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If you have dived in Tioman island before, please share your experiences: Dive spots you would recommend, which Dive Center you used, Fishes & Diving, Visibility, Currents, etc. Please post your comments in the section below, by doing so you will help fellow divers to plan their next trip
In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Tioman island.
Table of contents
Best Dive Review
Tioman Island offers very good diving opportunities with more than 25 dive sites. There is also good wreck diving such as the Soyak Wreck.
Scuba diving is suitable for all kind of divers and it is a popular place for diving lessons. It is also a good option for night diving and macro underwater photography. For more advanced divers, there are also more challenging dive sites offshore of the main island such as around Soyak island. Another famous spot is Tiger Reef. This underwater pinnacle is a highlight of the area. Have a look how it looks underwater!
You can also explore this underwater world on a Liveaboard trip that generally. I usually use this website to book in advance my Liveaboards in Malaysia as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because they have an easy booking system.
The marine life is abundant with big school of fishes. Turtles, rays and reef sharks are quite common. It is also possible to spot a Whale Shark if you are very lucky!
There is a good variety of hard and soft coral. Most of the coral is in good shape and the reef is shallow and accessible by all divers.
The topography of the dive sites is fascinating with swim-through between granite boulders, and small caves and canyons like the Fan Canyon spot.
Pulau Tioman is also a good diving destination for underwater photography as the coral gardens are very colourful and you can easily find macro subjects such as varied nudibranchs like in Teluk Kador.
Where to stay?
I usually use this website to book in advance my hotels in Tioman island as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because it's free to cancel and change the dates.
Best time to dive in Tioman island
Scuba Diving Tioman is possible from February to November (Dry season).
- Best visibility from March to May and from September to November( ranges from 15m to 30m)
- Less good visibility from June to August (ranges from 8m to 12m)
- Water temperature ranges from 27 to 29°C.
Top liveaboards in Tioman island according to divers reviews
Scuba Diving conditions
The conditions are usually very good with clear water.
Visibility from 10 to 30 meters depending on the season.
Current: gentle
Water temperature is 28 °C all year round.
Snorkelling in Tioman island
Snorkelling in Tioman is very good and easy from the shore. The best spot around the island is near the jetty of Air Batang village.
Diving Safety
If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Tioman island, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance for scuba diving, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this diving insurance as they offer worldwide coverage and focus on providing scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Photos Tioman island
Travel Guide
Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Tioman island Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.
Diving Reviews for this region
Dive spots reviews in Tioman island
Liveaboard Reviews in Tioman island
Really informative website!
I am an advanced diver with my partner – we have done Mauritius, Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, Malta….now we are heading to Tioman for a short trip 19th – 22nd.
I am staying at Paya Beach & Berjaya resort.
Just wondering sites i should try, love sharks, turtles, whales and ship wrecks.
Is there anything you can recommend also which dive schools to try?
Tioman-dive-centre are booked until the 21st, but they can offer a yacht overnight with 5 dives? Is this a good idea?
Thanks, Alvin
My kids 10yo.girl and 12yo. boy and myself did a open water dive course at Tioman Dive Centre in July 2012.
We found the all the dives and instruction of high quality (visibility was a bit low at Rengit Island ) and would not hesitate to reccomend this organisation to any diver.
Very professional and safe team.
hi, my partner and I want to take our open water course together and would love to do it in Malaysia. We don’t know much about the place and would love some advice to make it the best trip possible. Thanks, Paul and Joey
Hi Paul, I was just in Tioman late August and I took my open water course while I was there. There are many dive centers there and I stayed in Air Bantang Village which is the fourth stop on the ferry. It is more local and village-y (basic) and I preferred that but you may prefer a full facility resort maybe Genting or Paya would suit you better. I took my course at one of the smaller places – smaller groups and I was actually really lucky because I was in a class of one :). The other dive centers had groups of 4 or 5 per class – not a bad thing, but I really benefited from the small group. The dives were also small – The boat was never really crowded. I did find other people at dinner or sitting around studying for the PADI test that I could talk with about my experiences and what their experience was like. Most people really loved it. The larger dive centers have a small pool. I guess they’ll start off in there with the basic stuff (remove and replace regulator, clear mask etc) but also achievable in shallow water. Air Bantang is a somewhat rocky beach but you can snorkel from the beach! Plenty of places to rent snorkel etc. I saw my first blue spotted ray barely 50m from the shore.
Visibility was great! sometimes it was choppy on the surface but not bad and there were some places with current but nothing over powering! There is quite a variety of sites and I think a really great place to learn because it didn’t feel super crowded and over-touristy. For example, the morning dive that I did after I got my PADI license had 4 other small boats in the area so it wasn’t like you were running into other divers all the time. Lots to see! Turtles, so many varieties of fish, Rays, schools of baracuda, different kinds of coral, sea snails etc. I apparently missed out on a reef shark because I was looking the other way!
There is only one ATM on the entire island! It’s in Tekek (airport). Bring enough cash. Open water courses are about RM$1000 (USD$320) and typically covers everything (equipment, instructor, course materials, usually 2 confined dives and 2 open water dives). You get to Tioman from Mersing (Malaysian Peninsula) and the fare is RM$35 each way if you get it there and tour operators charge a bit extra but sometimes it’s worth it because they make sure they get you there (It can get a little chaotic at the terminal) and that you connect bus to ferry (I took the bus from Singapore). The ferry is about 1.5 to 2 hours and is sometimes late (so be patient – for our return trip, the 11:30a from Air Bantang arrived at 12p!)
You’ll learn this but you can fly in to Tioman from KL or Singapore (1 flight a day I think) but you have to build in time for your flight out – 12 -24 hours. There is a small extra fee you have to pay for marine conservation. Don’t remember how much exactly but less than $5.
Hope this helps! I didn’t mean to write so much so I hope it’s not too rambling!
Cheers!
PS: I was with Blue Heaven Divers. They are homey, had good equipment and they let you use dive computers for free if you want one (apparently doesn’t happen often).
I visited Tioman island in July 2002 following the cancellation of my trip to Phuket ( Thailand ).
After re-checking in the Shangri La hotel Kuala Lumpur ,I checked with the tour guide office desk trying to find a good place for diving ,The guide recommended Tioman Island ,I never regretted taking the decision then to go ahead and book at Berjaya beach resort for 4 nights.
The trip flying with a prop. plane (Fokker) took around 1.20 hours to reach,Amazingly the airport was small and more amazing the way the pilot landed on the short runway strip in a very professional way .There was one bus only in the Island that took me and other passengers to Berjaya resort where I checked in and went directly to my Bungalow near the beautiful beach which reminded me of Hawaii .
Quickly unpacked and right away to the dive centre where I booked my first dive next morning .
Spending the first hours of the night on the beach bar close to the beautiful shore was quite an experience.
Next morning boat dive was close to the shore only 300-400 M away ,diving near a small rock island ,the sea life was rich,visibility excellent with warm water and tropical environment.
Next day morning dive took us to a location 40 minutes from shore the 1st dive for 35 m on a beautiful coral reef cliff was amazing, stunning and beautiful with rich sea corals,fish,underwater caves , Eels , few small sharks were around also.
The 2nd dive in the afternoon close to uninhibited corals island 25 m ,good visibility and we saw few Iguanas (1.5 m L ) swimming around divers and curious only to humans around.
The next day on Tioman I decided to take a rain forest trek with a Japanese guide who was a soldier with Japan army during 2nd world war and fought the US/Allies on the very island ,The trek deep in the forest close to Berjaya resort took around 6 hours two ways,The trek ended deep in the forest on a large waterfall and small water lake (Pond) where I dove in cold water to cool off from the heat,humidity during the long trek,I managed to collect couple of Irish green small snakes ,with permission from the Japanese guide ,They were pointless of course .I manged to have good collection of photos (But not underwater).
Tioman Island was an amazing travel & Dive trip experience,Strongly recommended for peace of mind,Happiness and tranquility..Go for it ..Go for it…..Imad Sawi
Hi,
I am planning a dive trip to Malaysia in March. I was wondering how the marine life is at Tioman Islands? I have been to Thailand (Koh Phi Phi) already and I am afraid I would be disappointed.
Thanks for your advise.
Hanne
Hi Hanne,
I would say that the diving here is of great quality in terms of fish life and colour, but not great in terms of big stuff. There are two seasons. I went in low season and the visibility was a little murky, but i remember thinking “wow, in high season this must be amazing”. I dont know about march, I think its high season and should provide good diving.
There is a chance of seeing some Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in this region as well, we spotted a pod next to the boat on the way to one of the dive sites around Labas island, so pretty cool. Keep your eyes open.
In terms of bigger stuff, I saw a turtle (in the Renggis Island dive site) and there is apparently a resident number of black-tip reef sharks in that same dive site, which by the way is pretty good.
So one turtle after 8 dives in Tioman goes to show that it’s not great for pelagics. But I would recommend it for fish and colour and the chance to see dolphins.
The Sawadee Wreck is also pretty cool and attracts loads of fish, a fantastic dive.
My only other experience in Malaysia was in Sipadan, which is out of this World and you MUST go, so more than that I can’t help you in terms of Malaysia diving.
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I dive at Juara recently. I think the sea life in Juara is underrated. I saw 2 leafy filefish at their housereef making this diving site a must go! Other than that alot of nudi, flatworm and rays.
Eversince we got our diving license, my diving buddies and I have been diving at Salang, Tioman every month and sometimes twice a month. The waters are clear. Love the Sea Fan Garden dive site. Can’t wait to dive there again this March when the monsoon is over and visibility at its best.
Hi Bern!
Thanks for your up to date review of Tioman! It sure is helpful to currently traveling divers!
Best bubbles!