Tioman

[Searcaigh]

Thinking about diving at Tioman in July or August and looking for advice on who to dive with.

Some criteria that need to be met

1. Shore diving
2. Solo diving
3. Availability of pony bottle for 2 above
4. Post dive beer available

Any suggestions?

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm interested too. How does the diving compare to other areas, such as Koh Tao, Phuket or Bali?

 

[Zippsy]

For the last three, you might want to check B&J Divers. I am not sure that you would enjoy shore diving unless you camped on Chebeh (which doesn't happen). Tioman and Aur are nice, convenient places for decent weekend diving from KL or Singapore, imho. There have some very good finds with occasional sightings of frogfish, whalesharks, mantas, ornate ghost pipefish, etc but it is definitely not in the league of Bali or Phuket.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Thanks Zippsy. I was asking because of wanting to have an easy trip out of Singapore.

 

[Quero]

What Zippsy said.

I'll add that the Tioman area in a general sense can be interesting because it's at the northern edge of the the water flow through the Kalimata Strait linking the South China Sea and the Java Sea. So there's some overlap in regards to biodiversity, but it's not striking, and not something you'd notice particularly.

 

[Searcaigh]

Thanks Quero and Zippsy for your feedback, this will help with my planning.

 

[jh_MacLeod]

Thinking about diving at Tioman in July or August and looking for advice on who to dive with.
Some criteria that need to be met
1. Shore diving
2. Solo diving
3. Availability of pony bottle for 2 above
4. Post dive beer available
Any suggestions?

I would suggest that you move around, instead of just doing all your diving with one dive shop in one village. Beer is available in any of the villages, but with a bit more variety in Tekek because of the duty-free zone. Ayer Batang has a popular pizza restaurant.
B&J is the most technically oriented dive shop, but none are used to doing shore dives except for classes. Several shops will have some AL40's you could sling, but many may hesitate to accommodate a solo request from an unknown diver, unless you can give them a certification to cover their insurance concerns. Nevertheless, the best shore dive will be at the southern end of Tekek beach rounding the corner toward Ringis.
The best dives are boat dives. Around Tiger Reef, Chebeh, and Malang Rock, there is a lot of interesting things to explore. The problem is that all the dive shops run these dives as a guided tour: 2-dive morning trip with <1 hour surface interval. Hire your own boat and a knowlegable local guide and you could plan something more interesting.

 

[Searcaigh]

Thanks jh, group guided tours are not my style unless the group is me and another photographer.

I had thought about using both B&J and Tioman Dive Center, but I do like the idea of a private boat and guide, appreciate any information that will help me make this decision.