langkawi
- Thread starter h90
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
There are not many dive centers at Langkawi. The biggest is East Marine, but there are more snorkelers on the boat than divers, so the divers are almost an afterthought. I've had good experiences diving with Langkawi Pro Divers--good customer service and definitely diver-friendly as opposed to catering principally to snorkelers. Their shop is on Pantai Cenang, so if you want to stay nearby to that particular dive center, that's the beach you should look at.
Having said that, I don't expect to ever dive at Payar or anywhere around Langkawi again. I personally found the diving disappointing. Langkawi is at the northern end of the Malakka Strait, which is a major shipping channel. There's tons of sediment in the water and the dive sites are not especially thrilling. Not too far away, though, are the Thai islands of the Tarutao National Park--Koh Lipe, principally. These islands are far enough away from the Strait that they don't suffer from the silting that Payar is a victim of, and the diving is great.
Having said that, I don't expect to ever dive at Payar or anywhere around Langkawi again. I personally found the diving disappointing. Langkawi is at the northern end of the Malakka Strait, which is a major shipping channel. There's tons of sediment in the water and the dive sites are not especially thrilling. Not too far away, though, are the Thai islands of the Tarutao National Park--Koh Lipe, principally. These islands are far enough away from the Strait that they don't suffer from the silting that Payar is a victim of, and the diving is great.
Luko
Contributor
Agree 100%.
A long time ago (2001?2002?) Did two scuba dives in Payar amidst hundreds of asian tourist groups wearing yellow life jackets :shocked2:. 12m max bottom depth, carpeted with soft corals and LOTS of blacktip sharks though viz is reduced to 8/10m max.
Koh Lipe on the thailand side is much better though not world class diving. Small critters like ghost pipefish or nudibranches.
Lipe beaches are lovely though, probably the best in Thailand, and the groupers they grill on the beach with a lemongrass, coriander and ginger sauce is to die for. My favorite destination for a relaxing week at christmas time. :cool2:
Actually, my experience was quite different at Pulau Payar. We also went with East Marine and they were very well organised. There were a lot of snorkellers but they all got dropped off on the island and then they took the divers -- and ONLY the divers -- on a smaller boat to the dive sites to do the proper dives. We had nothing to do with the snorkellers at all.
Anyways, our divemaster was wonderful, very enthusiastic and careful, showed us a lot of good stuff. Might have just been the time of year we were there (April), or maybe we got lucky, but the visibility was excellent and we saw a lot of sea life, including schools of barracudas, a family of groupers, moral eels, lots of nudibranches, and so on. The corals are healthy, as it is a marine park and well protected.
In between dives they take you back to the island for lunch (which I have to admit is not so good) and then you're gone again, so you really don't spend much time on the island with the snorkellers at all.
As for where to stay, I stayed first in Kuah Town and then also in Pantai Cenang. East Marine organised our pick up from the hotel and took us back too. There are LOTS of hotels in these two areas. Kuah Town is kind of dead though. Pantai Cenang has a lot more action.
Anyways, yes a lot of people have had disappointing experiences at Pulau Payar. But the time I went it was excellent. I say take your chances and go check it out for youself.....
Anyways, our divemaster was wonderful, very enthusiastic and careful, showed us a lot of good stuff. Might have just been the time of year we were there (April), or maybe we got lucky, but the visibility was excellent and we saw a lot of sea life, including schools of barracudas, a family of groupers, moral eels, lots of nudibranches, and so on. The corals are healthy, as it is a marine park and well protected.
In between dives they take you back to the island for lunch (which I have to admit is not so good) and then you're gone again, so you really don't spend much time on the island with the snorkellers at all.
As for where to stay, I stayed first in Kuah Town and then also in Pantai Cenang. East Marine organised our pick up from the hotel and took us back too. There are LOTS of hotels in these two areas. Kuah Town is kind of dead though. Pantai Cenang has a lot more action.
Anyways, yes a lot of people have had disappointing experiences at Pulau Payar. But the time I went it was excellent. I say take your chances and go check it out for youself.....
sergiogh
Registered
Hi there!
We were recently in Langkawi, and diving was not recommendable at all. Pulau payar was closed due to coral bleaching, so east marine went only to the next island, which is nothing special. There are 3 operators, but you have to book a 2 dives package for a really expensive price for Malaysia.
I would definetely recommend going a bit north to Thailand, or to the Perhentian islands, the real jewel of peninsular Malaysia.
More info about diving langkawi.
Cheers!
We were recently in Langkawi, and diving was not recommendable at all. Pulau payar was closed due to coral bleaching, so east marine went only to the next island, which is nothing special. There are 3 operators, but you have to book a 2 dives package for a really expensive price for Malaysia.
I would definetely recommend going a bit north to Thailand, or to the Perhentian islands, the real jewel of peninsular Malaysia.
More info about diving langkawi.
Cheers!
Similar threads
