Just got back from a sunny Vesak Day weekend in Redang in Malaysia. Had a FANTASTIC time!! 
Redang is one of the offshore islands off the north coast of West Malaysia which is renowned for its underwater beauty. The sites were quite good with a huge variety of lovely gorgonian, sea fans, whips and other soft corals. The fauna are bountiful. Saw skate and spotted rays in Mak Cantek, blacktipped reef sharks, hawksbills at Cik Isa, fimbrated and giant eels, juvenile barracudas at Terembu Kili. Macros are good too with decorated crabs, hermits, dragon nudibranches. Tons of terrifying triggers which seem to be in season right now. Vis was average ~10 m. Some currents with the morning tide and the full moon.
AB and Sharon run a top notch dive op at Diver's Den. The dives were well organised, starts punctually. Was a little concerned about 2 DMS to a group of 14, but they were good to keep us in and out of the sites safely. Sharon has a stunning memory for the local dive sites and seems to even know the baramundi cods in Terembu Kili by name!
The accomodations at the Redang Kalong resort is quite basic with its own idyllic beach. The snorkelling on the house reef is great, saw some baby turtles but swam away when this uncomfortably fat whitetip reef shark got too friendly with me! There isn't much of a nightlife around this report but Kalong is a short walk to the busier Long Beach with its holiday hordes.
There is some concern with the huge crowds of snorkelers but Sharon was good to avoid the busy sites. At the 6 dive sites we visited, there were no other boats to share the sites with us.
Redang may not be as assessible to visitors outside Asia but remains a great destination for a lot of us in Singapore and Malaysia. Will try to post some pics later..
Redang is one of the offshore islands off the north coast of West Malaysia which is renowned for its underwater beauty. The sites were quite good with a huge variety of lovely gorgonian, sea fans, whips and other soft corals. The fauna are bountiful. Saw skate and spotted rays in Mak Cantek, blacktipped reef sharks, hawksbills at Cik Isa, fimbrated and giant eels, juvenile barracudas at Terembu Kili. Macros are good too with decorated crabs, hermits, dragon nudibranches. Tons of terrifying triggers which seem to be in season right now. Vis was average ~10 m. Some currents with the morning tide and the full moon.
AB and Sharon run a top notch dive op at Diver's Den. The dives were well organised, starts punctually. Was a little concerned about 2 DMS to a group of 14, but they were good to keep us in and out of the sites safely. Sharon has a stunning memory for the local dive sites and seems to even know the baramundi cods in Terembu Kili by name!
The accomodations at the Redang Kalong resort is quite basic with its own idyllic beach. The snorkelling on the house reef is great, saw some baby turtles but swam away when this uncomfortably fat whitetip reef shark got too friendly with me! There isn't much of a nightlife around this report but Kalong is a short walk to the busier Long Beach with its holiday hordes.
There is some concern with the huge crowds of snorkelers but Sharon was good to avoid the busy sites. At the 6 dive sites we visited, there were no other boats to share the sites with us.
Redang may not be as assessible to visitors outside Asia but remains a great destination for a lot of us in Singapore and Malaysia. Will try to post some pics later..
