Diving near Singapore/KL

[Cxxx]

Hello!

I'm new here, hope someone can help with some advice.

My boyfriend and I want to do some diving for a week in mid-September this year, and for work reasons it needs to be somewhere relatively easily accessible from Singapore or KL. Have mainly been looking at Tioman (Swiss Cottages/Tioman Dive Centre?) and Sipadan (in particular Kapalai resort), but also a little at Perhentian Islands, around Kota Kinabalu, or other areas near Sipadan.

We both did our OW last September in Bali and haven't dived since, so feel like we might need a little refresher before heading straight into it again. We're thinking we'd like to do our Advanced Open Water course to get a little better, and then just do some fun dives. I would like to see turtles, and lots of fish! Since we're not very experienced, having good instructors/guides and equipment is really important to us.

Sipadan looks absolutely amazing (I know they're very strict with permits), but I'm nervous we're not really good/confident enough yet to fully appreciate it. Maybe we could arrange to do our AOW and some more diving nearby, and finish with diving at Sipadan? Or would people advise waiting until we're a bit more experienced before heading to Sipadan?

Of Sipadan resorts, Kapalai looks amazing, but I've seen some negative reviews about the dive instructors/guides/equipment, and I can't work out if they do PADI courses? Is there enough good diving outside of Sipadan and muck diving to keep us amused for the rest of the week?

Or can you recommend somewhere else we should consider? Budget-wise, it's a fairly rare holiday for us, so we're not restricted to backpacker budgets, though don't want to go too crazy. Tioman did look fairly cheap, which was good! One more factor is that my boyfriend really doesn't do lying on a beach/sunlounger for longer than an afternoon, so something else to do, even just a little walking around sightseeing, restaurants, or a couple of other activities might be a plus.

Many thanks in advance for any advice you can offer...

Claire xxx

 

[Zippsy]

My suggestion is to forget Sipadan. With only a handful of dives, done a year ago, practice first and enjoy (or learn to enjoy) "normal" diving first. Perhentian or Tioman are decent options but neither offers a lot to do outside of diving / laying around (although I know Tioman better than Perhentian). Restaurants are basic. On Tioman your friend can also do a bit of a walkabout and Berjaya Resort has some other activities. Tioman is much more populated on weekends and I bet Perhentian is too.

 

[Hike]

Sipadan might not be that bad of an idea for you. I went there with my wife when she was OW with 5 or 6 dives, it was part of a two and a half week vacation around Asia and Sipadan was more for me. She was not very confident in the water at this point, she did not like the first dive we did on the kapali house reef, so she sat out the second two dives of the day. We talked with one of their instructors about her doing the AOW, but she thought that would be a little much. She had basically decided not to dive anymore, but i convinced her that Sipadan was something worth trying. We were lucky enough that everybody on our boat cancelled, so we had a private boat to Sipadan, I explained to the dive master that my wife was a little nervous in the water, so if he could spend extra attention to her, it would be great. The guide was fantastic and my wife loved the diving, she went from being nervous in the water to chasing down sharks. I have yet to see a divesite that comes anywhere close to any of the sights on Sipadan. Sharks and turtles everywhere on every dive and huge schools of fish everywhere with the chance to see just about anything, hammerheads, thresher sharks, whale sharks all have the possibility of showing up. It is truly amazing. I have only logged about 60 dives, but have been to Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, Phillipines, and more and nothing is close to our experience at Sipadan. There are strong currents at Sipadan, its what brings in the fish, but you are diving with the current the whole time, so it is not very challenging.

Sipadan is definitely not cheap if you want luxury. I think we paid about $3,000usd for four nights, but that does include all dives, food, transfers, etc. I stayed at Mabul Water Bungalows, while it definitely looks like the nicest accommodation there, they have a major draw back, as they also have the land resort, they have twice as many guests competing for the same amount of permits. There staff will do everything they can to get you to Sipadan, we were lucky enough to get there two out of our three days diving, but it was off season and we only got there as we bought permits from another resort (arranged by Mabul Water Bungalows) and somebody else cancelled at 11:00pm so we took there place on the 5:30am boat. Although the hotel, staff and dive center were all fabulous, I probably would not stay there again as the main reason for me to go there is to dive sipadan and other operators give you a much better chance at that. But the macro around Mabul is incredible, little critters everywhere, seahorses, pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, etc etc etc.

I would definitely recommend doing your AOW as it basically kills two birds with one stone, rather than paying for a refresher course, your instructor will be there to help you along.

 

[gavstang]

Hey guys, Agree with what Zippsy has said about giving Sipadan a miss until you are more experienced in the water. Unfortunately for your bf, diving and island life equals lying around not doing much. At least in respect of the islands in Malaysia. I would suggest trying for a dive trip in either Pulau Perhentian or Pulau Redang. Both are fairly relaxed dives. Tioman has been pretty poor in terms of visibility recently but is also another option as its close to both KL and Singapore. Do tell the dive center you choose about your last dive, a refresher course would be a wise move just to refamiliarise yourself with the equipment and the other basic skills. DO update us on your choice!

 

[jh_MacLeod]

Hello! My boyfriend and I want to do some diving for a week in mid-September this year, and for work reasons it needs to be somewhere relatively easily accessible from Singapore or KL. Have mainly been looking at Tioman (Swiss Cottages/Tioman Dive Centre?) and Sipadan (in particular Kapalai resort), but also a little at Perhentian Islands, around Kota Kinabalu, or other areas near Sipadan.

One more factor is that my boyfriend really doesn't do lying on a beach/sunlounger for longer than an afternoon, so something else to do, even just a little walking around sightseeing, restaurants, or a couple of other activities might be a plus.

Hi, Normally I stay clear of specific recommendations, but it looks like you've done a lot of research. And since I have experience with both of the specifics you are focussing on, I'll give you my feedback.

Tioman Swiss Cottage is a lovely place, on the quiet end of a good beach, and it's run by nice people. Tioman Dive Center is owned by a British woman, and she hires competent dive masters and instructors. It is a good option for more basic training, and there are always some turtles around Ringis. My guess is that you will be satisfied with both operations. I will also mention that while food is basic on the island, especially during the day, there are a few more interesting restaurant choices in the evenings. You can always hang out and eat at the Cabanna Bar in the afternoons and evenings, and if you're lucky later in the evening, some of the local musicians may feel like jamming. So, Tekek beach is a good place to "chill", but if you want more action, you can always visit some of the other villages (ABC is within walking distance) or hike over the mountain to Juara.

Kapalai is also very nice and it should be possible to get more training there and to get more comfortable with your diving skills utilising the sites around Mabul before you venture to the "walls" of Sipadan. Kapalai has done some great work on the artificial structures of their house reef, so lots of interesting fish and other creatures are attracted to the site. And if you want turtles, then you will certainly be rewarded on a couple of the Sipadan dive sites. But on Kapalai or Mabul, there's not really any place to go or other things to do when not diving; not big enough and no moutains to climb.

In any case, this should be a win-win situation for you. Just choose one and do it. But, I wouldn't suggest you try to do both.