Where to dive in West Malaysia ?

[edda_cosmo]

I'm going to travel around in West Malaysia - from KL or Singapore.

Where are the best dive sites and which dive bases can you recommend me ?

 

[jiveturkey]

Palau Redang in Terengganu Province is amazing. It was my first ever dive vacation and I haven't seen anything that good since. Lots of coral and lots of fish. The people there are great too. I stayed at a budget place called Ayu Mayang. I say budget but it was a great place. Small operation but experienced, very personal and safety concious. If you go, say hi to Alias for me. There are luxury resorts available on the island as well. The Ayu Mayang website is: www.ayumayang.com.my

There are also the Perhentian Isands to the north and Palau Tioman further south. These are supposed to be really great too. I haven't had any personal experiences there but everyone I've talked to said the Perhentians were great. Tioman has a good reputation but is known as a very touristy place. I'd go back to Redang anyday.

 

[lanun]

i've done tioman twice this year both during the school holidays.

take note though the diving season on the east coast of peninsular/west malaysia is late feb/mar till late oct/early nov (monsoon season).

i went in may and september, though i hear vis is best early and late season. checkout divetioman.com (they have german speaking staff if that helps make you more confortable).

 

[lanun]

oops ... left out why i liked it ...

i enjoyed the trips because there's many different types of dive experience - swimthroughs, sunken fishing trawler (though there are the warship/submarine wrecks for tech certified divers) and much to see - from turtles to blue dragons to yellow boxfish (?) and big corals (hard and soft), rugby ball sized (and bigger) clams. shore dive is also doable if you're based out of Salang Beach (house wreck, coral patch, shrimp goby, eels, sea snake, sea cucumber), etc, etc, etc

 

[prebufat]

Guys - all the places mentioned are good dive spots (although not the best SE Asia have to offer in my opinion) BUT please note that the rainy season runs from November to March, and virtually all the East coast islands close during that period.