SCUBA Diving Guide: Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

Sitting off the northeastern coast of Malaysia are a pair of islands that have become a popular destination for backpackers and scuba divers alike: the Perhentians. The islands tend towards the rustic side, as neither is connected to the mainland power grid, and are therefore reliant on a limited supply of battery, solar, and generator-based electricity. As a rule, Kecil is the cheap, backpacker party island, while Besar is more upscale. Both are surrounded by almost two dozen excellent tropical dive sites, with 85 F waters that regularly boast visibility in the 25 meter range.

The islands have a range of natural undersea rocks, pinnacles, and reefs with names like Temple of the Sea and Iron Cape. These are packed with colorful corals and a rich variety of sea life, such as moray eels, black tip reef sharks, barracuda, sea turtles, stingrays, and a rainbow of tropical fish. The depths on these sites rarely exceeds 25 meters, and they are all easy enough that local dive companies frequently allow Open Water (OW) divers to go beyond the usual 18 meter limit for OW divers.

There are also two ship wrecks in the local waters: the Sugar Wreck and the Vietnamese Wreck. The former is 64 meter long cargo ship that was hauling a thousand tons of sugar at the time she went down in 2000, hence the name. She lay in 18 meters of water, making her within reach of OW divers even by strict dive operators. The Vietnamese Wreck has a long history. Originally an Imperial Japanese Naval transport from the Second World War, it found itself later pressed into service hauling refugees from Vietnam in 1976. Intercepted by the Royal Malaysian Navy, the vessel was discovered to have ordnance aboard, and as it was being towed back to shore the vessel exploded and sank. Depth ranges between 17 and 25 meters.

The conditions on the islands are perfect for learning how to scuba dive. All the islands have sheltered bay areas with calm waters, meaning that all skills training takes place actually at sea, and not in a pool. That offers a much more realistic training environment for students than is usually the case in big city schools back in the United States. Also, the prices in Southeast Asia are generally low, even with a weak U.S. dollar factored in, and this makes the Perhentians an ideal place to go with the intention of taking an OW course while on vacation.

Sources: Personal experience; spicedivers.net