Top Ten Scuba Diving Destinations in Malaysia
The beautiful corals at Pulau Sipadan
Due to the global pandemic currently raging opportunities to travel to far off, exotic places for some scuba diving are somewhat limited. Luckily, being based here in beautiful Malaysia we are blessed with some world class scuba diving right on our doorstep. We decided to take a look at the top ten scuba diving destinations here within Malaysia, we’re sure you’ll agree that Malaysia has some top notch diving on offer and some amazing variety from tiny macro diving around Pulau Mabul, large pelagics at Pulau Sipadan both located just off of Malaysian Borneo to some top notch diving on the east coast of the peninsula such as Tenggol, Redang and Perhentian. You’ll notice that not all locations are covered, such as the almost mythical Layang-Layang and Pulau Aur - this is simply because we haven’t visited them yet, although do check back for future updates we’re planning on heading to Aur later this year and fingers crossed one day may even be able to visit Layang-Layang if the bank Manager allows it!
Hopefully this blog post will inspire some ideas for future trips for those outside of Malaysia and for those of us lucky enough to be based here add a few places onto the scuba bucket list to tick off. We’ll also include a few suggestions for dive centres and accommodation as well to help you get started planning that next scuba diving trip! so, hopefully you’re ready to join us on a virtual scuba diving tour of Malaysia! We’ll count down the top diving spots in reserve order:
10) Pulau Kapas, Terengganu
Wreck at Pulau Kapas
In at number 10 is Pulau Kapas located on the east coast of peninsula Malaysia and the subject of an earlier review here at Southeast Asia Diving. Kapas in Bahassa means “cotton" and is so called after the near white sand found on its beaches. Until recently it was one of the lesser known islands, but due to its proximity to the mainland, just ten minutes by boat and ease of getting to from KL its popularity has soared in recent months. Unfortunately this surge in popularity, especially amongst day trippers is taking a toll on the fragile island eco system with lots of litter being left on the island by visitors that inevitably makes it way into the sea and with hoards of snorkelers the coral is taking quite a bashing too. Fortunately there are those that care, such as the amazing Aquasport divers, the only dive centre on the island who regularly arrange beach clean ups, plant corals and generally act as a bit of a guardian angel for the island!
The diving here might not be the best that Malaysia has to offer, but you can still see beautiful corals, nudibranchs, cuttlefish and all of the usual suspects when it comes to tropical coral reefs. You may not get the larger stars of the show all the time but from time to time you may be lucky enough to spot a turtle or if the stars align a whale shark, although this is exceptionally rare. You can even enjoy diving around a wreck here located just a few minutes from the dive centre . The visibility isn’t great a lot of the time partly due to its closeness to the mainland but there generally aren’t any currents and its not too deep making it a great place to hone your skills as a new diver. You can check out our blog post about diving at Kapas here.
Accommodation here is plentiful and varied, the best being Kapas Turtle Valley, owned and run by a South African couple and located in its own private bay. It is more expensive that the other offerings on the island and often booked up ahead of time but it is worth the extra for the comfortable rooms, hot showers and fantastic food! Other accommodation includes Qimi Private Chalets which is located at the other end of the island and Gem private Island Resort, which is situated on a small island just 2 mins boat ride from Kapas itself.
9) Pulau Sibu, Johor
When people speak about diving in Sibu they will often be talking about other destinations such as Cebu in the Philippines or Sibu in Malaysian Borneo. But, there is a third Pulau Sibu, located in Johor in peninsula Malaysia and its a little gem of a place. There are two resorts to stay at on the island, when we visited in 2017 we stayed the brilliantly run Sea Gypsy Village Resort which is run by a British family and is family orientated; this is fantastic for those families where the parents want to dive as there a lot of kids activities that are organised. The rooms are well made and equipped with fans and mosquito nets and with hot showers too! The food is a particular highlight of staying here and is generally Malaysian or Asian cuisine but done to cater to a western pallet.
The diving here is similar to Kapas, the vis isn’t so great and its not too deep and generally lacks current again making it ideal for newly qualified divers or those wishing to learn. The dive centre is well equipment with instructors and guides who really now their stuff. The highlight for me diving here was spotting a juvenile harlequin sweetlips doing its crazy dance which is something i really love to see.
Pulau Sibu is another great long weekend destination for those wanting to get out of the city, the journey from KL is a little bit further that for the islands of Terengganu but it is a fantastic island getaway with a big warm welcome, great hospitality and great food - that you can get a few dives in here is an added benefit which makes it perfect for families that dive.
8) Pulau Tengah, Johor
The beach at Pulau Tengah
Pulau Tengah used to be an island haven for refugees from the Vietnam war, but these days it is home to the luxury resort, Batu Batu. It’s located about 30 minutes from peninsula Malaysia by boat and once you set foot on the island you’ll instantaneously fall in love with it. Clear, warm water, beautiful corals and white sand awaits those who make the trip. The resort itself is built in traditional Malaysian style but with a series touch of class; four poster beds, standalone bath tub, beautiful jungle & ocean views it is a paradise. We were lucky enough to visit at the end of August 2020, you can read more about our experience here.
A skunk clownfish hides in its anemone
The diving here is good and again like other destinations on the list is suited for beginners and those looking to take their license. When I visited I did a couple of dives which were both just in front of the island so no long bumpy boat journeys and the corals were in surprisingly good condition. As mentioned the only drawback, if you can call it that was that the dive sites were very shallow - this was great from a photography standpoint as there was lots of available light but it was a little bit of a test of my buoyancy skills. The aquatic life was also quite interesting with lots of nudibranchs to find, some cleaner shrimp and reticulate moray eels. There are also a few wrecks around the island apparently, mostly boats from the Vietnamese refugees that previously inhabited the island. The other plus point is that the resort has set up a full time conservation team on the island that helps to hatch turtle eggs, which you can sponsor, and also conducts coral reef mapping and other conservation activities too. Really recommend staying here and checking out this fantastic island paradise.
7) Kapalai, Sabah
The villas at Sipadan Kapalai
We’re starting to move into more serious diving territory now with Pulau Kapalai, although the term island is maybe a bit generous as it is effectively just a sandbank in the middle of the celebes sea. However, the fact that it is a sandbank should put you off one bit, not only is it home to a fabulous resort with overwater villas it has some amazing macro diving and one of the best house reefs we have had the pleasure to dive! Kapalai, along with neighbouring Pulau Mabul, is the gateway to Sipadan, the world famous diving island once described by the one and only Jacques Cousteau as “a piece of art”. The resort is pretty stunning by itself, as if a little bit of the Maldives has been transported to Malaysia, standing above crustal clear, turquoise water you can see so much life swimming around below you from blue spotted stingrays, turtles and even eagle rays - and this is all before you have even entered the water.
A mandarinfish at Kapalai house reef
Once you do enter the water it is nothing short of magical, the house reef is home to all manner of life, turtles, lion fish, pipefish, nudibranchs and even the beautiful mandarin fish as well. We have dived here several times and never been disappointed, the house reef is made up of a number of man made structures that have become the basis for an artificial reef which is thriving as well. Around the island there are plenty of other diving opportunities as well where the same sort of critters can regular be seen as well. One of the great things about staying at the resort at Kapalai is the opportunity to dive at the world famous Pulau Sipadan with its resident barracuda, jacks, reef sharks and literally hundreds upon hundreds of turtles - its the best of both worlds as you can get your fix of wide angle action as well as tiny macro life too. Whats not to like.
You may be asking why it hasn't ranked higher on our list and it is a fair question. We just thought that with other amazing dive spots in the area as well we wanted to highlight some of the other destinations Malaysia has to offer as well! But it doesn’t mean that you should miss out on staying at this diving paradise, far from it as you can not only dive at the wonderful Kapalai, but also at Pulau Mabul and Sipadan too. You can check out our review of staying at Kapalai and diving at Sipadan here, and if you are looking to book a trip, you could do a lot worse than stay at Kapalai.
6) Pulau Tioman, Pahang
Located right on the border between Johor & Pahang Pulau Tioman is one of the most famous islands on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Originally made famous by the 1958 film South Pacific where the islands fabulous beaches and lush jungle made people fall in love with Tioman, and in the 50+ years since the film was released as thousands flock to the island each week during the dry season. Its one of the biggest, if not the biggest island off of the east coast of Malaysia and surrounded by a number of coral reefs. Unsurprisingly the reefs furthest away are the ones in the best condition such as Tiger Reef and Labas islands which are really quite stunning.
There are a lot of options for accommodation on the island and a number of them have dive centres attached to them so finding somewhere to dive with shouldn't be a problem. For myself, Tioman actually holds a special place in my diving heart as it was here that I fell in love with diving all over again after a 17 year break! After a dive at Renggis island where we saw black tip reef sharks and green turtles I was utterly hocked! Unfortunately you don’t get to see this every time but it do didn’t matter, I managed to squeeze in several other dives over the course of the next couple of days and things moved on from here. I have been back several times since that first magical visit and never been disappointed which in my mind is testament to how good the diving is.
The diving at Tioman is pretty varied, Renggis Island is just a minute or so boat ride from the main island and is essentially a large reef of stag horn coral which attracts turtles and reef sharks. Just along from here is a wreck, Sawadee that sits at around 30m and you can see schools of Jack fish, barracuda and inquisitive batfish on your safety stop through to the quite spectacular coral at Tiger reef and Labas. The currents can be stronger here than some of the other destinations mentioned but there are dive sites to suit all from novices through to the more season thrill seeker.
5) Pulau Redang, Terengganu
The beach at The Taaras, Redang
Pulau Redang is the largest of the islands in the Terengganu archipelago that also includes the Perhentians, Tenggol, Lang Tengah and Kapas. Redang is famous for its crystal clear water and healthy coral something you don’t really get at its near neightbours, Lang Tengah and Perhentian. The island itself is beautiful with white sandy beaches, luscious rainforest and is full of little coves for you to jump in and explore. Accommodation wise there is something to suit everyone from those on a budget all the way to luxury private resorts as well. On previous trips I have stayed at Sari Pacifica and Laguna Resort which are both fine, but just recently on my most recent visit I was lucky enough to stay at The Taaras which was quite simply stunning. It had its own private beach with beach bar, fully equipped dive centre, choice of restaurants and spacious rooms. The food was top notch and high quality too with a range of choices to suit most palettes and prices as well; if you’re looking for a great beach getaway that is family friendly and will allow you to dive as well I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It even has its own conservation centre as well and you can sponsor a turtle and help to release them too.
Nudibranch at Redang
The diving at Redang is pretty good too, some say it is the best in Terengganu, but I’m not sure i would agree with that, but we’ll come to that later on. Having said that, it is still very good and on its day can be stunning. There are a number of different sites and styles of dive to do from small wrecks, macro and even drifts of sorts too. Like all islands in Malaysia, there is always an outside chance of bumping into something large such as a whale shark, but i haven’t been lucky enough to do that there, however you have a fair chance of seeing turtles, reef sharks and other such life as well. On the beach in front of Sari Pacifica and Laguna there is a small snorkelling area where you can see baby reef sharks and all sorts of fish in unbelievable concentrations - almost like being on Raja Ampat. Unfortunately this is due to people feeding the fish which shouldn’t be encouraged.
Overall a great destination for a tropical island getaway with some seriously good diving thrown in too and definitely worth adding to your Malaysian diving bucket list if you haven’t been there, For a more in depth review of diving there check out our blog post here.
4) Pulau Perhentians, Terengganu
The Perhentian Islands are one of my favourite places in all of Malaysia to visit when I have a long weekend or a few days off. I just love it here, its so chilled out and relaxed you can sit on the beach, enjoy a cold drink and read a good book or head out to do some scuba diving. The Perhentians is actually two islands, Besar and Kecil, but this doesn’t affect the scuba diving as all of the dive sites here are accessible no matter which island you stay on!
Like Redang, the Perhentians are located in Terengganu and are about a six hour drive from KL, or you can fly up tot Kota Baru and get a taxi to Kuala Besut which is the jumping off point for the islands. I normally tend to stay on Kecil as the vibe is pretty cool and it has my favourite resort, BuBu (which apparently in Malay means trapped). The resort has great rooms and an evening beach bbq to die for, it really is that good. For diving there is a wide choice of dive centres you can dive with, just take a walk along the beach or enquire at your hotel. I usually dive with Turtle Bay divers on long beach, just a few minutes walk from BuBu - its a really well run dive shop, one of the best I have come across and they really care about their customers safety and enjoyment. The staff are always well prepared and good fun too, especially the owner Yakub. From a diving stand point it probably isn’t the best spot on the east coast of peninsula Malaysia, but that would miss the point - just being in the Perhentians is magical and so relaxing. The scuba diving is easy and not too deep with a number of wrecks that cane accessed easily (Polis Wrecks, Sugar wreck, Fishermans wreck) to the swim throughs at T3 to the best site of them all, The Pinnacle. The pinnacle is a sea mount about 25 minutes boat ride away but it is awesome with so much life its like being in an aquarium at times. We went recently and you can check out our review in a bit more depth here.
3) Pulau Tenggol, Terengganu
Whisper it quietly, but Pulau Tenngol may well be the best scuba diving location on all of peninsula Malaysia! Now that I have your attention I’ll tell you a little bit more about the small island that is known as the Sipadan of Terengganu. The closest island in the Terengganu archipelago to reach from KL it is a destination that is known the the scuba diving community here in Malaysia. Due to the beaches being infested, and I do mean infested, with sand flies you can’t relax and chill out on the beach as you may do at other islands but if you did that you’d be missing out on the action underwater. Some friends of mine who don’t dive once came to the island to snorkel and really enjoyed it, but they didn’t scuba dive and that was such a shame.
Whale shark at Pulau Tenggol
The dive guides joke at Tenngol that they only have three types of coral, soft coral, hard coral and dead coral, and while that may be true to an extent the reef is actually very healthy here compared to other sites along the easy coast of Malaysia. Sites such as Tokong Timur are pretty famous within scuba diving circles here in Malaysia, not only for its beautiful coral but also for the regular sightings of whale sharks around here. Other sites do not disappoint either with the beautiful coral garden being another highlight of diving here. I have visited this hotspot several times and on my most recent visit I was lucky enough to finally see the whale shark swimming by, unfortunately I had my camera set up for the wonderful macro photo opportunities but I did manage to get one vaguely decent shot. In fact, not only is Tanggol famous for its regular sightings of whale sharks, but also for the fantastic opportunities for macro photography with lots of brightly coloured nudibranchs to keep photographers interested too.
Accommodation options here are somewhat limited, on the island itself there are three resorts you can stay with, accommodation is reasonable with air conditioning, the food is ok too. I normally stay of Tenggol Island Beach Resort as the dive staff there is absolutely fantastic. Other options include staying at one of the dive centres in Kuala Dungun which are of a similar style to those the island. The other option if you are feeling in need of a little more comfort is to stay at the Tanjung Jara resort, part of the YTL chain of small luxury hotels. Wherever you do decide to stay is easily accessible from KL, just 4 hours across peninsula Malaysia to Kuala Dungun, and it really is worth the effort as you will be greeted with the best diving that peninsula Malaysia has to offer and without all the crowds of day trippers and snorkelers other islands on the east coast suffer from.
2) Pulau Mabul, Sabah
Chromodoris Nudibranch at Mabul
Pulau Mabul, located in Sabah is the best place in Malaysia to visit for muck diving and macro subjects and what’s more you can even combine it with a trip to Sipadan due to its close proximity. Mabul is a small island located about 30 minutes boat ride from Semporna and is one of two gateways to Sipadan, but it is far more than just a place to stay before making the pilgrimage to Sipadan it has fantastic diving in its own right to offer as well. The dive sites around the island offer the chance to dive on beautiful sloping coral reefs and see turtles, blue spotted stingrays and the like, but it is the small critters where it really comes alive. From Nudibranchs to shrimps, crocodile fish to the rare and highly sought after rhinopias scorpionfish the place has it all.
As the Malaysian government had the foresight to move all the resorts located on Sipadan island off of it and onto the surrounding islands to protect the eco system there a number of resorts moved to Mabul. This means that there are plenty of options to suit all types of budget, from dormitory style accommodation to luxe over water villas you can make your choice. Most places guarantee a Sipadan permit if you stay 4 nights or more, otherwise its a bit of a lottery, however if you’re into small stuff this isn’t necessarily a problem. I stayed with Sipadan-Mabul Resort which was fantastic, picked up from Tawau airport and transferred all the way to the island, via Semporna it is a full service dive resort meaning you barely have to lift a finger or assemble/disassemble your gear if you so wish. They even pick you up from your chalet in a golf buggy! Food is good and plentiful which is what you want at a dive resort as 3 or 4 dives per day.
Crocodilefish at Mabul
The diving as mentioned before is all about macro - its one of the top three macro diving destinations in the world along with Anilao in the Philippines and the Lembah Strait in Indonesia. We have always been really lucky to see some really cool stuff. The last trip we managed to see orangutan crabs, lots and lots of nudibranchs, a rhinopias scorpionfish, cuttlefish, cleaner shrimp and much much more. My favourite dive sites include Eel Garden and Ribbon Valley - a sloping reef takes you down to about 25m where you can start to explore what is around. Another favourite site of mine here is the Seaventures Dive Rig - a small oil drilling platform that was towed here and turned into a resort! Below it is a mess of artificial reef and debris but it is one of the richest dive sites I have ever been to, stonefish, nudis, mantis shrimp, frogfish, giant grouper it has it all - its ike being a Disney land there is so much going on! I love diving around Mabul so much going on, you can spend so much time looking in cracks and crevices to see what you can find and you are rarely disappointed
1) Pulau Sipadan, Sabah
Barracuda Tornado at Sipadan
What can be said about Sipadan that hasn’t been said before? It truly is the jewel in the crown of scuba diving in Malaysia, and often voted as one of the top five dive spots in the world. Sipadan is Malaysia’s only oceanic island with walls that drop off hundreds of meters into the abyss. But due to this it is home to such a wonderful variety of fish and other creatures you will never be disappointed. From the world famous tornado of barracuda, the schooling jacks that can be so dense they block out the sun light, hundred of turtles and the chance to spot a scalloped hammerhead or whale shark what else could you want? It may not be the easiest place to get to and certainly not the cheapest but if you are a scuba addict like myself then it is worth every single penny.
To get to Sipadan you need to fly into Tawau and then transfer to Semporna, from here you will be able to take a boat to your accommodation located on either Mabul or Kapalai as no one is allowed to stay on Sipadan anymore, a brilliant but brave decision made by the Malaysian government a number of years ago. Diving at Sipadan is done on a permit basis and limited to around 120 divers a day to try and minimise the impact on the reef. These ploys seem to have paid off as the coral is still in good condition and the sheer abundance of life is quite astounding, It is not uncommon to count more than 10 turtles on a dive and see more reef sharks swimming by as well. The most famous site is Barracuda Point where you will have the chance to see huge schools of chevron barracuda swirling around you, South Point at the other end of the island is home to the resident jacks and offers the chance of seeing something bigger. I was lucky enough to see a scalloped hammerhead here once, it isn’t guaranteed but there is a higher chance than almost anywhere in Malaysia. Other dive sites include whitecap alley, mid reef and the drop off which is home to the turtle cavern as well.
School of jack fish at Sipadan
I cannot talk highly enough about the diving here, it really is world class, a term that is banded about way top much these days. The water is normally a balmy 28/29 degrees so you don’t need a thick exposure suit, the water is pretty clear and visibility can reach 20 to 30 meters on a good day. You can see pretty much anything here, the macro is quite good too but most people normally get lost in watching the larger fish around and who can blame them! And for this reason it is our number 1 dive spot in Malaysia!
So, there you have it our count down of the top ten scuba diving locations in Malaysia, hopefully this has got you thinking about your next dive trip here. Maybe, just maybe you learnt something new about diving here in Malaysia. I know there are a few top class scuba diving destinations here in Malaysia that haven’t been covered here but that is simply because we haven’t had the chance to check them out for ourselves yet. You can be sure that as soon as we do we’ll let you know and put it up here at Southeast Asia Diving.