Your Guide to Diving Malaysia
Including Mabul, Sipadan and Layang Layang

Diving Malaysia Overview

Malaysia Seasonal Dive Planner

Borneo/Kalimantan: Malaysia’s Sipadan Island is famous for its large year-round population of green turtles, with the highest concentration in August, when there's a whole lot of mating going on.

The island is limestone and sand with no rivers, so runoff has little effect on water clarity. However, water clarity seems as unpredictable as the currents. After a heavy lightning storm off in the direction of the mainland, the water visibility can drop dramatically from 100ft (30m) to 50ft (15m). The ocean is roughest between November and February. The best season is between April and September, but diving is year-round.

Layang Layang is a remote reef with only an airstrip, so there is no run-off, but occasional squalls of heavy rain can be intense and reduce surface visibility to almost zero, so take a visible surface marker.

Diving Malaysia Reader Reports and Feature Articles

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Latest Reader Reports from Malaysia from the serious divers who read Undercurrent All Reader Reports from Malaysia	All 10,000+ Reports
Seaventures Report in Malaysia/Sipidan "Absolute Excellence" filed Aug 20, 2025 by Jennifer Fouts (Experience: 501-1000 dives)
Seaventures Oil Rig was amazing. I travel solo and the rig was a great place to meet new dive friends. The diving underneath the rig wa... ... Read more
Lankayan Island Resort Report in Malaysia/Northeast Borneo "Beautiful Ending for any Malaysia Trip with Bonus Baby Turtles" filed Jul 9, 2025 by Laura Todd (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 9 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
Lankayan resort is set on boardwalks adjoining the tiny island in a beautiful background of aqua shallows and flowering plants. The 1.... ... Read more
Semporna Macro Critters Report in Malaysia/Semporna "Who Knew Heaven is a Scruffy Little Town in Borneo?" filed Jul 6, 2025 by Laura Todd (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 9 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
The average diver would descend, have a look at their colleagues scouring the ocean floor and passing rocks and shells to each other an... ... Read more
Scuba Junkie Report in Malaysia/Sipadan "Superb Sipadan" filed Apr 16, 2025 by Michael Francis (Experience: 251-500 dives, 9 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
Except for the limitation of only 2 dives per day and the extra cost for diving Siipadan, it was excellent diving The Scuba Junkie ... ... Read more
Scuba Junkie Report in Malaysia/Mabul "Enjoyable dives in Sipadan - less so for the rest" filed Aug 15, 2024 by Heejae Cho (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 3 reports, Reviewer )
We stayed at Scuba Junkie Mabul for 10 days diving 9 days. We could secure 5 Sipadan days and 4 non Sipadan days. The non Sipadan dives... ... Read more

Complete Articles Available to Undercurrent Online Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated

Diving Malaysia Articles - Liveaboards Celebes Explorer 9, Sipadan Island, Malaysia, the only guaranteed way to dive Sipadan, 6/25 Available to the Public Problems with the Siren Fleet, divers must evacuate two liveaboards in less than six months, 7/12

Diving Malaysia Articles - Land Based Lankayan Island Beach Resort, Malaysia, trying to ignore the background music, 9/25 My Lucky Escape from Sipadan, 6/25 Roatan, the Big Island, Indonesia, the Sea of Cortez , hot water, vanishing chase boats, Cayman sharks, 10/24 Available to the Public Boy Dies When Trainee Divers Go Missing, 4/22 Not Getting Enough Time Underwater?, 10/19 Murder, Bombing and Mass Destruction in Sabah, an illegal fishing method becomes a deadly diving hazard, 8/19 Divers Disappointed in Sipadan, 3/18 Three More Popular Wrecks Lost Forever, 3/17 Security Concerns for Diving in Malaysia, 11/15 Another Diver Kidnapping Near Sipadan, 5/14 Eritrea, Kiribati, Sipadan . . ., why to consider Wananavu, when not to consider the Odyssey, 9/13 Sipadan Water Village, Borneo, Malaysia, orangutans in the jungle, orangutan crabs underwater, 1/13 Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Fiji, Truk. . ., plus unexpected cold water, and a liveaboard to avoid, 8/12 Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, plus advice about Mabul diving and your passport pages, 10/11 Virgins, Little Cayman, Palau, Sipadan…, Trash is drifting, sea life is missing, but these dive sites still shine, 2/11 Sipadan’s Dive Permit System Keeps Some Divers Out of Its Waters, 1/09 Sipadan Dive Operators Evicted, 7/04 Diving on a Singapore Layover, 1/97 Trouble in Sipadan, 9/95 Sipadan Island Dive Lodge, Borneo, Malaysia, Paradise At A Price, 11/92

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Malaysia
Including Mabul, Sipadan and Layang Layang

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Reef Fish of the East Indies
by Gerald R. Allen and Mark V. Erdman

It's got a list price of $250 and a weight of 14 pounds, but the price and the poundage will be worth it to add this three-volume set to your library. Renowned marine biologists Gerald R. Allen and Mark V. Erdman have combined 60 years of surveys, fieldwork and research to create the most definitive guide of the Coral Triangle to date, perhaps forever. The 1,292 pages of text and 3,600 photographs (40 percent of which are of fish not seen before in print) gives comprehensive information on every known reef fish species from a region known as the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. An essential reference for any scuba diver.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach

Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have done it again, releasing a definitive identification guide to 1600 extraordinary reef creatures of the Tropical Pacific. with this 500+ page softbound guide, you get upwards of 2000 exceptional photos of shrimp and crabs and stars and worms and lobsters and nudibranchs and slugs and squid and bivalves . . . well, all those invertebrates that move along the reefs of this region without fining, so it seems. There are several photos of some creatures to help you identify them during different life stages, and about ten percent of the book is descriptive copy so you can tie down your identification. Even if you have no plans to go to the tropical Pacific, just to thumb through the pages, gawk at the complexity and uniqueness of these animals, and read a thumbnail sketch will give any serious diver vicarious thrills for endless hours.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Diving Indonesia's Bird's Head Seascape
by Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock

This dynamic duo's book describes 130 dive sites of Raja Ampat, Triton Bay and Cenderawasih Bay, while offering practical information about the area. The detailed descriptions of the sites, complete with GPS coordinates, explains the terrain, how to dive the site, and the kinds of animals, coral and critters you can expect. Excellent photographs will help you identify many of the critters you will encounter.

If you have been to Raja Ampat, or dream about going, this thoughtful and well-illustrated book is for you.

The book is not available at the moment.

Diving Southeast Asia
by Beth & Shaun Tierney

This just-published, 302-page, soft-bound guide by Beth and Shaun Tierney, is a must for anyone contemplating diving in Indonesia, Malaysia or Thailand. Where is Sipadan? Raja Ampat? Komodo? Richeliu Rock? Maps make it easy to pinpoint dive destinations and travel routes. Destination and 250 dive site descriptions (with tables on depth, visibility and currents) help you determine whether you’ll see big fish in the blue or pygmy seahorses in the muck. There’s a lot of supplemental information such as travel tips, health tips, and resorts and liveaboard descriptions.

Click here to order through Undercurrent and you’ll get Amazon’s best price -- and our profits will go to save coral reefs.

Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.

I was trying to pack light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it. This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages. $39.95.

A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife
by Andrea and Antonet La Ferrari

We just discovered the ultimate guide to Indo-Pacific macro life. It was published late last year by marine photographers and writers Andrea and Antonet La Ferrari, who have several other winning books in their portfolio. They picture and describe in full detail 600 different species, focusing on those found in the South China, Sulu, and Sulawesi seas. From colorful nudibranchs to cleaner shrimps and pipe fish, to larger species like cuttlefish and clown fish. Each description offers an insight on distribution, habitat, size, life habits, and U/W photo tips. Illustrated with more than 800 extraordinary color photographs and written in a clear, concise, informative style, this book is both a macro and fish field guide for all serious divers from the Maldives to Australia. A must for traveling divers.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Gerald Allen, Rodger Steene, Paul Humann, & Ned Deloach

At last, here's a comprehensive fish ID guide covering the reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The generous 500-page text, displaying 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species, identifies the myriad fishes that inhabit the warm tropical seas between Thailand and Tahiti. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish's common, scientific and family names, size, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution. This is an essential book for every diver traveling westward. 6x9 inches.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.