Scuba divers like to dive in new dive sites and one thing that Malaysia does not lack is dive sites. The sites in Malaysia offer stunning underwater coral reefs and diverse reefs. As well as the chance to see marine life such as sea turtles. Where to dive in Malaysia?
Diving in Malaysia allows you to see turtles, observe the barracuda vortex, even sharks, and more. The dive sites in Malaysia offer some great scuba dive sites that are from Sipadan Island to East Malaysia to Tioman Island in Peninsular Malaysia.
In this post, we will go through the best places to scuba dive in Malaysia. Let’s get started!
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Best Places To Scuba Dive In Malaysia
To make things easier, we have made a list of the best places for scuba diving in Malaysia. We have chosen them based on their beauty, dive conditions, and also the range of marine life you might see.
Here are the 9 best places to dive in Malaysia.
Visit Perhentian Island
It is the ultimate place in Malaysia for learning how to dive. The views are amazing for any level of diver even the advanced ones. After getting the diving cert, you can continue your diving adventure as the water is calm and safe.
Shallow reefs near the island allow you to go snorkeling as well as diving where you can see fish, turtles, underwater scenery, and more. With the added bonus it offers the lowest price if you are planning on learning to dive.
Are you a newbie scuba diver? No more words, you have to choose Perhentian Island.
Try Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
An absolute choice for diving as it provides countless dive points. You may find dive shops mostly in Kinabalu and several more on the islands in the area. It’s like Perhentian Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, which is a very good place if you want to learn to dive.
Go To Redang Island
It is located in the heart of the Terengganu Marine Park. As a dive site, Redang has flawless coral reefs and perfect dive surroundings. The cost of a diving journey is reasonable enough, even for backpackers.
Note: Between October to March, once the monsoon season comes you cannot go to Redang.
Visit Sipadan Island And Mabul Island
Next, we have three gorgeous islands. They are Sipadan Island, Kapalai Island plus Mabul Island. In all probability, they top our list of diving sites around Malaysia.
Sipadan is our main recommendation to do scuba diving. Talking about Mabul, is famous for its amazing diving. The next island, Kapalai, is more of a sand area so it’s not a decent option for diving.
Frankly speaking, the spotlight goes to Sipadan and Mabul. Nevertheless, you can visit all of them in one package. It is not allowed to leave one of them.
Go To Lankayan Island
Lankayan Island is located near Sandakan. It is just a small island and as a result, it is one high-class resort. But if you go mainly for diving and relaxing, it will be a good decision.
Plus, Lankayan stays right behind Sipadan when pointing out the best dive conditions and spots available in Malaysia.
Visit Layang-Layang Island
Although the name is an “island” it is not a tropical island. Layang-Layang Island has a landing strip from concrete completed with one resort. A marine base is also there and the island is located on a big sandbank.
The remote area makes Layang-Layang Island quite safe. You can see virgin corals and watch a big bunch of fish species.
Try Lang Tengah Island
Lang Tengah Island offers an amazing experience in diving. This island has several resorts. In Lang Tengah Island, there is some interesting stuff to see such as turtles, snappers, amazing rock formations, and wrasses.
Furthermore, it also presents lovely corals, cute rabbitfish, sharks (nurse and bamboo), shovel-nosed rays, and butterflyfish.
Note: Lang Tengah Island cannot be visited between October and March because of the monsoon season.
Go To Tenggol Island
The condition of the sea current makes Tenggol Island not a good choice for beginners. Its unpredictability makes it more suitable for more advanced divers.
But, if you can make it, you will be rewarded with a striking experience. There are comfortable and nice resorts around the island.
Note: From October to March, people cannot visit Tenggol due to the monsoon season.
Visit Tioman Island
Scuba diving is not the only activity you can do here. You can also do snorkeling, kayaking, and sunbathing. Tioman Island is included in the Mersing Marine Park area.
The cool thing is, that you can find over 25 dive spots around Tioman Island, which are available for all levels of divers. The only problem is, that it can be a small challenge to reach Tioman Island whereas other islands have far easier access.
On the other hand, if your budget is sufficient, you can go for a direct flight from KL to Tioman.
USEFUL TRAVEL RESOURCES
Book Accommodation
Booking.com has a large range of properties from hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and resorts where you will find the best deals. Airbnb and Hostelworld also have a good range of places to stay at good prices.
Booking Flight
Skyscanner is a flight search comparison website that searches millions of flights all at once. Ultimately it is the best flight comparison website online at the moment.
Booking Transportation & Things To Do
Rome2rio and 12Go are useful to plan how to get anywhere by searching train, bus, car, and ferry routes. Especially useful in countries like Vietnam or Thailand. While Klook is great for exploring things to do in each place.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is cheap and more than likely you will never need to use it but you will have peace of mind if something does happen, you are covered in case of an emergency. World Nomads have great customer service and competitive prices.
Check out our resource page for the best companies to use when you travel.
Wrapping Up
Finally, as you see there is a good range of dive sites around Malaysia. Sipadan Island offers the best dive sites in Malaysia. If you are interested in learning to scuba dive then Perhentian Island is a good option. These places have other things to do other than scuba diving that will also keep you busy for a few days.
And that’s it for now! I’d love to know if this post on the best places for scuba dive in Malaysia was helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there are more sites to add.