Pulau Payar in October

[boonlim]

My wife and myself are planning a diving trip to Pulau Payar leaving from Penang. Can anyone recommend the dive operators? We looked up the web and found East Marine, Coral Island and Langkawi Coral but we are not sure about their facilities. We would appreciate your feedback on their dive master, food, boat condition, cost, etc. What's the condition of the water in October? i know that the east malaysia monsoon season starts towards the end of the year..

thanks

Boon
P.s. Dove at Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel between the hurricane season in 2005 and the water was really clear.

 

[kbawiz]

Was there 2 wks ago. But went from Kuah, Langkawi instead. Wanted to go with East Marine but it was fully booked. so went with Coral Island instead.
As I was the only diver w them on that trip (the rest on the ferry were snorkellers) got the VIP treatment from the DMs. I dived with Jann who was GREAT! Gave me good tips too.
Did 2 dives - which is standard there. One was at Coral Garden. Very nice. Colorful corals and saw puffer fishes and also FOUR black tip sharks too! I like! and the other was just off the Pulau Payah marine park.
Lunch? hmmm... In styrofoam. The guys said its standard everyday. One fried chicken, a bun, biskuits and apple. Except for the apple, all went into feeding the fishes @ the Marine park. At East Marine, they provide buffet lunch with real food! :-D
Weather in Oct? The guys did mention that they're gd all yr round in the west. But its best that u check before u go.
Visibility is not as great as in the east of Malaysia BUT they have plentiful of fishes!

 

[boonlim]

Thanks for the info. How was the equipment with Coral Island?

I found the following Dive operators while searching the web for those of you who are interested in going to pulau payar from Penang and Langkawi island.. It would be great if some of you could give some rating and reviews on all these operators..

Aquatic Adventures - http://www.aquaticadventures.com.my
Langkawi Coral - http://www.langkawicoral.com/home.html
Seatrek Traders - http://www.seatrek.com.my/
East Marine Diver - http://www.eastmarine.com.my/
Pro Dive Langkawi - No website
Coral Island - http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/p2g/27232536/kedah/coralisland(pulaupayar,langkawi)fulldaytour.html

 

[kbawiz]

I am not sure. I brought my own equipment as I wanted to 'seasoned' my wet suit & BCD. Only used their reg (Jann's personal reg) and their fin (too big to carry mine). They look fine to me. Sorry can't help much here.

 

[Quero]

Thanks for the info. How was the equipment with Coral Island?

I found the following Dive operators while searching the web for those of you who are interested in going to pulau payar from Penang and Langkawi island.. It would be great if some of you could give some rating and reviews on all these operators..

Aquatic Adventures - http://www.aquaticadventures.com.my
Langkawi Coral - http://www.langkawicoral.com/home.html
Seatrek Traders - http://www.seatrek.com.my/
East Marine Diver - http://www.eastmarine.com.my/
Pro Dive Langkawi - No website
Coral Island - http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/p2g/27232536/kedah/coralisland(pulaupayar,langkawi)fulldaytour.html

I have dived very happily with Pro Dive Langkawi. I didn't like East Marine the time I went with them. Cattle boat mentality and hurry-up-and-wait all the time. Plus way too many snorkelers for my taste. Pro Dive was just divers, and very scuba oriented. My 2 sen. (A sen is 1/100 of a Malaysian Ringgit.)

 

[Belushi]

I worked very happily for Prodive LGK ... good work ethic and excellent people.