawak represents the next frontier. With 75 per cent of the land mass still covered with the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, it’s a wilderness destination for those who like to get really close to nature.
Sarawak’s most renowned diving area is Miri, best visited from March to September when visibility is at its best. The reefs here tend to be shallow, dominated by gorgonian sea fans and whip corals. The dive sites are quite varied and each offer a specific theme: one area is known for its population of giant groupers, while there are some impressive anemone cities at the unsurprisingly titled Anemone Reef.
Dive sites furthest from shore drop off to a depth of about 45m, but take up to an hour to reach by fast boat. A favourite dive here is Tukau drop-off, where reef sharks, Napoleon wrasse and schooling barracuda are common and whale sharks are sometimes seen. Miri also has two wrecks: the Atago Maru is a Second World War Japanese merchant ship, sitting upright with the top deck at just 9m; and the Sri Gadong, a cargo ship which lies on a sandy bottom at 20m.
For the truly adventurous, there are the Luconia Shoals which lie far out in the South China Sea and can only be reached by liveaboard. Thanks to the surrounding deep water, you get good visibility and nutritious upwellings that support a thriving ecosystem. This is the place to visit for sharks, dogtooth tuna and big schools of snapper.
The Sematan area, which lies close to the border with Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), suffers from inferior water clarity due to the proximity of a major river system. That said, it’s still worth checking out the island of Talang Talang, a protected sanctuary for hawksbill, green and the extremely rare olive ridley turtle. Wreck divers may be interested in the Katori Maru, a Japanese troop carrier sunk by British aircraft in the Second World War. It’s 30 miles from land, has little life on it and the visibility is usually bad, so this is one for the very committed only!

READERS VERDICT

Michael Aw
Photographer and Author

‘In Sarawak none of the reefs rise above the surface of the sea; all are submergedpatch colonies lying 10–30km from Kuala Miri and 17–24km from Kuala Sibuti. The reefs have been largely ignored except for a couple of professional diving enterprises. Imagine a placid sea, water at 29ºC, unnoticeable current, a submerged ridge with gorgonian fans 3m-wide, bushes of bright red sea whips, soft coral and purple sponges that cover coral outcrops in their entirety. Miri on the northwest coast of Sarawak offers a surrealistic seascape of boulders with jungle of reefs comprising red, black, white, green, brown whip corals among giant sea fans with an undergrowth of massive plate corals and sponges. It is like the luxuriant reefs of Papua New Guinea and the Maldives, but without the tourists. Miri’s reefs are pristine.’

The dive sites of Peninsular Malaysia are not as consistently impressive as those of northern Borneo, but several are well worth a visit. The Redang archipelago has decent visibility and the healthiest coral reefs of the peninsula. Shallow waters here are dominated by hard corals, and fortunate souls may even encounter one of the giant leatherback turtles, which come in to feed on jellyfish.

Further south, the diving around Tioman Island is enjoyable rather than spectacular. Still, there are impressive granite bommies on outlying reefs, many of which are covered in multicoloured soft corals. This island is worth visiting simply for the beauty of the topside scenery – a jagged mountain swathed in dense jungle and fringed with golden sand. Watch out for giant monitor lizards and an army of feral cats.

To the north, the centres of Redang and Tenggol are popular weekend destinations for divers from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Fish life is the primary motivation for visiting this area, as the offshore islands boast schools of jacks, fusiliers, sweetlips and other reef regulars.

The densely populated west coast of Peninsular Malaysia bounds the western edge of the Straits of Malacca. It is one of the busiest shipping channels and inevitably suffers from pollution and bad visibility. There are some diving areas here, but they’re mostly for travellers who are passing by or locals who live nearby. We recommend that people visiting the peninsula concentrate their diving on the east coast.

READERS VERDICT

Andy Barker
Experienced Diver

‘I’ve been living in Singapore for four years so I’m lucky enough to be able to dive around Peninsular Malaysia at the weekends. We generally dive at Pulau Tioman and Pulau Aur or Pulau Dayang, plus some of the nearby wrecks. On a typical dive at Pulau Aur or Tioman you can expect to find turtles, barracuda, bumphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse, morays, stingrays, lionfish, numerous nudibranchs and the odd reef shark. At the end of season it is not uncommon to see manta rays or whale sharks. While not in the Sipadan league, it still offers good diving: as well as the islands there are a number of wrecks that are accessible to both technical and recreational divers. For example, there’s the supertanker Seven Skies, sitting upright at 60m. It has a lot of fish life and the added bonus of mantas and whale sharks at either end of the season.’

Sabah is often referred to as ‘The Land Beneath The Wind’ as it lies beneath the tornado belt, and as such enjoys good weather all year round. The regional capital is Kota Kinabalu, a fast-growing metropolis with a variety of hotels, from the very plush to backpacker shacks. The town centre, with a good variety of cheap restaurants and shops, is usually only a walk or £2 taxi-ride away from most accommodation, but the best bars and clubs are in the hotels and are almost on a par with London prices. Within a 20-minute boat ride from Kota Kinabalu lies the most accessible diving – the five islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Shallow and with little current, this makes an ideal spot for novice or refresher divers and snorkellers and, as well as a wealth of reef fish, can yield seahorses, cuttlefish, pipe and leaf fish, schools of squid and nice nudibranchs. From March to May you may even be lucky enough to spot a whale shark.

Once arrived in Kota Kinabalu, a lot of travellers tackle famous Mount Kinabalu – you stay overnight and complete the climb at dawn for a top-of-the-world experience. If you don’t feel up to the walk, you can have a slower mooch in the rainforest, or go white-water rafting in Sukau.

There are many islands accessible from Kota Kinabalu. They have their own individual charm, but all fit the traditional ‘paradise island’ picture, with sea-facing chalets, white beaches and swaying palms, usually with house reefs only a stone’s throw from the jetty. Most also have laying green turtles.

The islands of Mantanani offer superb diving. A group of three islands, the coral is in great condition, the water a snug 30 degrees with around 10–15m visibility, and a good variety of reef fish and macro stuff. The resort is currently undergoing a revamp using more natural materials, and once finished this will definitely be a top destination. Remember the name.

Then there’s Layang Layang, meaning ‘kite’ in Malay. The island itself doesn’t have much to boast about (it’s essentially an airport, a military base and the resort) but the diving can be spectacular – amazing coral and fish life and, a little deeper, schooling hammerheads (from March to June).

Labuan is the wreck-lovers’ spot – and fast becoming the local tax-free shopping paradise as well as boasting four impressive wrecks at varying depths.

It’s a short flight to Sandakan, where after a spot of lunch and croquet on the lawn of The English Tea House, it’s over to the wonderful orang-utan sanctuary in Sepilok for feeding time. You can even stay the night at the nature reserve and maybe venture out on a night jungle walk!

From Sandakan, it’s about a 90-minute boat ride to Lankayan Island, a tiny island ringed with white sand beaches, and now a marine protected area. Accommodation is fairly basic but comfortable and clean and there is a wide range of dive sites, including a couple of wrecks. The coral is in good condition and the diving yields good visibility, plenty of fish and some macro surprises. From March to May, whale sharks are spotted from the jetty, but my most memorable moment was watching the baby black-tip sharks being hand-fed from the beach! On a night dive we saw a coral cat shark and honeycomb moray.

Also a half-hour flight away from Kota Kinabalu is Tawau, which is the starting point for probably Sabah’s best-known island, Sipadan, as well as Kapalai, Mabul, and the newest of the bunch in terms of being promoted as a dive destination, Mataking. Sipadan doesn’t need any introduction, as there are probably few UK divers who haven’t at least heard of it, and I can confirm all the rumours – it really is top-class. Rising 600m from the ocean floor, the impressive coral walls hide a myriad of macro pearls, but keep your eye on the blue on your other side, in case a thresher or devil ray should pass you by. White-tips, green turtles and huge schools of barracuda and jacks will accompany you for a great deal of your time underwater. It will not be possible to stay on Sipadan Island after 31 December this year, but the resorts on the nearby islands of Mabul and Kapalai will still offer boat trips there.

Mabul Island has some newly opened high-quality resorts, Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and Borneo Divers in particular proving that Malaysia can offer divers luxury accommodation. My water chalet at SWV allowed me to sit on my own private decking, admiring my own patch of ocean. Priceless. For the photographer and macro enthusiast, these islands are a dream – mating mandarinfish, frogfish, fantastic nudibranchs, several species of pipefish and flamboyant cuttlefish could be seen over just one day’s diving, and the dive centre was slickly run. Wildlife video specialist Scubazoo has an outlet on site and can produce DVDs of your holiday.

The resort at Kapalai Island is also beautifully designed with private ocean views and no mosquitoes, as it is built on stilts over a shallow reef. This is the place to visit for frogfish, from the football-sized giant frogfish to the diminutive juvenile clown frogfish, which is about the size of a grape. Finding it is a test for even the sharpest-eyed guide.

For those in search of something new, we can recommend The Reef, a resort on Mataking Island, which offers trips to Sipadan in addition 8 to its own impressive local diving – more pristine coral and miniature marvels. This is a luxury resort with a good choice of non-diver activities, complete with its own masseur and a hot Jacuzzi for those who want to completely unwind. They offer underwater and island weddings... and it’s a truly stunning place to say ‘I do!’

READERS VERDICT

Jane Mulkerrins
Intermediate-level diver

‘I went on a flying visit to some of Sabah’s best dive spots, organised by Touchdown Holidays. I covered a lot of ground in a relatively short time, but the highlight was definitely Sipadan. Swimming through those big schools of jacks and barracuda has to be the highlight of my trip, and The Drop-off is one of the most spectacular sites anywhere. I stayed at Sipadan Water Village on Mabul – a beautiful place to stay, but I wasn’t too impressed by the diving there. Most of the visitors there were Japanese, and they were obsessed with all the weird little fish you get there. It’s a shame they’re shutting so many resorts on Sipadan itself, but I can see why they want to preserve it. There’s a new generation of resorts, which should help relieve the pressure on the old favourites, but as far as I’m concerned you just can’t top Sipadan for beauty and action.’

INTO INDONESIA

The adventurous can fly from Tawau in Sabah to Tarakan in Indonesia, where transfer boats depart to the Derawan Islands including Sangalaki. You see many of the animals already mentioned here, and there are resident manta rays. The whole area is seething with underwater life and is under increasing protection.