Singapore...to dive or not to dive...that is the question

[mudguppy]

Hey, Liang

That's exactly the info. I've been looking for. My nephew certified right in Singapore with Marsdens but has been diving Thailand lately. I want to dive, but it sounded more time consuming flying to Thailand somewhere and take away from visiting time, and will I want to get back on a plane again after 17 hours on one already?????????
Then theres the wait time there till I can fly again...

Thanks

Mudguppy

 

[Liang]

Hi,

You're welcome.

Maybe you might want to contact the followings dive operators :

1) Living Seas - look for Gideon. HP : (65) 96386808, Tel : (65) 64350436

2) Big Bubble Centre - Look for Stanley. Tel : (65) 62226862

3) Friendly Waters - Look for Davy. Tel (65) 65570016

The price might increase when you're here, maybe another US$30 because of some new regulation reported on today's papers.

Cheers
liang

 

[Ripples8]

Zept,
I will be traveling to Singapore mid July for a week and then for a few more 2 week trips for work. I was hoping to connect with some local divers that can take me diving while I'm there. I'm an avid California beach diver and prefer the shore diving because it usually makes for a shorter adventure. I could probably do some boat diving, which would allow me to see your better dive sites but I'm not sure how flexible my schedule would be. I'm a divemaster and have dived in the tropics but do most of my diving in Laguana Beach and Catalina. Let me know if you can hook me up with any friends you have so I can contact them when I'm out there this month. I would greatly appreciate it.

Kim
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Viz around Singapore is usually 1-2m. It can be as much as 5m, but I wouldn't count on it. We usually see a few fish, and there's some silt-covered coral, and occasionally people see turtles, and very occasionally they see seahorses. Then again, it can be completely dark at 10m. On one dive we didn't see the bottom for 5-10 minutes, and when it finally appeared I was so excited I almost pointed it to my buddy.

By May, there won't be many people running trips in local waters, but if I haven't managed to put you off yet (did I mention the viz?), I can give you the e-mail address of the people I dive with. They go out almost every weekend with students and it's usually okay to tag along.

If you can, you'd be much, much better off going up the east coast of Malaysia for a couple of days. Popular destinations include Pulau Tioman and Pulau Aur. You'll get much better viz up there and there's a lot more to see. Many of the Singapore dive companies run weekend trips up to these islands -- you pay an all-in price for transport, accommodation, food, tanks, weights, divemaster and so on. Alternatively you can get yourself up to Tioman and dive with one of the companies that is based there.

There are several other Scubaboard members who live in Singapore. Some of them can probably give you more specific advice about sites and dive companies -- I've only been diving since last summer, so my experience is pretty limited.

Hope that helps you get started,


Zept

 

[Albion]

Zept,
I will be traveling to Singapore mid July for a week and then for a few more 2 week trips for work. I was hoping to connect with some local divers that can take me diving while I'm there. I'm an avid California beach diver and prefer the shore diving because it usually makes for a shorter adventure. I could probably do some boat diving, which would allow me to see your better dive sites but I'm not sure how flexible my schedule would be. I'm a divemaster and have dived in the tropics but do most of my diving in Laguana Beach and Catalina. Let me know if you can hook me up with any friends you have so I can contact them when I'm out there this month. I would greatly appreciate it.

Kim
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No shore diving actualy in singapore. There is basically one place Pulau Hantu (ghost island) however the viz as stated before is about 1-5M (on a good day) there is alot of Macro to be seen there if you have the eyes to look for it. I did my OW there 8 years ago and have never been back, its that good. Singapore has the busiest port in Asia (possibly the world cant remember now- so you can imagine the sea traffic / pollution in the water etc) Much better bet would be a weekend trip to Pulau aur or Pulau tioman (in case you havent guesssed by now Pulau is Malay for island). The diving is not Sipadan quality, but on a good weekend you can see some good stuff. Some contacts have been posted already, also try

http://whitemanta.com/
http://www.vincentdive.com/main1.htm
Both basically same operator, I sometimes DM with them, and you can book on line.