Scuba Diving Around Malaysias Exotic Islands

Malaysia is a fantastic destination, situated right in the heart of South-east Asia. Bestowed with rich bio-diversity of marine life, sandy beaches, and clear sparkling water - Malaysia's each of the more than 200 islands is a much favored spot for enjoying scuba diving, along with a range of other such activities as swimming, snorkelling, water-skiing, cruising, boating, and fishing.

The coral ecosystem in Malaysia is reported to be one of the best in the world, boasting of more than 500 species of corals and over 3000 species of fish. Its clear water coupled with warm salubrious weather throughout the year allows to sustain magnificent millions-of-year-old marine life. In short, scuba diving in the incredible islands of Malaysia would be a mesmerizing experience, and enable divers to swim along with a diverse range of marine life including hammered sharks, manta rays, ghost pipefish, barracudas, bizarre frogfish, rare turtles, and unique whales.

Situated off Semporana town on the east coast of Sabah, Sipadan Island is perhaps the most popular diving destination in Malaysia. With 12 interesting diving sites, Sipadan is rated among the top five beach dives in the world. What that set apart this island from other Malaysian islands is that it is the only oceanic island in the nation, rising about 2000 feet from the seabed on a limestone summit. Sipadan is not only home to magnificent coral structure but also to some unique marine caves. Additionally, the island has to its credit the largest variety of soft corals in the world.

Acknowledged as the 'Marine Paradise,' Redang Island, located about 45 km off Kuala Terangganu, is another popular diving site in Malaysia. Redang's marine life is truly bewildering, and allows divers to come through more than 500 species of live corals, thousand plus species of invertebrates and about 2500 species of fish such as manta rays, stingrays, sharks and whale sharks. Since it is blessed with such a unique ecosystem, the Redang archipelago has been declared the 'Pulau Redang Marine Parks, Malaysia.' With more than 20 diving spots, Redang really provides feasts for the eyes of diving enthusiasts and photographers.

Also, a great diving destination in Malaysia is Layang Layang Island, which is made up of more than 10 coral reefs. Situated about 300 km northwest of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Layang Layang is a remote island with more than 12 superb spectacular diving spots, each of which is home to a diverse marine life, from macro animals to huge pelagic animals.

No diving vacation in Malaysia would be complete without taking a tour to Mabul Island, located approximately 15 minutes drive from Sipadan. Surrounded by white sandy beaches, Mabul is much famed as one of the best muck diving spots in the world. Nearby Mabul is Kapalai Island, providing a unique diving experience.

Other popular diving spots in Malaysia are Tioman Island - the largest of 64 volcanic islands; Perhentian group of islands with limitless stretch of palm-fringed beaches, coral reefs, and sparkling water sea; Besar Island with unparalleled tranquility and stunning beaches; Pangkor Island, a short drive from Kuala Lumpur; Langkawi archipelago with 99 islands; and Payar Island, covered with tropical forest comprising mangroves and sandy beaches.

No matter you want to enjoy open water diving, cave diving, drift diving, deep diving, or high altitude diving, Malaysia's exotic islands provide excellent options. Even superb facilities are available for most advanced types of scuba diving such as industrial or technical scuba diving, with equipments such as portable emergency oxygen kits, tank refilling items, and other required equipments.

A plethora of dive centers functions here, many of which are certified by some of the reputable agencies from across the world. For those diving enthusiast who don't know how to dive, majority of these dive center conduct scuba diving courses and that too endorsed by such agencies as PADI, BSAC, SSI, and NAUI. Among the diving courses are open water course, diver instructor course, adventure diving courses, PADI master scuba diving course, and re-breather course. On completion of the course, you are given opportunity to outfit with the most modern scuba equipment to dive along the mesmerizing islands of Malaysia.

Apart from these, many of the high-end hotels and resorts located across the Malaysian islands render world-class facilities for scuba diving. Some of them even provide packages inclusive of scuba diving in some of the most favored destinations in the nation, along with diving equipments, accommodation, and dining options.