Singpore Diving - Sat. Feb 18th, 19th, 20th

[djanni]

Impromptu trip to Singapore. I've never dived Singapore. Will be arriving there on the dates above and would like to dive a couple of days. I'll be staying at the Goodwood Park Hotel on Scotts St.

Is it worth trying to get in a few dives? Can you recommend a dive operator? Is it cold or warm water diving? I would rent all the equip. What's the vis like? What kind of diving is it?

Thanks in advance...

Don

 

[Traminer]

Diving in SG waters? No thanks... the Southern Islands and Hantu were like swimming in pea soup. Only if you're into murk diving and don't mind low visi...

Some operators are doing day trips to Batam and the Indonesian islands. Not sure if they are worth the trip with the soil reclaimation and landworks going on.. check these guys out:

http://www.waikikidive.com/
http://www.diveriau.com/ - listed in Batam but not sure if they are still operational

Some of the better Singapore operators are:
http://www.orpheusdive.com
http://www.bigbubble.com/
http://www.friendlywaters.com.sg

Diving season only starts with the end of the monsoon in the east coast of West Malaysia in March. The spots closest to Singapore are Pulau Tioman, Pulau Dayang/Aur which are closed right now with the monsoon.

Waters here are usually 27 to 30 C or 80F to 86F. Shortie or 0.5mm is fine..

 

[AC Boy]

Hi Don,

Sadly, the dive season in this region is usually from Mar - Oct and Singapore's not known for its dive sites. As far as I know, there's only Pulau Hantu (a small island south of Singapore) and IMHO the diving conditions are nothing to rave abt.

If you're really keen to get some nitrogen into your system, there is Underwater World (huge indoor aquarium in Sentosa... very popular with Singaporeans and tourists) where you're able to dive with a dugong, sharks etc. In fact, I signed up for one of their dive programmes to propose to my girlfriend back in Oct 05, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! You can get more info on their website http://www.underwaterworld.com.sg. Hope this helps! eyebrow

 

[pakman]

congrats AC boy!!! hope the dugong didn't eat the ring?

 

[AC Boy]

congrats AC boy!!! hope the dugong didn't eat the ring?

Thanks pakman!

Honestly, I'd rather the Dugong eat the ring than the Bull Shark! But to answer your question - the ring's sitting pretty on my fiancee's finger.

 

[Dugongberbulu]

Hey, don't knock it unless you've tried it! Diving in Underwater World, although a bit pricey, is a BLAST!!!

Gracie the resident Dugong is a bit pushy (ie greedy for the sea-grass you have), but a warm and lovable creature

Feeding the eagle rays is also fun, and "Fido" the leopard shark (biggest one in the tank) is a real puppy... you'll spend at least 5mins just playing with him and doing stupid stuff for the tourists to take pictures of

Try it!

But, sadly, outside of that, there is NOTHING to dive in Singapore waters of note. If you've come all the way from the states, I would try and hop up to Phuket (only about an hour and half flight direct from Changi).

Cheers!

 

[malaysia-islands]

Geez, and skipping Malaysia entirely eh? Phuket is 1 hour by flight, Malaysia is just walking distance from the Woodlands

 

[ddavid]

hi Don, sadly Singapore is not really a dive spot, the waters around our island has very poor viz, strong currents acting up now & then and basically, just not a place u'd want to dive. Like the previous posts, if u really want to give it a try, a day trip to pulau hantu is your best bet. Hook up with 1 of the recommended operators; they usually rent out gear as well. The last time i dived p.hantu, i recall it was $50 sing dollars for a 2-tank dive, from 8:30am till ard 1:30pm. Hope this additional info helps..

 

[Jason Ooi]

Not a good dive site poor water in Singapore! unfortunately season closed in east cost Malaysia caused monsoon, No Harm! why not try contact dive centre in Tioman, ask for the water condition.
Good Luck safe dive

 

[malaysia-islands]

Not a good dive site poor water in Singapore! unfortunately season closed in east cost Malaysia caused monsoon, No Harm! why not try contact dive centre in Tioman, ask for the water condition.
Good Luck safe dive

I actually live and work in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. The monsoon is gone and there are plenty of resorts are doing early bird specials now before the peak season starts in May.

Usually early bird months can get about 40% off the rates. In May, one can almost never find any available rooms in Redang (but Perhentian and Tioman tend to have more budget rooms, so the availability is better than high-end resorts in Redang)