Tioman Island

Dive Tioman! Isn't it exciting? Yes it is. Tioman has a couple of dive sites that will definitely blew off your mind. Do refer Gallery section for a more pictured post-experience before you really go to Tioman :)

I am not a diver, but I remember when I went to Renggis and Marine Park for snorkelling, the nature is just fantastic!

Still remember how I fed the fish right in front of my eyes.


At the point of this writing, These are the dive sites that are currently available for divers to explore and enjoy diversity of nature Tioman offers.


Salang Bay..

• Depth – 5-15 metres
• Location – In front of Salang Village
• There are two easily accessible reefs here on either side of the jetty and this is a popular site for those refreshing their skills after a long period of no diving or for those undergoing training. This is also a popular snorkelling spot
• The shallow reef consists of staghorn, tabletop, brain and blue corals. Sea anemones with their resident Clown fish are always a favourite, as are the hawksbill turtles. Keep an eye out for the noisy schools of Bumphead Parrotfish

Renggis

• Depth – 6-15 metres
• Location – Close to Tekek Village, in front of the Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort
• A small, rocky island in front of the Berjaya Resort, this is one of Tioman’s most popular sites both for scuba diving and snorkelling. It can get quite busy at times, and both training and night dives are often conducted here. For a deeper dive, you can explore the wrecks (and the hidden reef) close to the island at a depth of 20 metres
• The water around the island has some large, impressive hard coral formations and green turtles and black-tip reef sharks are a common sight. Another reason why Renggis is so popular is that it is teeming with marine life - puffer fish, angelfish, butterfly fish, sting rays, moray eels, trigger fish, giant grouper and many other species abound

Bahara

• Depth – 5-25 metres
• Location – South-west of Tioman Island, 20-30 minutes by boat from Genting Village
• The drop-off is one of the best things about this site: covered in barrel sponges, black coral, anemones and soft red and purple corals. This site is a favourite of underwater photographers. Currents can be strong in this area but the visibility is generally excellent
• The marine life here is prolific, including numerous species of reef fish and also sharks

Jahat Island

• Depth – 5-25 metres
• Location – 15-20 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• Jahat Island means Naughty Island, but the origin of the name is open to speculation. The island is surrounded by large boulders, creating a labyrinth of tunnels, corridors and caves
• Sharks and barracuda are the main attractions here, but don’t miss swimming with the resident turtle. Hard corals, sea anemones and sea fans complete the picture

Marine Park HQ

• Depth – 8-30 metres
• Location – Between Ayer Batang and Tekek villages, off the beach at the Marine Park headquarters
• While the water around the Marine Park jetty is filled with clouds of fish chasing the chunks of bread fed by snorkelling groups, the attraction of this site for divers is the eight wrecks at varying depths close by
• Inquisitive batfish will follow you around as you navigate your way around. As this is a breeding ground for fish, you may find thousands of tiny fish, especially between March and May. There are plenty of soft corals as well as big shoals of fusiliers, jacks and trevallies

Chebeh Island

• Depth– 13-27 metres
• Location – north-west of Tioman, north of Tulai (Coral) Island. 20-30 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• The underwater topography of this site is what makes it special. The tunnels, caves and huge boulder formations create labyrinths of adventure and make for excellent cavern diving and plenty of tight spaces to swim through
• There is plenty of colourful soft coral and gorgonian sea fans can be found in abundance. Expect to encounter napoleon wrasses, trigger fish, large puffer fish, angel fish and, if you are lucky and come at the right time of year, manta rays. Keep your eyes peeled for small wonders like nudibranchs and tiger cowry

Fan Canyon

• Depth– up to 30 metres
• Location – south-west of Tulai (Coral) Island, close to Genting Bay
• The famous fan canyon is filled with fragile gorgonian fan corals and the site has plenty of colourful soft coral. Divers are usually not permitted to enter the canyon itself so as not to damage the fan corals, but there is a tunnel to swim through at around 16 metres.
• Expect to encounter large scorpion fish, napoleon wrasses, barracuda, spotted groupers and green turtles, especially at the deeper part of the site. At the lower reef edge, keep a lookout for the resident ribbon eel.

Teluk Kador (Kador Bay)

• Depth– 5-23 metres
• Location – north-east of Tulai (Coral) Island. 15-20 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• If you exit the lagoon of Coral Island, Kador Bay is to the right. Rocks slope down to a depth of about 20 metres and there is a small overhang where some moray eels and stonefish may be hiding
• There are numerous species of local reef fish as well as blue-spotted sting rays amongst a variety of hard corals

Malang Rock

• Depth – 6-15 metres
• Location – west of the northern tip of Tioman Island. 20-25 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• This is also a popular snorkelling spot. The one side of the rock is protected by Tulai (Coral) Island while the other side is deeper. The sheltered side has a shallow reef with potato corals, lettuce corals and sponges. In the deeper water, large rocks are a continuation of the above-water island
• Sharks, including leopard sharks are often spotted in the deeper water while an exquisite variety of fish make their home around the reef. Look out for yellow-spotted stingray, schools of barracuda, trigger fish, lion fish, moon wrasse and nudibranchs

Labas Island

• Depth – 5-25 metres
• Location – 25 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• Labas is similar to Marang in that it is a pile of rocks, with the tip protruding above water. The large boulders create an abundance of caverns and spaces to swim through and the remainder of a Japanese fishing boat can be found nearby
• Turtles, puffer fish, moray eels, sweet lips, blue-spotted stingray and nudibranchs are some of the marine life that you can expect to find here amongst the soft corals and fans

Tiger Reef

• Depth – 10-25 metres
• Location – close to Marang Rock, in the channel between Sepoi and Labas Islands. 30 minutes by boat from Salang Village
• Impressive hard coral formations make up this submerged reef, including brain, plate and fire coral. The surrounding boulders are also completely covered in hard and soft corals
• There can be some strong currents, but this means that black tip reef sharks and barracuda schools often turn up. Other fish species such as yellow tail snappers, trevally, tuna, jacks and batfish are all attracted to this site

Soyak Island Reef and Wreck

• Depth – 5-15 metres (Soyak Island Reef); 20-25 metres (Soyak Island Wreck)
• Location – Opposite Salang Village, about 10 minutes away by boat
• These are actually two sites in close proximity, one being the Soyak Wrecks and the other the boulders and reefs around Soyak Island itself. The colourful soft corals that cover the Soyak reef and the wrecks make this a popular night dive spot
• A common sighting in this area is a 1.8m giant grouper. Apart from local tropical reef fish, turtles, lion fish, bump head parrot fish, nudibranchs, yellow tail kingfish, trevally, fusiliers, and the occasional black-tip reef sharks are other species that you may encounter here. Lucky divers have reported whale shark sightings in season

How to dive in Tioman?..

There is a lot of dive operators on the island offering boat and shore dives as well as instruction and certification. To date, there are:

Salang	Dive Asia Dive Fisherman Centre Scuba Naut Azmi Dive B&J Dive Centre
Air Batang	B&J Dive Centre Eco Dive Centre
Panuba	Bali Hai
Tekek	Dive Asia Tioman Reef Divers Tekek Inn Tioman Dive Centre
Lalang (Berjaya)	Berjaya Dive Centre
Paya	Sea Lantis Dive Centre Payar Diver Cove
Minang Cove	Minang Cove
Juara	Bushman Dive Centre

Source: http://tioman.com.my/