Snorkeling: Perhentian - Malaysian Islands - Malaysia
TELUK PAU LOCATION: There are a few snorkeling spots in Teluk Pauh, accessible from either Perhentian Island Resort or Coral View Island Resort. Just pick one spot and snorkel for a few minutes. If you are not happy, just look out for another.
DESCRIPTION: From my various snorkeling trips, I think by far, Teluk Pauh offers the best marine life variety and excellent visibility. The types of hard corals that I saw were various species of Acropora sp., table corals (Acropora hyacinthus), green and brown staghorn corals, two or three varieties of sea anemone, cabbage coral of Montipora florida, large clams, etc.
The fish variety was also astounding. I spotted common tropical damselfish, a group of gold-saddle rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus), thousands of fry fish or anchovies, virgate rabbitfish (Siganus virgatus), spinecheek goby (Oplopomus oplopomus), slingjaw wrasse (Epibulus insidiator), eight-banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon octofasciatus), slender needlefish (Platybelone argalus, often mistaken with either swordfish or barracuda), blue-lined damselfish (Pomacentrus sp.), yellow-lined damselfish (Neoglyphidodon sp.), etc.
Teluk Pauh is also famous for spotting turtles. I managed to see 4-5 of them grazing at the sea floor and one huge green turtle (Chelonia mydas) swam past me, escorted by a school of juvenile golden trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus) providing a glorious photo opportunity!
Also at the shallow beach fronting Perhentian Island Resort, there are a few sea anemones and clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula) very close to the water surface, also another excellent photo moment!
TANJUNG BASI LOCATION: Located at Perhentian Besar (Big Island), this spot is only accessible by boat. Most tour operators would include Tanjung Basi along with Teluk Pauh, Pulau Rawa and Tokong Burung in snorkeling day-trips.
The distance from Teluk Pauh to Tanjung Basi is about 10 minutes by boat.
DESCRIPTION: If you think feeding a few fish is easy, try a few hundreds of them! This is what I found about Tanjung Basi. The fish is extremely friendly and will gobble anything you feed them.
The water is quite deep and there is no beach here, just rocky shorelines. The type of fish are the regular tropical ones such as Indo-Pacific sergeant (Abudefduf vaigensis), scissortail sergeant (Abudefduf sexfasciatus), moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare), dark-capped parrotfish (Scarus oviceps), red-breasted Maori wrasse, etc.
Occasionally a turtle would appear down deep at the bottom, grazing for food. During my time here, I saw one hawksbill turtle deep at the bottom floor. Turtles are quite a rare sight though, one could be guaranteed to see more turtles at Teluk Pauh.
During this snorkeling trip, I also spotted a black-tip shark about 1.5-meter length lurking in the distance! Nonetheless, the encounter was too brief to be captured on my camera.
LONG BEACH LOCATION: This snorkeling spot is located right in front of Bubu Long Beach Resort in Perhentian Kecil (Small Island). If you are from Perhentian Besar (Big Island), you can take one of the water taxis for about RM10. Crossing the narrow water channel separating these two islands will take about 15 minutes.
DESCRIPTION: This is quite a great snorkeling spot for beginners because the shallow water goes for quite a distance before it gets too deep. In fact, Bubu Long Beach Resort (where I was staying) offered a special introductory trip for snorkeling beginners which will be done at this portion of the beach.
The first few metres of the beach are almost free from corals, save it for some medium-size rocks. Here, you can already see various types of tropical fish such as Indo-Pacific sergeant, scissortail sergeant, gold-saddle rabbitfish, silvery pompano, multi-coloured parrotfish, black-saddle grey damselfish, goatfish, red-tail wrasse of Oxycheilinus sp., etc.
The corals are actually quite healthy especially in much deeper water. I spotted various types of Acropora sp. hard corals, Mycedium sp. corals, sea anemones, Porites sp. corals with a number of colourful christmas tree worms, mushroom soft coral (Sarcophyton sp.), etc.
You can also try fish-feeding here.
The information on Malaysian Islands is provided by:
ISLANDS OF MALAYSIA The Independent Travel Guides to Malaysian Islands
best marine life variety and excellent visibility. The types of hard corals that I saw were various species of Acropora sp., table corals (Acropora hyacinthus), green and brown staghorn corals, two or three varieties of sea anemone, cabbage coral of Montipora florida, large clams, etc.
(Epibulus insidiator), eight-banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon octofasciatus), slender needlefish (Platybelone argalus, often mistaken with either swordfish or barracuda), blue-lined damselfish (Pomacentrus sp.), yellow-lined damselfish (Neoglyphidodon sp.), etc.
(Abudefduf vaigensis), scissortail sergeant (Abudefduf sexfasciatus), moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare), dark-capped parrotfish (Scarus oviceps), red-breasted Maori wrasse, etc. 
water goes for quite a distance before it gets too deep. In fact, Bubu Long Beach Resort (where I was staying) offered a special introductory trip for snorkeling beginners which will be done at this portion of the beach.
such as Indo-Pacific sergeant, scissortail sergeant, gold-saddle rabbitfish, silvery pompano, multi-coloured parrotfish, black-saddle grey damselfish, goatfish, red-tail wrasse of Oxycheilinus sp., etc.