Layang Layang - Hell for Beginners?

[AC Boy]

Hi,

I'll be joining a group of divers to LL in mid-May, but I've found out that LL may not be the best place to dive for beginner divers, as currents can be quite strong.

I've already paid for my trip, and I'd really hate to spend a week there having to struggle on each dive. I've logged 20+ dives and would say that I've decent buoyancy skills. I've dived mostly off the islands of Peninsular Malaysia e.g. Redang, Tioman, and my last dive was at Manado (Bunaken and Lembeh).

Wld appreciate your views on this. Many thanks in advance!

 

[Quero]

It's true that L2 is advertised as a place for experienced divers, but in the two times I've been there the currents were certainly manageable. If you have good control over your bouyancy, you will probably not have much difficulty.

Also, if there's any particular problem with the water, the dive director will avoid the dive sites where the current is unusually strong or where the sea is especially choppy. For example, during my last trip to L2 we caught the very edge of a typhoon, so the diving was limited to only the lee side of the atoll (where conditions were fine) because of the rough water and increased surge on the windward side. The only difference we saw was a lot more sea grass floating around (pushed out of the lagoon by the wind), and some pipefish that normally don't go into the open ocean (also pushed out of the lagoon). No need to worry--they are very saftely conscious there.

In normal circumstances (I mean when there's not a storm) I think the hardest thing for less experienced divers is the depth of the dives. If you're used to the relatively shallow waters and a visible seabed at Redang, you will find the wall-diving at L2 an adrenaline rush. You will be doing mostly drift diving anyway at L2, so unless you want to stop to take photos, you won't be working all that hard. Have a great time in Layang-Layang!

 

[AC Boy]

It's true that L2 is advertised as a place for experienced divers, but in the two times I've been there the currents were certainly manageable. If you have good control over your bouyancy, you will probably not have much difficulty.

Also, if there's any particular problem with the water, the dive director will avoid the dive sites where the current is unusually strong or where the sea is especially choppy. For example, during my last trip to L2 we caught the very edge of a typhoon, so the diving was limited to only the lee side of the atoll (where conditions were fine) because of the rough water and increased surge on the windward side. The only difference we saw was a lot more sea grass floating around (pushed out of the lagoon by the wind), and some pipefish that normally don't go into the open ocean (also pushed out of the lagoon). No need to worry--they are very saftely conscious there.

In normal circumstances (I mean when there's not a storm) I think the hardest thing for less experienced divers is the depth of the dives. If you're used to the relatively shallow waters and a visible seabed at Redang, you will find the wall-diving at L2 an adrenaline rush. You will be doing mostly drift diving anyway at L2, so unless you want to stop to take photos, you won't be working all that hard. Have a great time in Layang-Layang!

Hi Quero,

Phew... That's a relief!

 

[Vie]

Just got back from L2 yesterday - had some rain, wind and waves but the diving is just fine - not challenging at all. Saw the season's first school of hammerheads on Monday morning at around and below 38m - just incredible.

My only gripe with L2 is the lack of nitrox.

 

[AC Boy]

Just got back from L2 yesterday - had some rain, wind and waves but the diving is just fine - not challenging at all. Saw the season's first school of hammerheads on Monday morning at around and below 38m - just incredible.

My only gripe with L2 is the lack of nitrox.

Hi Vie,

Thanks. Just what I needed to know to get me all pumped up! I'm assuming that the currents weren't strong?

 

[Vie]

I'm assuming that the currents weren't strong?

Not at all. All the drift dives (when you're next to the wall) were very, very slow drift. Out in the blue, there was hardly any current. You might encounter some surge in the shallow on top of the reef, but that's about it.

 

[seamonster]

Not at all. All the drift dives (when you're next to the wall) were very, very slow drift. Out in the blue, there was hardly any current. You might encounter some surge in the shallow on top of the reef, but that's about it.

Did you see hammerheads everyday there? How big were the schools? Any other interesting sightings? Thanks.

 

[Vie]

Did you see hammerheads everyday there? How big were the schools? Any other interesting sightings? Thanks.

I only saw the school once - there were around 50 hammerheads, maybe more (I counted from the video that I shot and I did not pan over the whole school). We also saw a lone hammerhead during a dive. I was pretty excited about the big rays, Taeniura meyeni, as I had never seen one before but they are quite common at L2. The only other big animals were greyreef and whitetip reef sharks, dogtooth tunas and many hawksbill turtles.

The most interesting sighting was in October last year, so I was told, when some orcas were seen and surfaced right next to the boats. Unfortunately this was during the six month period when L2 was closed to tourists/divers.

 

[Quero]

Just got back from L2 yesterday - had some rain, wind and waves but the diving is just fine - not challenging at all. Saw the season's first school of hammerheads on Monday morning at around and below 38m - just incredible.

My only gripe with L2 is the lack of nitrox.

What a thrill to see the hammerheads! Was it a big school?

As for the unavailability of nitrox, well, the thing with nitrox and L2 is the depth of the dives. About half of my dives there were deeper than 33 m, which is the depth limit for 32% nitrox fills (assuming a 1.4 opp limit). It's just not practical from a safety standpoint to offer nitrox at L2.

 

[Vie]

What a thrill to see the hammerheads! Was it a big school?

As for the unavailability of nitrox, well, the thing with nitrox and L2 is the depth of the dives. About half of my dives there were deeper than 33 m, which is the depth limit for 32% nitrox fills (assuming a 1.4 opp limit). It's just not practical from a safety standpoint to offer nitrox at L2.

There were around 50 hammerheads, maybe more (I counted from the video that I shot and I did not pan over the whole school).

As for the nitrox, I wasn't thinking of using it during deep dives but it would have been nice to have it for the last two or three dives of the day. The dive centre at L2 told me that they are working on offering nitrox in the future.