If you have some time on your hands in Singapore, like nature and love water, diving is probably one of the best pastimes. There are many great diving opportunities in the near vicinity of Singapore for long weekends or short breaks.
 Most of the great asian dive spots you will find outside of Singapore itself, although you can do a bit of diving in Singapore. Ghost Island (Pulau Hantu), West / South West of Sentosa Island is arguably the best place for beginners, despite the nearby industry. Be aware that there is strong current though, as in most of the diving spots in Singapore. It is about 12m deep here, lots of hard rock corals. As visibility is the main problem with diving here, there is plenty of fish out there, it’s just not easy to get a good glimpse: seasnakes, occasional turtles, scorpion fishes and stingrays are around. If you are looking for nursesharks, try Pulau Salu, small islet southwest of Hantu. Also, you can do some snorkeling around these islands. In total there is around 9 registered dive spots in Singapore waters, but for the real stuff, you might want to go to Malaysia.
Malaysia diving is among the best in the world, with Sipadan on top of the list.
Roughly, Malaysia is divided in 2 main areas, Peninsular Malaysia (West-Malaysia) and Borneo (East-Malaysia). Peninsular Malaysia again is either west coast (Langkawi, Pangkor and Penang) or east coast: Terengganu Marine Park (Perhentian and Redang), Pahang Marine Park (Tioman) and Johor Marine Parks (including Paulau Aur).
Rendang is more the backpackers kind of diving / resorts, whereas Perhentian is more upscale. Pulau Aur is a lot of wreck dicing, not to far away from Singapore. There is the possibility to go diving on the so called ‘Live aboards’, which mean you will go for a long weekend on a yacht and do your diving, sleeping etc. all on and around the boat.
Diving season is following: West Coast Peninsular Malaysia raining season is from april to October, during which there is no diving. East Coast Peninsular Malaysia has its raining season from November until March (wet season here is more wet than on the west coast), during which the diving is closed down. Raining season on west coast of Sabah is from June to September, during which diving is no good. East coast Sabah, Sipadan, is year round diving, conditions may differ a bit when raining, but since the waters are very deep, you can still dive with good visibility.
In East Malaysia there are two states, Sarawak and Sabah. On Sarawak territory the diving is no good, but Sabah therefore offers the best of the best. Nortwest of Sabah is the Spartly islands (Layang Layang), on the westcoast near Kota Kinabalu is tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (Pulau Gaya), Pulau Tiga Park and Labuan federal territory, all situated at the west coast. Then finally at the eastcoast of Sabah is Turtle Islands park, Semporna Marine park and last but certainly not least Pulau Sipadan Marine Reserve (Sipadan and Mabul) of which a short impression here.
As of January 2005, it will no longer be possible to stay on Sipadan island itself, as this will become a protected area (ongoing is membership of UNESCO world heritage). As of then, you will need to stay at Pulau Mabul, which has an upscale resort, from where the speedboat will take you to the 12 world famous and superb divingspots around Sipadan. Here you can dive in waters that are more than 1200m deep, will most certainly meet up with big sharks (> 4m), barracuda’s (schools exceeding 1000), manta rays, napoleon fish, jackfish, octopus, triggerfishes, turtles and more turtles and more pelagic fishes (including the most beautiful encounters with the whale sharks at the end of the raining season).
Sipadan
To get to Sipadan you fly to Kota Kinabalu and then on to Tawau. From there you a bus will take you to Semporna, then hop on the high-speedboat of the tour operator to Sipadan, on the way there you pass Mabul, an island with a resort and as stated from January 2005 the only base for diving at Sipadan. You are in remote area, the trip from Singapore to Sipadan takes you 1 day with an overnight stay in KK due to flight schedules (no same day flight from Singapore via KK to Tawau)
Sipadan is an island of roughly 400 m diameter surrounded by a deep sea, meters from the beach waters reach depths between 600 and 1200 m (so no place for beginners). It’s just a great thought, knowing you are swimming on top of all the big guys down there, isn’t it? Apart from that you can snorkel and admire the turtles (protected area) and amazing stars at the sky at night and that's it (as if it is not enough!). If you are really up to it there is also the option of night dives (always nice to see a big shark pop up in the light of your torch at about 10m distance from yourself).
This is just a glimpse of the adventures that could await you here and if you don't dive yet here is more information on getting your open water certificate.
With contribution and photos by Eric Gohres
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