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Diving in Southeast Asia

A Bounty of Reefs, Wrecks and Coral Gardens

Whatever extraordinary notion possesses us that first time to strap on our backs a metal tank full of compressed air, fit fins to our feet, stuff an uncomfortable contraption in our mouth and a tight-fitting piece of glass across our eyes? Uncomfortable and inept, struggling and sweating, we lurch in our new uniform, wondering whether the effort is worthwhile. But our gracelessness soon vanishes as we tumble below the surface and move weightless through the water, drift with currents and have the chance to observe, often at close quarters, creatures large and small that we would never otherwise have imagined. It is quite simply a magical world and one which invariably seduces the novice diver. He is hooked on scuba diving.

Fifteen years ago, while snorkeling from a dive boat in the gin-clear waters of the Similan Islands, a divemaster friend suggested I don a tank and regulator and drop below the water to see what diving was all about. With little more comment, he told me to stick by his side, descend slowly and remember to breathe out. Within minutes of descending, I was amidst a school of sweetlips, then visited by Moorish idols, and was enthralled by the pink soft corals sprouting from the reef like some exotic cotton wool. For some, that might have been enough, but when I caught sight of a black tip shark (shark!), admittedly at the edge of the 20-meter visibility, I, too, was hooked. Within two months I had crawled the length of a public swimming pool where second-hand Band Aids were the only novelty to spot, had learned to control buoyancy somewhere under the diving board and was finally rewarded with a PADI open water certificate. Armed with this little plastic card, the real diving experience was about to begin.

For many a novice diver, education takes place after work in public swimming pools in the cold northern latitudes. Dive tables seem like just another bit of school maths and the idea of search and rescue in a swimming pool appears totally absurd. The promise of warm water and subtropical species is a lure but rarely a reality.

In Asia, one of the most species-rich areas in the world, diving is a whole different ball game. Water that hovers around the 25° C mark, a tropical climate that is tempered by sea breezes, more species than most books cover, and a wealth of different marine environments—not to mention idyllic sandy shores for surface interval picnics—make diving a special pleasure. Imagine learning in this particular environment!

The bodies of anemone fish are covered in a mucus that prevents them from being stung by their host anemones.

PIONEER DIVERS

The sport evolved radically in Southeast Asia from the 1960s to the early 2000s largely due to the Vietnam War and the oil industry. The former brought Americans who were used to recreational diving in the New World and who sought to enjoy their hobby when on R&R, notably in Pattaya, while the latter brought expatriates from the United States, Europe and Australia to work in the fast developing oil business. Amid the personnel who came to work in the industry—in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia—there were plenty of professional divers and, often benefiting from periods of long leave and a fat salary, many of these people explored the region diving recreationally.

This striped triplefin (Helcogramma striata) is resting on a ball of tunicates and soft corals, Tulamben, Bali.

Southeast Asia’s coral reefs are excellent habitats for gorgonian fans, which can grow up to 3 meters across.

Twenty years ago, it was not unusual to come across divemasters whose first experience of diving in Asia was at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand, off platforms in the South China Sea, or from some deserted island in Indonesia. Working at depths that were measured more often in fathoms than feet, diving was not always a pleasure. But armed with the skills to withstand the most taxing conditions, recreational diving in more shallow waters, on reefs that were in pristine condition, was a real pleasure even if the infrastructure for diving was largely missing. These pioneers of sports diving lugged their tanks from far-flung compressors, bartered with local fishermen and bêche-de-mer and pearl divers for a boat ride, and picked the brains of local mariners for reefs and shoals in a bid to find good diving. The rest was easy. Life on shore in Southeast Asia was (and still is to some extent) inexpensive and they had no need of fancy hotels. Nipa thatched huts and simple meals in the local cafes were good enough.

But what about their buddies who were envious of their travels and fun? In the early 1970s, there were precious few places to learn to dive in Asia (Pattaya was one of them), and it was not until the last few years of the decade, with easier air travel and greater awareness of the sport, that the bulk of dive shops and operators finally began to open their doors to novices.

It was then that a number of saturated professional divers took a look at the area they had grown to love and decided to turn their skills to teaching recreational diving. All it took was a little capital and some formal qualification from one of the professional dive associations.

GROWING PROFESSIONALISM

The debate as to which of the professional dive associations is the best is one that continues without respite but all training agencies follow the guidelines set out by the Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC). This means there is little difference in the content of each of the agencies’ courses but the materials and the teaching systems and methodologies do vary. PADI has by far the greatest foothold in Southeast Asia (and worldwide), followed by SSI. You’ll find that the majority of dive operators are either PADI or SSI affiliated and follow the standards set out by these two major agencies. Affiliations with other training bodies are also found, such as with CMAS, BSAC or other smaller agencies. All are equally acceptable but PADI and SSI are the two largest internationally recognized training agencies globally. It is not necessary to have training qualifications from the same agency that your chosen dive center is affiliated to. For example, SSI trained divers are welcome in PADI (or any other) affiliated dive center. It is, however, important to dive with a center that does have an affiliation, a good reputation and decent equipment for hire if you are not traveling with your own. There are literally hundreds of affiliated dive centers in Southeast Asia who employ thousands of accredited instructors and divemasters so it is not necessary (or recommended) to dive with operators who are lacking in properly trained staff or facilities.

Entry level courses, such as the open water course, are widely available and usually take between 3 and 4 days. Be aware of operators offering cheaper and shorter courses as you may not be receiving proper instruction and be sure to check that your instructor is up to date with their registration. You can ask to see their certification card. The instructor’s name on your certification card and paperwork should match the name of the instructor who conducted your course. Dive courses in Southeast Asia can be considerably cheaper than those offered in Europe, the United States and Australia and the standard of teaching (generally) is good. If you are short of time during your trip, it is possible (with PADI and SSI) to complete the theory components of your course online before leaving home. It is even possible to complete the pool training dives with a dive center in your home country beforehand and to just make the open water dives during your trip. This makes your training during your holiday considerably shorter.

A green turtle resting on a hard coral outcrop in Sipadan, Sabah.

Mandarin fish are one of Southeast Asia’s most colorful marine species. They are a shy species during day time and hide away amidst the base of corals.

Southeast Asia is also a great destination for continuing your diver training. Advanced open water courses are common as arespecialty courses and rescue courses. For those seeking training beyond recreational levels, Southeast Asia is home to a booming industry in professional level courses with divemaster courses and internships widely available and instructor level courses available in most major diving regions. The prices for professional level courses compare very favorably to prices in Western countries.

ECO-SENSITIVITY

Another improvement in the dive scene over the last three decades is the growing awareness of environmental concerns which touch not only the experiences of recreational divers but the lives of locals and the flora and fauna. Deforestation, discharge of sewage, oil and refuse in the sea, destructive fishing methods as well as coral and shell collection have also all come under the environmental spotlight in Asia.

While lifestyles have not radically changed, some of the destructive practices have been curtailed and local governments have begun to set up marine reserves to encourage the regeneration of the marine environment. Of course, mangrove swamps that have been suffocated by silt do not recover overnight, nor do coral reefs that have been blasted by dynamite or repeatedly broken up by anchors and fins. But recover they do, albeit more slowly than from the blanket damage inflicted by natural disasters, and the results are encouraging. The marine environment rarely returns to what it was before damage but it does recover and proliferate.

WHERE TO DIVE AND WHY

So where do divers head for and what can they expect to find in Southeast Asia?

In Malaysia, most diving has been centered from the east coast and Sabah, in Indonesia from Bali and Manado, across to Flores and beyond to West Papua, in the Philippines from Batangas and the Visayas, and on the Gulf of Thailand and Phuket.

MALAYSIA In Malaysia, the development of an infrastructure on a number of east coast islands has made it easy for dive enthusiasts to enjoy some of the best coral reefs, while the country’s premier dive spot in the deep waters off Sabah has developed into a real dive destination. Off Sabah too, the oceanic reef Layang-Layang has developed into a world-class destination for dive enthusiasts.

INDONESIA With far-flung islands, Indonesia has developed resorts in tandem with the establishment of regular air connections, and in many of these diving and snorkeling are given priority. An improving network of domestic air carriers has made many areas more accessible and liveaboard boats have also made an impact, offering divers the chance to explore really remote areas like the Banda Sea, Raja Ampat and West Papua and numerous other small island chains across the archipelago.

THE PHILIPPINES The diving fraternity in the Philippines has benefited from a burgeoning infrastructure in the smaller island destinations and a proliferation of liveaboard boats that explore the Sulu Sea. The retreat of the US military opened once off-limits areas to the public along with some fantastic wreck diving.

THAILAND In the search for pristine locations and big pelagics, Phuket-based operators have pushed out into the Andaman Sea as far as the Andaman Islands themselves, which are in Indian waters, and to the Mergui Archipelago in Burmese waters (Myanmar). They have also forged southward, toward the Malaysian border, where they have discovered, like their pioneering colleagues from Pattaya, untouched coral reefs and forgotten wrecks.

Juvenile round-faced batfish (Platax orbicularis) can be quite inquisitive.

DIVE TOPOGRAPHY

Most Southeast Asian reefs are fringing reefs, and most diving will be along the outer reef edge, often quite close to shore. The profile is sometimes gently sloping, and sometimes full of bommies and coral heads. But the region is perhaps most famous for its steep drop-offs, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines. The wall at Bunaken near Manado is world famous, and Menjangan, Komodo, Kupang, the Bandas, Selayar Island, Weda Bay in Halmahera and Sangalaki also feature steep drop-offs.

The Philippines offers plenty of good walls—at Verde, Anilao, Nasugbu and Apo as well as a dozen more places. Malaysia offers fabulous walls at Sipadan and Layang-Layang, and even tiny Tenggol off Peninsular Malaysia offers a good one.

The Seven Seas liveaboard is a traditional Indonesian-style phinisi vessel that operates in both Komodo and Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

While not particularly widespread, Southeast Asia also has its fair share of wrecks. There are numerous war graves and vessels lost during World War II off Pattaya in Thailand and in the bay at Coron in the Philippines, and there are easily dived wrecks off Manado and Bali in Indonesia. There are also fishing vessels that have met an untimely end and even the odd dive boat or two.

In some places, artificial wrecks (tires, old buses and broken boats) have been sunk to encourage regeneration of reefs and their associated fauna. Singapore has done this outside its harbor waters. The Philippines and Thailand have also adopted this method.

You’ll find that diving in Southeast Asia is generally on the continental shelf but oceanic diving is possible too. This inevitably entails a trip on a liveaboard.

LIVEABOARD DIVING

Liveaboard dive boats have made a big impact on the scope and range of diving. In Indonesia, liveaboard operations take divers to the Banda Sea, the islands north of Manado, the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua, and Komodo and other islands in the Nusa Tenggara provinces. Yacht chartering is becoming popular in Bali with holidaymakers who also enjoy diving. In the Philippines, the fabulous reefs at Apo and those of Tubbataha, Jessie Beazley and Basterra are only accessible by liveaboards while other liveaboards and chartered yachts ply the small islands of the Visayas and Palawan. So do yachts and dive vessels in Sabah, Malaysia, that offer diving in remote offshore areas, while yachts and small motor boats (often converted fishing vessels) offer diving trips in Malaysian and the northern Indonesian waters from Singapore. Phuket, especially, has developed this industry, building new marinas to accommodate charter yachts and dive vessels. And, if you want to, you can dive in the Mergui Archipelago from Thailand, discover the reefs off the southeast coast by the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand, or head for the almost virgin territory of the Andaman Islands. Well-equipped liveaboards are the only answer to reaching these remote areas.

When diving first started in the region, it was a cheap hobby once you had bought a regulator and other basic gear. Today, the relationship between learning to dive, buying the gear and getting going has changed. The gear is getting more sophisticated but less costly, dive courses are becoming more competitively priced and the cost of diving itself is getting more expensive, mainly because today’s diver is a more sophisticated animal and not the hardy aficionado of yesteryear. In the Practicalities section at the end of this book you will be able to see how the cost of diving compares through the region.

Indonesian reefs are so rich that on a single spot one can find soft corals, sponges, hydroids, four species of algae and five species of tunicates.

Best of all, there are still many areas in Asia to be charted, let alone developed as dive destinations—areas that have, up to now, discouraged tourism and development, places that were off-limits for political or commercial reasons, and spots where transport was almost non-existent. But it is only a matter of time before these virgin areas open up to enthusiastic divers.

—Fiona Nichols/Sarah Ann Wormald