Backpack/Trek Trip to Thailand/Malaysia in Dec/Jan

[scotter]

Hello all,

I am in the midst of planning a 1.5-2 month trek to Asia this coming December/January. While the primary purpose of my trip is to enjoy the cultures, archaelogical sites and meet new people, I do want to do a couple days of diving as this will be my first time to dive in Asia (95% of my experience has been Caribbean, and favorite is Turks and Caicos). As for preferences, I love pelagics and wall dives. I will be flying into Bangkok around Dec 19th and from there, my itinerary is on the drawing board. That said, any advice on a destination(s) to plan in either Thailand or Malaysia?

As I mentioned, I will be primarily trekking so I will not have any of my scuba gear (well, maybe my mask and dive computer since they're lightweight). In addition, I have a finite amount of time and way too many places I want to visit in Asia so I am only "allowing" myself 2-3 days of diving so I can see much of Asia (also plan to head to Austrailia and NZ after I finish Asia).

I have seen talk about the Similian Islands (Thai) and Sipadan (Malay) as top notch destinations, but my concern is that with my limited schedule, they may not be the best fit for my trek.


Thanks and happy diving!
Scott

 

[Zippsy]

Only 2 or 3 days for diving? If you are going to east Malaysia (Borneo - the better place for trekking anyway), I'd suggest spending those few days at Sipadan / Mabul. It would be easy to do 2-3 days diving if you get to Kota Kinabalu (which you should!). If you are only going to penisular Malaysia and Thailand, maybe day trips from Phuket would be a better option. LOB's would have better diving from there but I think most or all have 4 day minimums. I'd be happy to be corrected on this though.

 

[stevenl]

In Thailand you basically have 2 options for quality diving: either a (short) liveaboard to Similans or Hin Daeng/ Muang, or daytrips in the Andaman Sea. Phuket would be an excellent starting point, because from Phuket you can organise both.

Personally I would prefer to go to Hin Daeng/Muang, especially if your available time is limited.

 

[Kupu]

For such a short amount of time dedicated to diving I wonder if taking your dive computer along is worthwhile? I mean, it is a good thing to have for the dives but on a backpacking trip I would be a bit hesitant to carry such an expensive item around for the relatively little use you will get out of it. Probably not a big issue, I have never had anything lost or stolen during several years of backpacking around, but it crossed my mind...

As for the diving I will second the recomendations above. I would lean slightly more towards the idea of going to Phuket and Hin Daeng/Hin Muang, I saw some mantas there as well as whale sharks at different sites in the general area in November/December. And you might be able to get a 1 or 2 day trip out to Richleau Rock, once again mantas and whale sharks. One day spent doing 2-3 dives on Hin Daeng/Hin Muang and then a trip to Richleau seems to me to be a great way to maximize your Thai dive experince.

Not to say Sipadan is not worthwhile, if you find yourself in the area you should try to check it out. If wall diving is what you are after Sipadan will suit you nicely. And for trekking the hike to the top of Mt Kinabalu offers some very nice views and scenery.

The Perhentian Islands were my favorite overall Malaysian dive location but I would want to spend a minimum of 3-4 days and not much to offer for real wall diving and not sure about the possibility of pelagics as I didn't see any during my stay.

Just curious, interesting list of certification agencies on your profile, does that mean you are associated with all of them? Nice travel pictures on your website...

 

[scotter]

Thank you all for the great info so far. I will definitely do some research on some of the options mentioned (i.e. Borneo/Sipadan, Richleau rock, Phuket) and maybe with a bit of "arm-twisting", might even consider doing a short LOB. I have only seen mantas once before (and it was over 10 yrs ago) and have not seen whale sharks, so Richleau and Hin Daeng/Hin Muang definitely sounds intriguing if not only for the chance to get some sitings.

Kupu, now that would be something if I was associated with all of those org/agencies. However there was some kind of glitch when I was adding the information yesterday and no matter what, whever I clicked on the "save" button, it highlighted all but the last few. I guess I was feeling a bit lazy and haven't tried bringing the issue up to the boardmaster(s) yet. And thanks for the compliments on the website.