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:: Our diving spots in Southeast Asia ::

Thailand

Dives around Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand and in the Andaman Sea further southwest. Clear waters and water temperatures around 28˚C. Small sharks, turtles, nice hard and soft corals, but don’t expect supreme diving; The new millennia El Niño and global warming has resulted in coral bleaching (discoloring and whitening of the corals) because the temperature-sensitive plankton which lives symbiotically within the coral and gives it the unique color are strictly temperature-sensitive. Expect to see many of the common reef fishes and eels; porcupine-fishes, lion fishes, trigger fishes, bat fishes, moray eels, angel fishes, bump-heads, blues-potted sting rays, puffer fishes, napoleons etc. You may occasionally encounter leopard sharks, white-tipped reef sharks and sea turtles. There are nice walls around the majestic lime-stone cliffs at Phi Phi Islands in the Andaman Sea. Don’t miss the cool King Cruiser Wreck in that area. If you’re into large pelagics (fishes which live in the open ocean rather than around inland waters/reefs), don’t miss the must-see Hin Daeng and Hin Muang dive sites far off the Koh Lanta coast in the southern Andaman Sea offering schools of barracudas and manta rays. You can go there from most places in the Andaman Sea such as the Phi Phi Islands, Phuket or Koh Lanta by speedboat.

· Phi Phi Islands – Andaman Sea (2006; 2002)

· Koh Tao – Gulf of Thailand (2004)

· The King Cruiser Wreck – Andaman Sea (2002)

· Hin Daeng & Hin Muang – Andaman Sea (2002)

Malaysia

Dives around the Perhentian Islands. The beaches are supreme but don’t go there if you want similar mind-blowing diving. The reefs are okay but have suffered from coral bleaching (read above). There’s a large repertoire of the common reef fishes but the large pelagic fishes are very scarce.

· Perhentian Islands (2006)

Diving at the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia, 2006

Indonesia

One of the most diverse and best dive-nations in the world. We’ve only been diving around Bali, the Gili Islands northwest of Lombok and the more remote island called Sulawesi – a small part of this great country. Bali is great and teaming with underwater reef life. The 120 m Liberty wreck from WWII is a must-dive. If you want to experience big tuna fishes, barracudas and manta rays go for the small islands Lembongang and Nusa Penida south of Bali. There, if you’re very lucky, you may encounter one of the most rare and beautiful pelagic fishes: The large bonefish, mola mola (ocean sunfish). The Gili Islands has great visibility and many corals as well as anemone carpets. There are loads of schools of fish and it’s almost certain that you will see sharks and turtles on every dive. Sulawesi offers some of the best diving in the world, especially around Bunaken Island in the north. The Togean Island is remote a propose diving with mantas and schools of dolphins.

· Togian Islands – Sulawesi (2006)

· Bunaken Island – Sulawesi (2006)

· Nusa Penida – Indonesia (2005)

· Tulamben – Bali (2004)

· Gili Islands – Lombok (2004)

Philippines

With more than 7000 islands, this archipelago is a premier diving destination. On Apo Island south of Negros we did some crazy drift dives with loads of reef fishes and sharks. The Busuanga Islands and Coron Island north of Palawan are some of the best places for wreck enthusiasts – many sunken Japanese army ships and airplanes from WWII are scattered around Coron bay and the life around the wrecks is spectacular.

· Apo Island – Negros (2005)

· Calamian Islands – Palawan (2005)

· Boracay Island – Visayas (2008)

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