Michael at SeaUndersea.com has written up a useful overview of his three days of diving at Tioman island just off peninsular Malaysia. Short version - he loved it!

Just off the coast of north western penisular Malaysia, the Perhentian Islands have been a popular backpacker haunt for year, thanks to pretty beaches and some great diving at cheap prices

What makes a dive trip really special is when you see something underwater for the very first time. Malaysia’s Perhentian Islands didn't disappoint me on that score - it was during a dive at D Lagoon, one of the simplest, shallowest coral reef dives possible on the Perhentians, that I got to witness the arrival of a school of humphead parrotfish. They turned up just at the end of our dive like a gang of Hell's Angels taking over the reef - there were easily 20 to 30 of them and I was taken aback at just how big they were. Over half a metre in length, the humpheads clustered together and repeatedly attacked the coral itself, chomping away and sending out clouds of debris which soon muddied the water. No diver would want to get in the way of their powerful beaks. I’d never seen humpheads in real life before and couldn’t stop marveling at their size and the slightly comic appearance their beaks gave them, which seemed fixed in a perpetual mischievious grin. Back on board the boat, there were similarly broad smiles from the divers too. It may not be Malaysia’s most superlative dive destination, but diving in the Perhentians is always full of surprises.

A half hour speedboat ride off the the western coast of peninsular Malaysia, the Perhentian Islands are an increasingly popular scuba destination that sees a lot of divers returning several times after their first visit. It's not difficult to see why: the Perhentians are blessed with the archetypal white sand and palm trees of a tropical paradise and their beauty on land is matched by what lies beneath the water too. Best of all, the Perhentians are relatively easy to get to and extremely affordable too - this is one dive holiday that won't break the bank.

It's this combination of idyllic beaches and low prices that has driven the Perhentians' rise in popularity for divers and non divers alike over the last five years. The islands attract a diverse mix of Singaporeans on weekend breaks, Chinese package tourists coming for some sea and sand, and a swathe of European backpackers on their South East Asian travels. There's little sense of being amongst a crowd however - during my stay in June, the small beaches remained pleasantly empty and the dive sites were usually uncrowded too. Despite the Perhentians' growing popularity, there's still a sense of discovering somewhere that not many other people know about when you first arrive on one of the islands' beaches.

That sense of discovery is compounded by the islands' quite modest infrastructure. While you can get mobile phone reception, there's no high rise buildings, no roads and no ATMs on the two islands that make up the Perhentians - there are a couple of tracks through the jungle that link several of the beaches, but otherwise the only way to get between them is by boat. Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil, where I stayed, is the more backpacker orientated beach and so a bit of a party zone, while the beaches on the bigger Perhentian Besar are more family orientated and quieter. Whichever beach you go to, you'll find a picturesque mixture of wooden huts serving variously as accommodation, beachside cafes and dive shops.

There are several dive operators on the Perhentians, and some have been there for over a decade. The dive schedule follows the laid back attitude of the islands' beach life - first dive is at 8.30am, second dive at 1.30pm, with journeys to the dive sites in simple wooden skiffs taking around 20 minutes. The boat comes back to shore between dives. Night dives can be arranged for those interested, and there are also dive day trips organised to nearby Palau Redang, besides the usual array of dive courses for those looking to learn diving or further their dive skills.

The calm, shallow waters of the Perhentians makes it an ideal place to learn to dive - few of the dive sites go below 25 metres and most of the interesting stuff is at 18 metres and above. But the Perhentians are much more than just a training ground. There is an abundance of marine life here, with snorkellers enjoying regular sightings of turtles and black tip sharks without even leaving the surface of the water. The repeat business of many divers returning to the islands from all over the world attests to the diversity of their dive sites. There are around 10 dive sites around the islands which will keep novice and qualified divers alike entertained for the best part of a week.

Amongst these feature two wrecks, the Vietnamese wreck which is upside down in around 24 metres of water, and the Sugar Wreck in 18 metres, which lies on its side with its two loading cranes still attached strewn out over the sandy bottom. The cranes provide a home for several lionfish and a school of razorfish, which hover vertically and nose down over the battered steel struts. The visibility at the Perhentians varied quite dramatically from day to day during my stay, and on my dives on both wrecks we only had around 7 metres viz - but that didn't hamper our enjoyment because once on the wreck all the marine life was hovering around the sides of the sunken ships, clearly in view. That said, big cobias have been known to turn up out of the blue, so it's worth taking a look away from the wreck every now and then.

The Sugar Wreck has large cargo doors in its now vertical deck that can be penetrated, while the Vietnamese wreck's upside down profile means that there's a large confined space between the boat's deck and the sandy bottom, which is easy for divers to negotiate. It's also a haven for schools of fish, allowing them to sit out of the current that flows around the wreck - and, bizarrely, for some of them to be upside down too! Big marble rays have also been spotted lying on the sand in here, so divers need to take care both to spot these beautiful creatures and to avoid coming to harm from their barbed tails. Outside the wreck, baby barracuda hang in the current and tiny yellow boxfish fuss around the broken metal.

Besides the wrecks, Tirumbla Tiga (universally known as T3) and The Pinnacle (also known as Temple), are the other two star attractions of Perhentians diving. T3 is made of three huge fingers of rock rising from 20 metres to the surface with a profusion of smaller boulders strewn around them, creating an aquatic labyrinth that even the local divemasters joke about getting lost in despitediving the site hundreds of times. This jumble of rocks and coral makes for some exciting swimthroughs too, and its nooks and crannies provide ample shelter for many critturs.

Like many other Perhentian divers, Temple was my personal favourite, a straightforward pinnacle of rock that sits just off the shore, allowing a good current to pass through and providing both great viz and a headturning mass of different fish life. I was hoping against hope we might see an elusive guitarfish, which has been spotted both here and at the Tulumben Basi dive site, but no such luck: I had to content myself with schools of travally, fusiliers and jack whipping around us and a long line of squid propelling themselves single file over head, and finding a truly massive moray eel curled amongst the Pinnacle's rocks.

Divers are not limited to the Perhentians’ cluster of immediate sites though. If you have the time to spare, you should definitely take a speedboat trip from the Perhentians to Redang as well. Only 40 minutes away, most dive shops organise cheap trips with two dives and lunch included, allowing divers to be back mid afternoon. Palau's deeper dive sites mean that the viz can be a lot clearer than the Perhentians, but the currents a lot stronger too - certainly that was my experience, and the dives we did at Batu Tokong and Turumbu Kili needed some concerted finning at times but were eminently worth the effort. There are some spectacular table corals on these sites which run into one another, creating an organic plateau that is quite mesmerising. The coral is also a big hit with the turtles, who we saw several times feasting on the reef.

The Perhentians, then, offer a wealth of dive opportunities that are easy to get to and won’t cost a fortune. While diving at the Perhentians may not be as flat out spectacular like diving at, say, Sipadan, the islands have a particular charm both above and below the surface.

Many thanks to Turtle Bay Divers (www.turtlebaydivers.com/) on Perhentian Kecil for their help with writing this report.

Getting There

Most major airlines fly into Kuala Lumpur International Airport. From there domestic flights can be taken to Kota Bharu, the nearest town on the mainland to the Perhentian Islands. It's a one hour taxi ride from Kota Bharu to the pier at the coastal town of Kuala Besut. Speedboats from the pier take about half an hour out to the Perhentians. Don't bother with the mechanically unreliable slow boat.

Best Time To Dive
April to September. The monsoon season makes the sea too rough to access the Perhentians safely during the rest of the year

Water temperature
27 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Entry Requirements
Many nationalities can enter Malaysia without requiring a previously arranged visa for up to three months - check with your local Malay embassy or visit www.kln.gov.my

Climate
The Perhentian Islands are a tropical island, and the temperature can rise to 34 degrees. Apply a lot of sunscreen and drink a lot of water.

Currency
US$ = RM 3.70

Electricity:
220v, three pin flat socket

Language:
English is widely spoken in the Perhentian Islands as it is throughout Malaysia.

Accommodation:
Most accommodation on the Perhentian Islands is of the simple beach hut variety, with a couple of more luxurious resort-style places having opened up on Perhentian Kecil.

[This article previously appeared in Asian Diver magazine]

Malaysia's Perhentian Islands are an accessible and affordable dive destination, combining a tropical paradise above water with a string of surprises underwater

A while ago I wrote Perhentian Islands: A Quick Guide after my scuba diving trip to the Perhentians last August. Now the article I wrote for Asian Diver magazine has been published, and I'm pleased to say it's available to read in full on the Asian Diver site. If you can find a copy of the mag, take a look, as it does far better justice to Jez Tryner's awesome photos.

Here's the article's intro:

"What makes a dive trip really special is when you see something underwater for the very first time. And Perhentian Islands wont disappoint on that score.

On my last trip, I got to witness the arrival of a school of humphead parrotfish during a dive at DLagoon, one of the simplest, shallowest coral reef dives possible off the Perhentians. More than 25 turned up at the end of our dive, like a gang of Hells Angels taking over the reef, stunning us with their sheer size. Each measuring at least half a metre in length, the humpheads clustered together and repeatedly attacked the surrounding coral, chomping and chipping with their powerful beaks and sending out clouds of debris.

I'd never seen humpheads in real life before and couldnt stop gawking at their size and the slightly comic appearance their beaks gave them, which seemed fixed in a perpetual mischievous grin. Back on board the boat, there were similar broad smiles from the divers, too. It may not be Malaysias most superlative dive destination, but diving in the Perhentians is always full of surprises."

Read the full article at Asian Diver

Worawan Simaroj writes a fascinating piece on exploring Borneo's Layang Layang islands and going to explore remote reefs beyond Layang Layang that have remained virtually untouched

This article appeared in the Bangkok Post today, along with some interesting photos. I've reproduced the article here as the Bangkok Post's archive system is currently broken so it will disappear offline in a couple of days.

"'Layang-Layang, known as Swallows Reef, is an atoll situated in the South China Sea, 300 kilometres northwest of Kota Kinabalu. The island is man-made and was constructed for the Malaysian navy and later developed into the only dive resort, Layang-Layang Island Resort.

"The island's location offers absolute isolation; luckily there is an airstrip with regular flights from Kota Kinabalu, which is the only mode of transport for guests visiting Layang-Layang."

I was reading from the brochure of Sabah Tourism Board as our liveaboard vessel, MV Dive Master I, approached the resort's pier. The last sentence is about to be rewritten.

This was the vessel's first excursion to the island and I could tell from the amazed stares of guests at the resort that our arrival was a unique and ground-breaking event.

We had already been on board two nights prior to our arrival, not because it was a long journey but because our voyage took us diving elsewhere as we travelled from Labuan to this island reclaimed from the sea.

We had stopped off at Vernon Bank and, although the coral reefs were somewhat devoid of life due to the intense damage caused by trawlers and dynamite, the discovery of tiny marine animals like strange-looking nudibranchs, fire gobies, and numerous species of juvenile fishes was an experience quite different from that encountered in the Andaman.

The other reason for stopping here was to ready ourselves for the intense wall dives at the oceanic atoll of Layang-Layang, some of which cut steeply down to the seabed 2,000 metres below.

The renowned reefs of Layang-Layang are famous for their shoals of pelagic fish, especially hammerhead sharks. We were not disappointed. On three of our five dives here, we encountered both single and schooling scalloped hammerhead sharks, passing close by as we headed out from the reef into the deep blue world.

To add to the excitement, we also witnessed a school of devil rays swooping nearby; on another occasion, a large school of jackfish circled above the deep chasm of the ocean floor. As we swam back to the reef, blacktip reef sharks, enormous tunas, turtles, and many other large creatures welcomed our return. Before surfacing, we always regrouped at a huge giant clam and nearby pinkish leaf scorpionfish that proclaimed ownership of the exuberantly diverse reef.

All our diving took place on the more sheltered eastern side of the atoll, at sites such as The Point, Dogtooth Lair, and Wreck Point. The tail end of a typhoon, that was moving through the South China Seas towards the Philippines, prevented us from exploring any further. However, the swell and surge of the sea could not stop us from enjoying a relaxing last dive to see exquisite tiny creatures such as pygmy seahorses, numerous colourful nudibranchs and other benthic fauna hiding among the beautiful sea fans and soft corals of this fantastic and dramatic "wall".

After two nights at Layang-Layang we re-boarded the MV Dive Master I. I must admit it was a pleasure to be back to the familiar and delicious taste of Thai food, expertly prepared by the onboard chef. It was now time for a new adventure as the boat took us to some new dive sites on the outer reefs. A number of oceanic atolls are located to the north of Layang-Layang in the Spratlys but due to political and military reasons have remained virtually unexplored by tourists.

However, some are now closely controlled by the Malaysian navy, making them safe for diving so long as permission is granted beforehand. All our paper work had already been processed with assistance from the Labuan Tourism Action Council so we had nothing to worry about.

Our brief visit to some of atolls, such as Dallas Reef and Permatang Ubi (Ardarsia Reef), indicated the prosperity of the natural environment - whale shark, manta rays, devil rays, and many other species of sharks were seen. Not to be overlooked were the countless other fish and animals on the reefs themselves.

By studying aerial photographs, it was strikingly apparent that some of these atolls and their reefs were four to five times bigger than Layang-Layang itself: one short trip was most certainly not long enough to uncover the wealth of marine life to be found. The underwater world of this delicate marine ecosystem awaits to be discovered.

Our vessel began its journey back towards Labuan. As we traversed the open sea, brown boobies and various terns followed our boat - and what a show they put on for us! As flying fish leaped from the sea and sailed across the surface, the birds would swoop down to catch their supper. Usually they missed, but it didn't stop them from trying. With the sun setting and bellies slowly filling, these aerial masters of the sea started to drift away. What a scene!

The island of Labuan is located off the coast of Borneo at the mouth of Brunei Bay. This historic island has long been an important port of call for sailors of the South China Sea.

Since the 14th century, it has been governed successively by the Majapahit Empire, the sultanate of Brunei, the British, the Japanese, the British again, and finally Malaysia. The island's troubled past and treacherous waters have left, amongst others, four famous ship wrecks not far from the island: Blue Water Wreck and Cement Wreck dating back to the 1980's and American Wreck and Australian Wreck that go further back to World War II.

Numerous marine animals have occupied the wrecks as the years have passed, making them a haven for unfamiliar underwater life. The mysterious appeal of exploring these historic memorials to war and disaster added an extra dimension to this adventure of discovery.

On the day we were to dive at Labuan, visibility was rather poor so we only managed to survey two of the four wrecks. Mabini Padre, better known as Blue Water Wreck, was an 80-metre-long Filipino trawler lying on her port side at a depth of 35 metres. At her shallowest, she was about 22 metres from the surface. I knew that I couldn't stay very long at that depth but fortunately our boat had some Nitrox tanks that allowed us to stay underwater longer.

We were not disappointed as the wreck welcomed us to its garden of soft corals, with batfish and barracudas waiting to escort us on board. The wreck itself was still in very good condition making it an especially beautiful attraction for wreck-diving enthusiasts. After spending some time admiring the eerie scene in front of me, I ventured a little deeper. Just above the propeller, I discovered the scattered white bones of a turtle, which reminded me to do my safety stop and return to the surface!

Cement Wreck seemed to be a much friendlier place with its lively marine life posing for photographs among the towering eight-metre masts that stretched towards the sparkling blue waters above. Once known as the freighter MV Tung Hwuang, Cement Wreck now sat upright in 30 metres of water after hitting the Samarang Bank in 1980.

Its masts, deck and wheelhouse were now home to numerous marine creatures. An octopus changed colour and hid itself in a hole. Yellow hawkfish played hide-and-seek with divers. A large lionfish stretched its elegant fins and declared the patch of water as his own.

We penetrated the cargo holds, engine rooms and decks. I took a picture of the ladder and a treasure box. The wreck was adorned in an array of natural and human history, and admired by divers exploring its 92-metre length.

Our last dive was drawing to a close but I took a couple more minutes to reflect on the fantastic sights and experiences of the last few days - had this been a once-in-a-lifetime trip? In one respect, yes, but I knew I'd be back again for more.

MV Dive Master I took us back to Labuan port. We still had some time to explore the town or do a little sight-seeing around the island before our flight the next morning but my choice was simple. I got off the boat, walked just five minutes to a shop, bought a pack of very cheap beer (Labuan is a duty free island), returned to the boat, and celebrated the culmination of my wonderful adventure in the comfort of the air-conditioned living room.

MORE INFO

Labuan Island can be reached by air from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Miri, and Kuching. Alternately, the ferry from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan takes about two and a half hours; from Brunei it takes about one and a half hours. Diving season lasts from May to October.

For travel information within Labuan, check its web site:

http://www.labuantourism.com.my"

The Sipadan reef destruction fiasco rumbles on, with Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi publicly attacking his Minister Of Tourism for letting the building works go ahead against his express wishes

Sipadan and the recent reef destruction there is back in the news with a blistering public attack from Malaysia's Prime Minister on his Tourism Minister. From the Malaysia Star, 27th July 2006:

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lashed out at Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman for going ahead with the RM4.5mil clubhouse project at Pulau Sipadan despite his objection.

“I was very angry with Musa. I told him not to build it. I said so many corals are dying and he promised that he would look into the project,” said Abdullah, who openly expressed his disappointment and frustration with Musa.

Abdullah said he was upset with the general quality of environment in the country, and that Malaysians should learn to appreciate the environment as it was a gift from God.

“God gave us such a beautiful gift. Why are we destroying it?” Abdullah said in his speech when attending the Malaysian Professional Centre annual dinner.

It's quite dramatic that Abdullah has expressed public disapproval about the damage at Sipadan and here's hoping that as the most powerful politician in the country, he'll inaugurate some radical reforms to help protect Malaysia's reefs and marine life in the future.

As for Sipadan itself, the diving goes on unabated: it's peak season at Sipadan at the moment, and the management authority Sabah Parks reports that they are having to turn divers away from diving at Sipadan because they are constantly filling their maximum quota of 120 divers a day. (Which means you should also get it in writing from your dive operator that you can definitely dive at Sipadan i.e. that they will have secured the necessary permit for you ahead of time).

Clearly the news of the damage to Sipadan's reef has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of divers visiting the island, and the patch of reef impacted - about the size of two tennis courts - is in about 3 metres of water, which means most divers won't even see it. The long term impact of the damage remains to be seen and the prospect of more damage on the island if building continues is a very real concern.

Read more about Sipadan and Borneo Diving here on Divehappy

As well as being a hotspot for seeing schools of hammerhead sharks along with whale sharks and manta rays, Borneo's Layang Layang island now also has its own ongoing blog to vicariously keep up with the action

One of my favourite dive blogs at the moment is Layang Layang Blues, an anonymous journal kept by one of the Divemasters who works on the island. The blog is updated weekly with repors on what's been spotted around the islands, complete with some glorious photos.

It's a completely unofficial blog and not associated with Layang Layang resort in anyway - mainly because the writer has some justifiably cutting comments about divers who get angry when the hammerheads et al don't turn up on cue, blaming the guides and the resorts for Mother Nature's refusal to play ball.

That said, Layang Layang Blues is a perfect example of what more dive businesses should be doing to give their customers a real feel for what diving in their area is like.

At Layang Layang, this particular blogger is extremely lucky, because there's no shortage of spectacular marine life to blog about. Here's an excerpt from the most recent post:

Wx- Strong winds and choppy sea then sunshine, windless and hot. Now it is cloudy and overcast but calm sea. Vis- varied from green to clear blue and now dark without the sun.

Sightings for pelagics were 2 schools of hammerheads, mobulars, mantas and a whale shark yesterday. A lot of pygmy sea horses, ghost pipes and leaf fishes.

Layang Layang has long been on my list of places I must dive, and this blog just makes me want to get there all the quicker. BSAC have a good overview dive report about Layang Layang and TripAdvisor has Borneo flight and hotel info.

If you are travelling in Malaysia, I definitely recommend you visit the Perhentian Islands for some great dives and a very affordable version of Paradise.

Just back from diving the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia - a glorious place to go scuba diving. I'm writing up my article about it for Asian Diver magazine which won't get published for a few more months, but here's a quick Q&A guide that should help explain some of the Perhentians' attractions.

What's it called?
Perhentian Islands - Palau Perhentian in Malay

Where is it?
The east coast of peninsular Malaysia, near the Thai-Malay border

When can I go?
The diving season is April to October. From October to April the monsoon season shuts down the island and the seas are too rough to make the crossing.

Is it a tropical paradise?
Yes! The Perhentians are made up of a big and small island that have beautiful beaches and palm trees covering the interior of the islands. Development is still quite low key - there's no roads or high rise buildings or vehicles

What's the diving like?
Perhentians scuba diving is excellent - It has a collection of 10 or so dive sites, the max depth of which is around 24 metres. Highlights include two shipwrecks, the Vietnamese Wreck, which is upside down, and the Sugar Wreck, which is lying on its side with two cranes still attached to its deck. There is also the labyrinth of rocks and boulders known as T3 (Terumbu Tiga) and the pinnacle which is variously called Temple and, er, The Pinnacle. The reef in D Lagoon is excellent for a long, shallow dive too.

What can I expect to see underwater?
Over the four days I was diving at the Perhentians I saw several turtles, a black tip shark, triggerfish, tiny yellow boxfish (deeply cute), huge puffafish (up to half a metre in length), razorfish, octopus, schools of barracuda, jacks, fusiliers and travallies, a squadron of squid close to the surface and a truly giant moray eel.

These are the things I haven't seen but was told about: There have been sightings of the shovelnose guitarfish at T3 on occasion, and a couple of divemasters found a seahorse by going off one of the wreck dive sites; big marble rays and cobias are also spotted too. Apparently a few years ago a solitary manta was occasionally seen around the islands, possibly lost on its way to the Philippines - no-one's quite sure.

What's the setup for diving?
Very laidback - all diving is done from small wooden skiffs which run straight off the beach. Carry your gear down to the boat, motor out to the dive site within 20 minutes (remember suncream!) , backroll entry and that's it. Morning dives are around 8.30 am, afternoon dives around 1.30pm

What's the visibility like?
Viz varied quite a lot from day to day when I was there - usually around 7 or 8 metres on the wrecks, going up to 15 metres at The Pinnacle. Viz is always better first thing in the morning.

Are the dive sites crowded?
When I was there in late June, the dive sites were almost empty. I've heard reports that they can get pretty crowded sometimes, usually at weekends when lots of people come up from Singapore.

How much does diving cost?
The dive shop I dived with charged RM80 per dive [RM = Malaysian Ringgit, see currency converter at xe.com] including all scuba gear, boat and divemaster. The price goes down to around 60 RM a dive if you do several days diving. I'd say there's enough at the Perhentians to keep divers entertained for at least 3 days, probably longer. I would definitely recommend doing a daytrip to nearby Palau Redang as well, which only takes 40 minutes in the speedboat.

Do you recommend a specific dive shop?
Yes, I would unreservedly recommend Turtle Bay Divers on Long Beach, who I dived with during my stay. They are one of the longest-running operations on the islands and have an excellent setup. Their scuba gear is new and well-maintained, their boats and shop are efficient and the staff are very helpful and knowledgable, which tends to make or break whether a dive operation is any good or not. [Full disclosure: Turtle Bay gave me free dives as I writing for Asian Diver magazine]

Where can I stay?
The Perhentian Islands are divided into Perhentian Kecil (Small Island) and Perhentian Besar (Big Island). Besar is more family orientated and a bit more upmarket and quieter. Long Beach on Kecil is the backpacker beach. with the most going on in terms of apres-dive partying. I saw several other small beaches around the islands where you can also stay, but bear in mind getting a boat is usually the only way of moving between beaches, so you probably won't want to move around much.

If you're looking to book Perhentian accommodation, check out the Tripadvisor reviews of Perhentian Island Resort, Perhentian Tuna Bay Island Resort, Coral View Island Resort and Shari La Island Resort

There's also a bunch of hotels on Palau Redang, around 45 minutes away from the Perhentians and a great dive spot in its own right. Have a look at the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort, the Aryani Resort, the Tanjong Jara hotel, the Sutra Beach resort and the Primula Beach resort.

How can I get there?
Fly into Kota Bharu from Kuala Lumpur (a 50 minute flight) with AirAsia. Then get a cab direct from the city airport to Kuala Besut, a town on the coast. The taxi takes around an hour and costs 50 RM. From here you can get a speedboat out to the Perhentian Islands - the boat takes about half an hour (Return ticket 30 RM). Boats run out to the islands until around 6pm. Arriving on the islands as early as you can is advisable as accommodation can be scarce later in the day unless you've booked ahead. Accommodation is around 50 to 80 RM for a wooden hut with en suite bathroom.

What should I take?
The Perhentian Islands are still quite basic so you need to bring everything with you besides food and water - mosquito repellent, suncream, sunglasses and a hat are all very advisable. The Perhentians lies in the strict Islamic district of Teranngu and while the islanders are very laid back, alchohol is very pricey by usual Asian standards - RM8 per beer. Stashing a bottle of spirits might be a good idea before you set out.

Travellers should also remember to keep covered up when travelling through Terengganu to the Perhentians to avoid offending local sensibilities. Keep your bikini for the beach!

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The Perhentian Islands in Malaysia, near the Thai-Malay border, are Malaysia's answer to Koh Tao - paradise beaches with superb diving that are fairly remote and still an upcoming travel destination

I'm off to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia tomorrow to do another dive report for Asian Diver magazine. The Perhentians have become an increasingly popular backpacker destination over the last couple of years, despite having a fairly primitive infrastructure. My friends Jez and Andrea have worked there for the last four years and I've heard many good things about the diving around the islands - Jez has taken some pretty spectacular photos around the Perhentians which give some ideas about what I'll get to see if I'm lucky. (see his Perhentian Islands Underwater Photo Gallery 2005 - Photo Gallery 2004) I even met someone who claimed they saw a mola-mola while diving here - here's hoping. Full report when I get back.

Here's the WikiTravel entry on the Perhentians for more background info.

Lankayan is one of Borneo's best dive destinations thanks to its conservation area status. But the island paradise is fighting a continual war with poachers who could destroy the fragile balance of Lankayan's reefs. Chris Mitchell reports.

· TripAdvisor: Book the best priced Sabah, Borneo hotels and flights

[This article first appeared in edited form in Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine]

Lankayan is the television definition of paradise - a tiny palm-topped island with pristine white sand beaches, offering seclusion, peace and quiet and spectacular diving. A two hour boat ride from the town of Sandakan in Malaysian Borneo, Lankayan is set within the Segud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA), which was set up back in 2001. The SIMCA project has led to Lankayan's numerous reefs becoming abundantly populated with thousands of different species thanks to its "no fishing" policy- it's widely regarded as one of the best macro diving locations in all of Asia. But Lankayan is under continual attack - fisherman continually attempt illegal fishing, indiscriminately dragging the reefs with their nets to haul up whatever they can find or using dynamite fishing to kill everything in the explosive's vicinity which can then be collected when it floats to the surface. Lankayan's Wildlife Officers are locked in a never-ending battle to try and keep the fragile balance of their newly thriving conservation area intact.

The source of all this conflict is what lies beneath the waves - shallow reefs that are now home to a multitude of amazing creatures. Jawfish, gobies, nudibranches, frogfish and ghost pipefish are amongst the list frequently reeled off by divemasters at briefings. But Lankayan is famous not only for being a haven for the smallest marine life, but also the largest. From March to May each year, whale sharks are attracted to the coral spawning that occurs around the island. An encounter with one is still quite rare, but there is no shortage of other marine life to keep your interest. My personal favourite was the jawfish, grown outsize at Lankayan to fist size, turning to give each watching diver an unblinking stare and slowly sinking back into its hole if unsure about its visitors.

Elsewhere, squadrons of blue-spotted stingrays endlessly skitter and settle on the sand, whilst leopard sharks, stonefish, lionfish and huge groupers all compete for attention. Providing an interesting counterpoint to the shallow reefs that comprise most of Lankayan's dive sites, the Lankayan wreck is actually two boats, both fishermen's poaching boats that were confiscated and subsequently sunk. Once dedicated to plundering Lankayan's marine life, these boats now provide a home for it, and some measure of protection from the poaching that relentlessly continues. Over the course of a week's diving, I spotted several large dead patches of coral, the direct result of dynamite fishing. During one dive we even heard the muffled thud of a dynamite charge going off, a disconcerting experience that highlights that Lankayan's conservation still hangs in the balance.

The wildlife officers of Reef Guardian, the company tasked with protecting the marine conservation area, work with the Malaysian police and army to combat the poachers. Armed with radar and fast speedboats, Lankayan's resident marine biologist Chung Fung Chen and her team are often required to take their boats both day and night to intercept the fishing boats. "Any boat that enters SIMCA will trigger an alarm on the scanner and we will be able to identify the boat through our tracking system", Ms Chung explained to me. Many come from Indonesia and the Phillippines, some with entire families on board, driven by poverty to chance their luck at fishing illegally within the teeming conservation area. Ms Chung described how some fishermen would use a breathing tube running from the boat to let them walk along the reef collecting sea slugs. As she pointed out, "It's very dangerous work and they can expect to get paid maybe 50 Malaysian ringgit" (about US$ 13). Educating the fishermen is an ongoing effort, and several Lankayan staff are former fishermen who now help preserve the environment rather than take from it. Even so, unless the poachers can be given a realistic alternative to their current livelihood, it's difficult to see how the root rather than the symptoms of the problem can be treated.

For those poachers apprehended by the wildlife officers, there is either a booking or a trip to the mainland to visit the police headquarters and a fine of 500 ringgit required for the release of their boat. With 40,000 hectares of ocean to supervise and only a handful of staff and police to do so, Ms Chung has her work cut out to keep the fishermen out of the conservation area.

If the battle with the poachers remains precarious, it's still a major progression from the 1990s, when the island was uninhabited and the reefs were fair game for any fisherman. Businessmen Ricky Chin and Kenneth Chung set in motion a campaign that eventually resulted in the establishment of SIMCA and the resultant restitution of the reefs, along with the Lankayan resort, the only facility on the island which holds a maximum of 50 people. It's an incredibly tangible example of the power of conservation methods to restore seemingly destitute environments, and of the possibility of commerce and conservation working together. There are other areas where Lankayan's marine protection program has made solid advances too. The island has a no waste policy, with all water and human waste completely filtered by a hydroponic system to avoid any contamination of the sea. All of the island's solid trash is shipped back to the mainland, with organic waste dumped at sea outside SICAM's boundaries.

More evident to visitors to the island is the turtle hatchery, where baby turtles are kept and nurtured to protect them from poachers and also from natural predators so as to give them the best possible chance of survival. Currently under construction on the island is a small Information Centre to make Lankayan's conservation aims more prominent to its visitors. As Ms. Chung pointed out, at the moment there is not much information available to the island's visitors about Reef Guardian's work. "We aim to have audio-visual presentations and posters here to describe what we're doing," she explained as we looked around the newly built but still empty hut that will house the Centre.

Reading Lankayan's comments book, it's heartening to see that virtually all the tourists who come to Lankayan do so precisely because they feel a solidarity with the work that goes on here. Most recognise the direct correlation between the quality of the diving and the island's conservation efforts. Best of all, guest suggestions are directly acknowledged and acted upon by Lankayan's staff, so there is a very real culture of continually trying to improve things. To have such flexible and responsive management is vital given that, in the wrong hands, Lankayan could easily be irretrievably damaged.

Besides the difficult and dangerous work of enforcing the security of the marine area, Ms Chung's day to day work involves assessing and monitoring the state of the reefs and fish life through continual checks. Species identification, water quality, coral examination and sedimentation checks all form part of her routine, along with dealing with the recent alarming outbreak of Crown Of Thorns starfish. Surprisingly, there is no monitoring program for the whale sharks in place at the moment, but perhaps this will come in the future. There is only so much Ms Chung's small team can do effectively at once. "Our next major projects are coral farming and installing reef balls", says Ms Chung. "Both projects will help restore the reefs where they've been damaged by dynamite fishing".

Soon their responsibilities will be increasing. The success of Lankayan has prompted plans for another resort along the same lines on the island of Billean, which also lies within the marine conservation area. Construction is expected to finish in 2007, and hopefully the opening of the new resort will also see more money and resources given to the Reef Guardian team to protect this unique place.

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Chris Mitchell flew to Sandakan courtesy of Thai Air Asia and Air Asia Malaysia. (www.airasia.com). The Lankayan Resort is online at www.lankayan-island.com. Reef Guardian is online at www.reef-guardian.org

Previously: Lankayan photos ; my original Lankayan, Borneo dive report

Swim with sharks in Kuala Lumpur's Aquaria and come face to face with the most fearsome marine predators

It's getting so you can swim with sharks in virtually every aquarium - or so it seems. Bangkok's new aquarium came complete with a swimming with sharks feature, which I mentioned a few months ago - and now Kuala Lumpur's Aquaria is offering you the chance to get up close and personal with our toothsome friends. There is a article from the Malaysia Star newspaper that describes a non-diving journalist's experience of trying to dive in the shark aquarium tank - unfortunately he couldn't get below the surface as he kept panicking. Oh well, at least he got to see the sharks from above if nothing else.