best place to dive in Malaysia/ Bali?

[oraph]

so i have an India business trip coming up in Feb.
Would like to take a week off after and do some diving around Malaysia area. Is there an absolute must dive/ can't miss place that you guys could recommend?
-some fun local night life would be a plus, as ill be by myself.

 

[Quero]

In Malaysia in February, the best place to dive is Sipadan, though it may be a bit rainy. No nightlife, though.
In Bali, where the best diving is (also a bit rainy in February)--Tulamben, Menjangan, Lembongan/Penida-- there's also not much nightlife. I guess you could go to the Gilis near Bali for some reasonably good diving and more nightlife.

Now, to go off topic a bit since this is in the Malaysia forum, let me add:

• In Indonesia Raja Ampat is in season in February (zero nightlife).
• Thailand's Andaman coast is also in season in February (lots of nightlife).
• The Philippines has a ton of places in season in February (some places with lots of nightlife, others with very little).
• The closest to India would probably be the Maldives (no nightlife), and you could easily get to India's own Andaman Islands as well (not much nightlife).

 

[Searcaigh]

+1 for Sipadan, however as Quero mentioned it might be a bit wet at that time of year, and if based on Mabul, the night life is restricted to a few post dive beers and an early night. Add to that a 4 hr flight to Semporna (from KL) + bus + boat, I'd be looking at somewhere easier with a better chance of decent weather. Quero's suggestion of Thailand is probably your best bet.

You did not mention where in India you will be visiting but I am thinking that you are traveling there via Malaysia hence the post. If that is the case, plenty of flights to Phuket from KL and much shorter than KL to Tawau then on to Mabul with about 3 more hours of travel.

On the other hand what are your key objectives, diving or night life?

I also travel frequently alone, never had any problems at any dive destination, even when they were quiet, despite the long travel times from KL to Mabul, that would be my first choice and if staying at Mabul, some really good shore diving too from the dive center's jetties as well as dive sites as close as 10 minutes by boat and of course the 40 min boat ride to Sipadan where most dive ops do 4 dives before returning to Mabul.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Another vote for Sipadan/Mabul. Sipadan is wonderful, and if you like or want to get exposed to muck diving Mabul has some really good muck.Check with the resort your thinking about
because Sipadan permits are limited. The resort I dived with was able to "guarantee" me 1 Sipadan permit for every three days I dived with them, but many resorts book up well in advance. I did a trip there this November and loved it.
I found Sipadan all what it's said to be, with lot's of fish, sharks, and healthy coral habitat, and I really enjoyed the Mabul muck. But there is not really any nightlife to speak of.

Bali is pretty darn easy to get to with lot's of flight options into Denpasar without any flights needed after that. I haven't dove there but have a trip booked in January. Not the best time of year for diving, but mostly I'm going on a vacation with my wife. ( Had to tempt her with Bali to get her to go with me)

If you need nightlife Thailand has that like Quero says, but I'd favor a liveaboard to the Similans there. Or for other nightlife options you could try Puerto Galera never been there, though the other places I've been in the Philippines rate high.

Heck just about anywhere in the Coral Triangle is great.

 

[Quero]

....
Check with the resort your thinking about
because Sipadan permits are limited. The resort I dived with was able to "guarantee" me 1 Sipadan permit for every three days I dived with them, but many resorts book up well in advance.
...

Just a point of clarification since I found the quoted bit a little confusing.... Yes, there are times of year when resorts that take divers to Sipadan get booked out. That's usually in the summer season and during important holidays like Chinese New Year. If a resort is booked out of lodging space, they won't have any spare permits floating around! In February, which is low season, I wouldn't expect there would be much problem in finding a room at a resort with permits or getting over to Sipadan for diving except, as noted above, during Chinese New Year. All resorts with a permit allocation distribute the permits to their resident guests equitably regardless of when they book their stay. The big question mark with permits is the number of permits any given resort has in comparison with the number of guests that are resident. Some resorts have no allocation at all, and divers who stay at those may not get to Sipadan at all.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Would also highly recommend Sipadan, it has something for everybody , beautiful reef, sharks and turtles galore , as well as cool macro stuff.

We stayed in Mabul Beach Resort in November and it was fantastic. We have done a fir bit of diving in Asia and the only areas we personally preferred to Sipadan were Komodo and possibly Nusa Lembongan in Indonesia. If you are coming already in Asia you will be acclimatised to the temperature and time zone.

It was also a bit wet in November on some days and extremely wet on others, but this made very little difference to our enjoyment.

Best fishes x

 

[chillyinCanada]

I too had a fab time at sipadan/mabul. Was fortunate to be one of those able to stay on Sipadan itself before it closed to overnight guests. After a couple of days transferred over to Borneo DIvers on Kabul. Room was great (of course, as was brand spanking new at that time). Meals were good, the other divers very cool. Night manager played guitar and so did one of the guests, so most evenings would find a few of us more sturdy folk, not quite ready to call it an early night, sharing songs and travel stories (and some of the local gossip) very entertaining with a cultural component. Also wasn't in Feb. I'm thinking it might have been April or May.

 

[lamarpaulski]

The Andaman islands look awesome and they seem to be best accessed from India. Only been there in my dreams as yet.

 

[kathydee]

Another vote for Sipadan!

 

[gekodivebali]

Padang Bai