Diving in Malaysia

Perhentian

The islands of Pulau Perhentian Besar and Pulau Perhentian Kecil are one of Malaysia’s top tourist attractions. They are surrounded by turquoise blue sea and lined with palm trees and white sand beaches providing an idyllic tropical island getaway.

The Perhentian Islands consist of the 2 main inhabited islands and a few smaller uninhabited islands, Perhentian Besar being the larger of the two. Both islands are very popular with tourists are still not yet very built up. Perhentian Besar is the more expensive of the two islands with the more upmarket accommodation and resorts, while Perhentian Kecil is cheaper and caters more for backpackers.

turtle perhentian

Climate

The climate in this area is tropical so although most of the year is it lovely hot beach weather it does have a monsoon season. This is from the end of October to the end of March and during this season all accommodation and tourist businesses shut down and most people leave the islands. So the dive season runs from Early April to Late October.

Water temperature during this time varies from 27C-32C with the coldest water temperature being during the middle of the monsoon and raising back up to 30C plus for the start of the dive season. This means that it is comfortable to dive in board shorts and a rash vest, or if you are prone to the cold then a 3mm shorty wetsuit. This beautifully warm water lasts all the way through the season and only starts dropping back down at the start of the monsoon at the end October/beginning of November.

lion fish

Marine Conservation

The islands are home to many nesting hawksbill and green turtles, this number has drastically reduced over the last few years due to oil spills from oil tankers and oil platforms not too far away. The Department of Fisheries have started a turtle hatchery on the island to help with this problem. There are also Turtle conservation volunteer programs which you can take part in whilst on the island which monitor and protect nests and also educate local children about the need to save our oceans and marine life.

Many dive schools conduct regular reef clean up days and also take part in other larger reef check and conservation efforts.