Pulau paya???

[huskychemist]

I'll be staying in Penang (Georgetown specifically) from about April 10th to 20th.

I'd love to do a day or two of diving. I have heard Pulau Paya is the closest diving. So I did a search in this forum and got two matches.

Is it worth it to dive pulau paya? (I currently live in Pattaya, so I dive the gulf of Thailand as my "home" dives, for comparison.) If so, any dive op suggestions for Penang? What's a typical price for a day of diving?

Any other choices in the area?


Many thanks for any help on this.

Lowell

 

[Carena]

Do you mean Pulau Payar? I work on Langkawi taking Russian tourists on excursions around Langkawi and diving/snorkling trips. Snorkling is more interesting there than diving because of all the sharks that come to the beach because locals do a feeding show with them. The baby/teenager black tip sharks are the ones you will see the most, they are the ones that come very near the beach. The adult sharks you can see somewhere in the depth of 5 meters. That's the most interesting thing about Payar in my opinion, particularly the baby sharks cause I've never seen them anywhere else. However for anyone that dived in Maldives, Egypt, Philippines etc..the diving isnt anything special at all. You are unlikely to see any sharks while diving, unless its off the beach in the snorkling area, mostly it will be murrays and groupers and the regular stuff you see anywhere underwater.

Segantan on the other hand is nice, however they dont go there on regular basis, and very unlikely that they go there from Penang at all.

 

[MartianBeerPig]

Don't expect a mind blowing experience. The viz is generally not so good. However, I enjoyed my dive there a few years ago and saw quite a few sharks away from the beach. If you're looking for something special, then probably best you don't bother. But if you just want to get your head wet, then go ahead.

 

[huskychemist]

Thanks for the responses...I appreciate it.

I'm figuring I'll just stick with the family this vacation and save the diving for another time.

Until then...happy diving.

Lowell