Malaysia - Diving, good or bad idea?

[Ocean Xplorer]

I'll be in Kuala Lampur 23-28 January and will have some time to dive. Any suggestions on where I should go on the Penninsula? Everything I've seen says that the diving on the East side won't open up until mid-February, and I won't be able to go to East Malaysia. What are my options for the end of December?

Greg

Hi Greg!

The monsoon season is only for east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, not East Malaysia. East Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak) is open all year round and Borneo is one of the destination you can visit & do some diving there. You can either go to Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking, Lankayan & etc.

You can do a 5d/4N or 4D/3N at either one of the destination. As for the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, you can go to either Pulau Payar (from Langkawi) or Pulau Jarak (LOB). It's nothing really great, but if you're just planning to get wet, those 2 destinations are the only choices.

Our recommendation is still Borneo, since you're gonna be here, might as well go somewhere better! Mabul might be full during that period since Sipadan is closed, the other alternative is to go to Mataking. It's the latest dive destination in Malaysia.

Whatever you choice may be, we wish & welcome you to Malaysia!

Happy Diving & Keep Those Bubbles Flowing!

Ocean Xplorer.

 

[Quero]

I'll be in Kuala Lampur 23-28 January and will have some time to dive. Any suggestions on where I should go on the Penninsula? Everything I've seen says that the diving on the East side won't open up until mid-February, and I won't be able to go to East Malaysia. What are my options for the end of December?

Greg

Greg, you have asked specifically for diving on the peninsula. (Too bad you can't consider Borneo, as suggested above, but it's not on the peninsula, and you've said you won't be able to go there.) Just about the only good diving options on the peninsula entail travel to southern Thailand and diving the Similans (Thailand), Mergui (in Myanmar), the Andamans (India), or the group around Hin Daeng (Thai). Boats go out from Phuket, mostly, and some from Krabi. Phuket is a one hour flight from KL.

There is only one place that's drivable from KL this time of year, and that is Langkawi, but diving is not especially good there.

 

[ChrisDur]

Last July AirAsia had $50.00 roundtrip tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu. That's how we got to go to Sabah.......

 

[scubabroke]

Hi,
For divers travelling in malaysia now days is easy but need to plan carefully.
Just booked my ticket to Tawau from Kuala Lumpur(Direct flight).
Just for RM137.00 by Airasia in June. Who cares whether the airlines serve drinks or not
as long i can dive in sipadan .

Unbelieveable......believe it

Cheers

 

[Tim Wong]

We dove off Langkawi a month ago, mostly at Pulau Payar Marine Park.

Water temps about 82 degrees F, vis was 60-80' and green. Plenty of life, although not as dense as you might expect.

I included some photos, I appoligize as they're from a disposable camera (I was there on business and didn't bring a real camera).

While there we dove with the Bomba (Malaysian National Fire Department), so we didn't dive with the local dive operation, East Marine Divers. After watching them in action we're glad we didn't; on one photo you can see the large boat they shuttle you from the harbor to the dive site, and in the foreground, their skiff they actually dive from. When we asked about diving, they told us that it was required that everyone dive with a divemaster who would manage the dive. Sheesh. Cost was $90 US for 2 dives including lunch.

Because our hosts, the Bomba, had a cylinder shortage, I asked East Marine about renting tanks. They did not, and actually seemed bewildered that anyone would do so, although they would cheerfully rent us regulators, BCs, wetsuits etc. No gas, only air, and that was questionable as I saw them one afternoon taking the valves off of tanks, upending the tanks to pour out water, and screwing the valves back in and filling them. I'm not kidding, we just stared with a kind of frozen horror. Then they filled them from their compressor with a woefully inadequate, single stack filter ( I asked, the dive shop owner wasn't sure how long it had been since the filter stack was changed).

Our hosts were fantastic, and did backflips to make sure we had a great time. Langkawi is a beautiful island, the folks are incredibally friendly, the food is cheap and far better than the mainland. It is worth going to the island even if you do not stick a flipper in the water.

I have heard from an email from the Bomba on the island that the tsunami damage is location dependent. Some areas are untouched, and others were hammered. No report on the effect on the diving, although we wern't that impressed with the pre-tsunami conditions, anyway.

All the best, James

Fdog, the East Marine scenario you described is a one off case. There are many other dive operators in Malaysia that offer first class dive facility and carry quality rental equipment that are on par with dive operators in many western countries. The again, you get black sheep operators everywhere in the world.

 

[Water Baby]

Hello All,

I'm currently in Penang on business and discovered, to my happy surprise, that a colleague of mine is also a certified diver.

We would like to do a day trip dive on Sunday. As diving and flying is not an option, and I really only have the day, does anyone have any suggestions for places I can reach by car to do a day trip/boat dive?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[lanun]

Pulau Payar - http://www.langkawicoral.com/ is one option though pricey. you get on a boat from Port Swettenham (departs 8:45 i think, arrive back 5'ish) for Pulau Payar. once at Payar you will be stationed on the platform and can either follow the skif to other dive sites, or jump off the platform to enjoy the dive around the pier and house reef. some pics in my profile - links to yahoo photos. 2 dives, lunch is what you get - snorkeling too if you can find the time. trip out is 90 mins - the boat has an open air deck to catch some rays or just snooze in the cabin (275 pax boat).

or, call John Low at http://www.seatrek.com.my/ he might have something - not sure if it's this sunday you're thinking of.

take care and welcome. i'm in penang, fyi.

Hello All,

I'm currently in Penang on business and discovered, to my happy surprise, that a colleague of mine is also a certified diver.

We would like to do a day trip dive on Sunday. As diving and flying is not an option, and I really only have the day, does anyone have any suggestions for places I can reach by car to do a day trip/boat dive?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Water Baby]

Thanks very much for the recommendations! Sadly, my dive buddy is being called away on business this weekend, so we're going to have to postpone our diving to the next time we're in Penang.

I appreciate your help though! Penang is a beautiful island and I hope to return here many more times.

 

[lanun]

Thanks very much for the recommendations! Sadly, my dive buddy is being called away on business this weekend, so we're going to have to postpone our diving to the next time we're in Penang.

I appreciate your help though! Penang is a beautiful island and I hope to return here many more times.

no problem. next time you might even want to consider an extended weekend then more areas open up to you. take care and have a great rest of your stay.