Dive Spots - Perhentian - Malaysian Islands - Malaysia

TOKONG LAUT
LOCATION: This hugely popular dive site of the two Perhentians is located to the northwest of the archipelago. In fact, Tokong Laut is the probably the last frontier of coral reef structure on the north and west side of the group of islands. Journey by boat from Teluk Dalam will take about 30 minutes on fast dive boats, passing by the spectacular rocky island of Pulau Susu Dara. Boat trips from either Teluk Pauh or Long Beach will take just about the same time.

Maximum diving depth of about 25 metres with somewhat average visibility of about 10 metres, and total dive time of a paltry 20 minutes (*Want to know why? Read further down!)

DESCRIPTION: No doubt, Tokong Laut is the most popular dive site in Perhentian. It was not entirely a surprise to see 5-6 dive boats during an early morning dive. Because of the distance and somewhat significant depth, Tokong Laut is often featured as the first dive destination for the day.

Above water, only a marginal portion of this huge sea mount appears on the surface. The rest of the it is to be discovered underwater. Unfortunately, I did not see that many fishes that I initially expected. In fact, the much-talked-about resident nurse shark was also nowhere to be found, though I could argue that due to my shorter dive time, I was bound to miss a lot of things. Lurking a few metres below the surface were a number of common barracudas, patrolling the area surely. I also spotted an overly protective red-girdled anemonefish (Amphiprion rubrocinctus) that gladly swam towards any approaching divers. Other fish specie include various damselfish, pink anemonefish (Amphiprion perideraion), blue-ringed angelfish (Pornacanthus annularis), etc. Nonetheless, the highlight probably went to the hundreds of yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) that created a breathtaking underwater scenery as they swam in formation.

As for the corals, this dive site is profusely filled with sea fans of various colours such as white, light green and blue. There are plenty of sea anemones at shallower depth, along with Porites sp. corals, Millepora sp. corals, barrel sponges of Xestospongia testudinaria and of Petrosia sp. with Alabaster sea cucumbers (Opheodesoma sp.), plenty of honeycomb oysters (Hyotissa hyotis), etc.

TERUMBU TIGA
LOCATION: Terumbu Tiga (or some dive books have it as "Tiger Rocks") is located to the east of Pulau Perhentian Besar. Boat journey from either Teluk Pauh or Teluk Dalam will take about 15 minutes.

In general, the visibility was quite good at about 10-15 metres with mild currents. Maximum dive depth is just about 25 metres but one rarely needs to go that deep especially if it is the 2nd or 3rd dive of the day.

DESCRIPTION: Terumbu Tiga means "Three Reefs" in English, or rather a collection of 3 large boulder rocks that slightly juts out of the ocean surface. After the annoying fiasco at Tokong Laut earlier that left me with disappointment, Terumbu Tiga managed to make amend to my somewhat discontented day of diving.

During the dive briefing, the DMs mentioned about the chance to sight rare fish specie such as the emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) and bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum). I gladly spotted both of them! Other than that, I also saw various types of damselfish, a pair of nudibranch or sea slugs (Phyllidia sp., my attempt of macro photography left much to be desired though), blue-spotted boxfish (Ostracion cubicus), orange-spotted trevally (Carangoides bajad), etc.

Terumbu Tiga hosts quite an amazing collection of soft corals such as various specie of sea fans with a multitude of colourful feather of stars, harp gorgonian fans (Ctenocella pectinata), colourful dendronephthya soft corals, finger soft corals of Sinularia sp., a massive garden of whip corals, a great variety of mushroom and leathery corals, sea anemones, rectal coral (Symphyllia recta), table corals of Acropora sp., barrel sponges, etc. But the highlight probably went to this one expansive section filled with only mushroom leather corals of Sarcophyton mililatensis!

The information on Malaysian Islands is provided by:

ISLANDS OF MALAYSIA The Independent Travel Guides to Malaysian Islands