Where is your favorite dive in Asia?

[torontoscubagirl]

About ten years ago I got certified in Tioman, and the reefs were amazing! I've since been diving the Carribean - and while they are good. Tioman was just way way better, at the time it was pristine.

Where is the good diving now in Malaysia? Between Tioman, Redang and Perhantian - where would you go diving?

How does Malaysia compare with the rest of Asia (or Australia)?

I'd really appreciate your thought !!

TorontoScubaGirl

 

[Zippsy]

Tioman is nice and cheap. Aur is as well. The northern islands (Perhentian, Redang & Tenggol) are also cheap and supposed to be better although I've only been to Tenggol and I thought it was not as good as Tioman or Aur. None of these places comes anywhere close to the better dive sites of Asia such as the Maldives, Thailand (Similans, Koh Tao, etc.), Borneo (Sipadan, Layang2, etc), the Philippines (PG, Malapascua, etc), Indonesia (Manado, Lembeh, Rajah Ampat, Bali, etc), etc, etc, etc.

And, IMHO, they are all better than the Caribbean although I have only been to Utila and Grand Cayman for comparison.

 

[Bowmouth]

I've dived (in the past and fairly recent) all the reefs and islands along Malaysia's East Coast and think that they still offer some great diving. The nice thing about Tioman is that there are some spots with an abundance of soft corals and fans, Aur has in general quite clear water and some colorful pinnacles, Tenggol has very nice reefs with good fish. Redang and Perhentian got good diving too but have more divers on their reefs and sometimes the more popular sites are "crowded".
The further South you dive the better the variety of creatures so for me I would say Tenggol, Tioman and Aur are the most interesting.

 

[tzeyap]

I've dived (in the past and fairly recent) all the reefs and islands along Malaysia's East Coast and think that they still offer some great diving. The nice thing about Tioman is that there are some spots with an abundance of soft corals and fans, Aur has in general quite clear water and some colorful pinnacles, Tenggol has very nice reefs with good fish. Redang and Perhentian got good diving too but have more divers on their reefs and sometimes the more popular sites are "crowded".
The further South you dive the better the variety of creatures so for me I would say Tenggol, Tioman and Aur are the most interesting.

I agree. Redang used to be great but sadly there has been too much construction and there has been substantial degradation. My favourite is Tenggol.


Off Sabah, on the eastern part of Malaysia are some truly world-class destinations - Sipadan, Layang Layang, Mataking but these tend to cost more.

 

[camden]

just came back from Bali and the Komodo and i was surprised with the quality and the diverstity of fauna and fish we found over there. especially Komodo of course. i dove thailand at phi phi island 3 years ago and i found it to be similar in the quality of dive sites we encountered. i know Bali is not a very commonly referred dive destination but i do think it is underrated. then of course the Komodos are simply amazing, got great pictures and we were only the two of us on the 80 ft liveaboard.this said these are the only 2 places i dove in asia to date.

 

[drbill]

I thoroughly enjoyed my diving in Thailand, but have yet to dive many of the other Asian countries so I can't offer any valid opinions... yet. I'd be happy to have a company sponsor me so I can dive all the best sites in Asia and give an educated response to this question. Any takers?