1999 Chapbook

Malaysia

Sipadan, the tiny island off Malaysian Borneo, is the best-known site, "discovered" by Americans barely six or seven years ago. Now it's well known and crowded with new resorts.... Why the crowds? Imagine 20 to 30 giant turtles on every dive, sharks, jacks, schooling barracuda, and the best shore diving anywhere. While there's an abundance of turtles year-round, counts are highest in July and August....The reef in front of the resorts is showing signs of distress from the crowds. . . .The resort, Layang Layang, is in the Spratly Islands; because of their oil reserves, the islands are claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan as well as Malaysia. Schooling hammerheads and pristine reefs lure divers, but nothing lives on the flat coral atoll except birds.... Hammerhead season is March and April, but the resort operates from March to October.... Redang Scuba Explorer, September 1997, N.K. Tong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Good: Diving the Redang marine park is always good, but especially so on this live-aboard. Peter Lai, (boat captain and owner) runs a flexible operation. The 70+ footer can hold 14 passengers and 6 crew. We chartered boat for 8 divers, and 3 crew came. Interiors are finished in hardwoods. Five cabins below deck, one stateroom on front of main deck (which also houses the living/dining room and dive deck aft). Three shared bathrooms (large by live-aboard standards). Robert, the cook served tasty dishes in large quantities. Dive deck is large and an air bank compressor refills tanks in five minutes, so gear is left on the tanks. Easy diving off dive deck. If we surfaced away from the boat, a dive tender was sent to collect us. In 4 days, we did an easy 13 dives, sometimes stopping at favorite sites for multiple dives. Viz less than 30' but coral and fish life was a prolific and consistent as always. Mini-(CNE ISA) and Maxi-Mount (MAT CANTIK), two submerged reefs were busy; Stingrays, schooling yellowtail barracuda, large seafans, overcrowded tropicals, made for great wide-angle opportunities in only 60-70 ft. of water. Macro subjects came alive at night with shrimps in everything! (e.g. vase sponges, sea urchin, sea cucumber, etc.). A healthy variety of crabs. . . . Bad: Shared detached bathrooms, but helped make cabins less humid. Bathrooms much larger, hot showers! Cold air conditioning! Once we were well wrapped, we could deal with the cold. Boat only goes out when chartered. Eight divers or more; US $100/day/diver takes care of food, accommodation and unlimited diving. Twelve or more divers could get crowded. . . . One of best values for great diving in Malaysia. Peter is very flexible and experienced (boat captain, engineer and divemaster). A cozy boat, reasonably comfortable/luxurious for the price. I wouldn't recommend more divers or more than four days, as boat has a limited water capacity. Find in All of Undercurrent All Public Area (PA) Public: -- PA: Recent Issues -- PA: Recent Reader Reports -- PA: Issues -- PA: Reader Reports -- PA: Dive Destination Guides -- PA: Diving News All Members Area (MA) Members: -- MA: Recent Issues -- MA: Recent Reader Reports -- MA: Issues -- MA: Reader Reports -- MA: Dive Destination Guides   Advanced Search | Online Members Home | Public Home | My Account | Renew | | Travel Index | Reader Reports | Mini Chapbook | Latest Chapbook | Seasonal Planner | " target="_blank">Current Issue | Back Issues | Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | | Blogs | Books | News | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |  Copyright © 1999, 1998 by DSDL, Inc., publisher of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.