Diving in Southeast Asia. David Espinosa
This nudibranch (Nembrotha kubaryana) is one of many colorful species found in this area.
Expect to find trevallies, sweetlips, coral trout, wrasses, plenty of parrotfish, anemones and a wide variety of nudibranchs. Night diving in the main bay is also fun. Further from the shelter of the island, currents can be strong, especially on the surface, but as a compensation there are more big fish and the possibility of larger schools.
—Fiona Nichols/Sarah Ann Wormald
Langkawi
The Marine Reserve at Pulau Payar
Access 5 minutes to upwards of 1 hour to more distant sites
Current Fair, 2–10 meters
Reef type Negligible
Highlights Best variety in Malaysia
Visibility Coral gardens, artificial reef
Coral Fair variety
Fish Ease of access; great for snorkelers
This marine park encompasses four islands, Pulau Payar, Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu and Pulau Segantang, and is located 30 km south of the island of Langkawi and 65 km north of Penang. The park’s pride lies in its wide variety of habitats and the largest number of coral species in the country, including the most colorful soft corals.
The Marine Park was conceived to protect the natural marine wealth, while specific zones have been marked for research and educational activities as well as for recreation.
Coral Garden At the southwestern tip of Pulau Payar, this site offers a scenic dive with multicolored soft corals, mainly Dendronephthya. The panorama is one with steep gullies and crevices that hide plenty of jacks, titan triggers, moray eels, blue ringed angelfish, lionfish, porcupinefish and many barrel sponges. Don’t expect gin-clear visibility—it’s around 10 meters usually, but can extend up to 16–20 meters.
Grouper Farm This is a reef that bottoms out at around 15 meters. It is named after the large number of groupers that dwell here. This nearby site also provides a home to mangrove snappers (Lutjanus argentinaculatus) and barracudas. Visibility, unfortunately, is usually very poor and only reaches 10 meters on a good day. However, the groupers, and the small schooling fish, are worth coming to see.
The anemone fish Amphiprion perideraion in the magnificent anemone Heteractis magnifica. The larger fish of an anemone fish pair is the female.
Sriwana Beach At the southeastern side of Pulau Payar, a shallow coral reef at a depth of between 6 and 8 meters is a great place for a snorkeler or diver to explore coral. Look out for the staghorns (Acropora nobilis, formosa and florida), brain and Montipora corals. There are also sponges, anemones with their associated anemone fish, jacks, black tipped fusiliers, groupers and Moorish idols. Keep an eye open also for young black tip sharks. The fish life here is more abundant than at the other sites nearby.
Kaca Sunken Boat Point An artificial reef has been created off the southern tip of Pulau Kaca by the sinking of confiscated fishing boats. These have proved a haven for hard corals and fish life. Japanese jacks, lionfish, mangrove snappers (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) and giant groupers are all frequently encountered, while you’ll also come across nudibranchs and a range of critters and crustaceans.
This leaf scorpionfish is a master of camouflage!
Fish feeding still occurs in parts of Malaysia, pictured here on Payar Island.
Apart from the anemonefish living in anemones, it is not unusual to find porcelain crabs as well.
Tyre Reef The steep vertical walls at Tyre Reef extend down to 20 meters before sloping down gently to a sandy bottom depth of 26 meters. Fish life is plentiful, with large shoals of barracudas, sergeant majors, red snappers, mangrove snappers, jacks and rabbitfish. Sea fans, black corals, and wire and whip corals are common in the deeper waters.
Anemone Garden Sea anemones cover the surface of most of the rocks and boulders on the northern side of the island. Helmet shells, spiny lobsters, a range of critters and moray eels are all common.
A wide range of transfer and dive boats are available around Langkawi, including speedboats such as this one.
Pulau Segantang Two rocky outcropings rise up out of the sandy bottom from around 20 meters. This site boasts some decent hard coral as well as sea fans at around 15 meters. Visibility here is usually slightly better than that around Langkawai and Pulau Payar, which makes for nice scenic diving. On good days here, nurse sharks are known to pass through as well as barracudas, and amongst the corals look out for moray eels, nudibranchs and other critters.
—Danny Lim/Sarah Ann Wormald
Diving in Indonesia
A Vast and Incredible Archipelago for Divers
An archipelago of over 17,000 islands, stretching more than 5,000 km from west to east, with a coastline of more than 80,000 km washed by tropical waters, Indonesia has some phenomenal dive sites. Indeed, the world’s fourth largest country contains 10–20 percent of the world’s coral reefs.
Over the course of the last 20 years, Indonesia has become firmly established on the map as home to some of the world’s best dive sites with new sites and new areas still being explored and discovered to this day. Major tourist areas such as Bali offer a range of dive sites as well as accommodation, dive courses and dive safaris, whilst traveling further east in Indonesia reveals remote islands and promises of discovery.
Diving in Indonesia has some great advantages as well as some challenges. The advantages of diving the clear rich waters of an uncrowded site, or better still, the virgin waters of an unexplored corner of the archipelago, need hardly be mentioned. Ask anyone who has dived in Indonesia. But these advantageous are also the country’s drawback. Distances and remoteness can make trips to certain areas financially demanding, but for those with deep enough pockets and a taste for adventure there are definite opportunities to sample some of the most exciting diving in the world.
Bali is Indonesia’s most popular tourist destination, catering for millions of tourists each year. The diving here is still superb, offering a splendid wreck, critter diving, some phenomenal drift dives, manta rays and the oceanic sunfish or mola mola. There is a vast range of operators catering for all abilities (and pockets), prices are competitive and logistics can be easily managed. Many operators offer diving in a number of regions, giving divers the chance to experience a taste of everything on offer.
Snorkeling in Indonesia’s remote eastern waters is a special treat.
TO THE BACK OF BEYOND
As more and more diver operations have opened their doors, levels of professionalism have increased. However, some logistical stumbling blocks still need to be overcome. Aside from a few international airports being located in diving areas, such as Denpasar in Bali and Manado in North Sulawesi, most trips will require an international flight from your home country into Indonesia and then onward domestic flights to transfer you