Malaysia
South East Sabah
This part of the Celebes Sea offers a great combination of macro diving and big pelagic action. Diving at Sipadan – the big fish capital – is rated as the best in the world: with a drop off to 600 meters you will encounter circles of barracudas, large schools of trevally, patrolling hammerhead sharks, millions of colourful reef fishes, and turtles lazing on the wall ledges. Mabul, Kapalai and Makating on the other hand offer easy and shallow macro diving on a sandy bottom hosting nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs, eels and lots of other tiny rare creatures.
| Sea | Celebes Sea |
| Number of Dive Site | 12 Sipadan, 18 Kapalai, 12 Mabul, 30 Makating |
| Experience Level | Beginner – Intermediate – Advanced |
| Depth | 5 – 40 m |
| Visibility | 3 – 30 m |
| Currents | Usually gentle (Kapalai, Mabul, Makating), Can be strong (Sipadan) |
| Surface Conditions | Usually calm (Kapalai, Mabul, Makating), Can be rough (Sipadan) |
| Water Temperature | 26 – 30 |
| Good For | Wall diving, drift diving, coral gardens, small animals, photography |
| Number of Days | 5 – 14 days |
| Available | Resorts and Day Trips |
| Best Time to Go | Year Round |
Lankayan Island
Lakayan is one of the few destinations worldwide that offers macro diving, wrecks and coral reefs. Sometimes the mighty whale shark may cruise by and during hatching season you can see baby turtles scurrying out to sea for their first swim. If you are looking for a little slice of paradise on a remote tropical island with easy diving this is the place for you.
| Sea | Sulu Sea |
| Number of Dive Site | 40 |
| Experience Level | Beginner – Advanced |
| Depth | 5 – 30 m |
| Visibility | 3 – 25 m |
| Currents | Usually gentle |
| Surface Conditions | Usually calm |
| Water Temperature | 26 – 30 |
| Good For | Wrecks, small animals, photography and beginner divers |
| Number of Days | 5 – 7 days |
| Available | Resort |
| Best Time to Go | Year Round |
Layang Layang
Situated about 300 km off the Sabah coast and located in waters 2,000 meters deep, Layang Layang is an atoll that houses the healthiest reefs in Malaysia. At the right time of year, there is a good chance of spotting schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks, but also grey reef sharks, leopard sharks, dolphins, mantas, devil and eagle rays, occasional threshers, silver tip and whale sharks.
| Sea | South China Sea |
| Number of Dive Site | 20 |
| Experience Level | Intermediate – Advanced |
| Depth | 5 – 40 m |
| Visibility | 20 – 50 m |
| Currents | Usually gentle |
| Surface Conditions | Usually calm |
| Water Temperature | 25 – 30 |
| Good For | Large animals, wall diving, reef life |
| Number of Days | 5 – 8 days |
| Available | Resort |
| Best Time to Go | March – August |
Tioman
Tioman Island with its beautiful beaches lies of the south east coast of peninsular Malaysia. Most of the dive sites at Pulau Tioman and the smaller islands comprise a series of boulders covered in stony corals, black corals and soft tree corals. The extensive fish life includes leopard sharks, humphead wrasse, lots of small shoaling fish and their predators such as barracuda and trevallies.
| Sea | South China Sea |
| Number of Dive Site | 30 |
| Experience Level | Beginners – Advanced |
| Depth | 5 – 30 m |
| Visibility | 5 – 30 m |
| Currents | Usually gentle |
| Surface Conditions | Usually calm |
| Water Temperature | 27 – 29 |
| Good For | Reef life, soft and hard corals |
| Number of Days | 3 – 5 days |
| Available | Resorts, day trips and liveaboards |
| Best Time to Go | February to November |