Diving on the coast of Malaysia - which islands?

[AnaCat]

Hello,

We will be travelling to Thailand in beginning of July and we wish to dive for 4-5 days. From what I read the season is not right for Andaman sea, might be better in Koh Samui, but I understand that the reef there is quite compromised and that it's extremely busy even underwater.
The idea would be to catch a flight from Bangkok to Redang or Tioman - Sipadan would be too far away.
I need advice in choosing the island, based on how rich the marine life is and how easy to access from Bangkok.
We are AOWD divers, and we usually dive on liveaboards in Egypt, so we are quite spoiled in terms of marine life

Any advice is wellcome, we are trying to build the best experience

Thanks!
Ana

 

[Searcaigh]

Tioman:

Fly to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) then take a bus to Mersing then the ferry across to Tioman.

Book TBS to Mersing Bus Tickets

Book TBS to Mersing Jetty bus for your onward ferry trip from Mersing Jetty to Tioman Islands. Check bus schedule, ticket prices and more.

www.terminalbersepaduselatan-tbs.com

Redang:

Fly to KUL then to Kuala Terrenganu (TGG) get a bus / taxi to Merang Jetty and boat to Redang. Best to book through some company who operates diving at Redang e.g. Redang Bay Resort.

 

[Centrals]

Koh Tao(Samui), Perhentian islands, Redang, Tenggol and Tioman. Where would I choose if I only have 4-5 diving days?
Koh Tao is the easier to get to from Bangkok as there are different options available. The quickest is a flight to Koh Samui and then ferry across. There is overnight sleeper from Bangkok to Chumphon and then coach + ferry across. Overnight bus is too uncomfortable but probably the cheapest.
Plenty of info on line.
Two very good dive sites near Koh Tao: Chumphon Pinnacle and Sail Rock.
The island will be very busy so choose the operator carefully.

Getting back to Bangkok is also the quickest from Koh Tao as compare from anywhere on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

 

[JonnieB]

Getting to the Malaysian islands in the Gulf of Thailand is a PITA because they don't have airports. As the above post states...it's planes, trains, and automobiles (and boats)

You may want to add Pehentian Island to your list.

 

[Centrals]

LOL.
Perhentian Islands has been mentioned already #3.

 

[divingdayz]

Nice diving in the Perhentian Islands.

 

[abrmy]

Hello,

We will be travelling to Thailand in beginning of July and we wish to dive for 4-5 days. From what I read the season is not right for Andaman sea, might be better in Koh Samui, but I understand that the reef there is quite compromised and that it's extremely busy even underwater.
The idea would be to catch a flight from Bangkok to Redang or Tioman - Sipadan would be too far away.
I need advice in choosing the island, based on how rich the marine life is and how easy to access from Bangkok.
We are AOWD divers, and we usually dive on liveaboards in Egypt, so we are quite spoiled in terms of marine life

Any advice is wellcome, we are trying to build the best experience

Thanks!
Ana

Hello, I reckon Tioman will be a little disappointing if you dive Egypt often. If you’re still keen on diving in West Malaysia, I’d highly recommend Perhentian or Redang instead, like the others have mentioned. Also, do a little research on Chumphon, it’s like an hour’s domestic flight from Bangkok and not as gentrified as the Ko Samui/Tao. Hope this helps!

 

[diveUAE]

Currently on Perhentian island. Best advice for now: stay away!!

The corals are so bleached it’s making me cry. I’ve never seen anything like this. Lots of fish (like Egypt), weather is gorgeous, water is warm, food is good.

It’s just too much effort to get here for diving with white corals - everything is white: brain corals, sponges, soft corals. Very sad to see the anemone fish in white corals;-(

My guess is it will be the same at Redang or Tioman, maybe even Koh Tao, but I don’t know.

 

[JonnieB]

Currently on Perhentian island. Best advice for now: stay away!!

The corals are so bleached it’s making me cry. I’ve never seen anything like this. Lots of fish (like Egypt), weather is gorgeous, water is warm, food is good.

It’s just too much effort to get here for diving with white corals - everything is white: brain corals, sponges, soft corals. Very sad to see the anemone fish in white corals;-(

My guess is it will be the same at Redang or Tioman, maybe even Koh Tao, but I don’t know.

Yes quite extensive coral bleaching throughout the Gulf of Thailand.

 

[diveUAE]

Yes quite extensive coral bleaching throughout the Gulf of Thailand.

Thanks for letting me know. Our son is (was?) planning on going to Koh Tao in August with his gf, for her first diving experience. But if the bleaching is still bad maybe they’ll just do land based stuff instead