NEARBY DIVE SITES

The nearby dive sites are all easily reached within 15 minutes. They include a number of sites off Tioman itself, and others which are closer to the small islands near Tioman. Usually these are single tank dives, with a surface interval spent back in the dive shop.

AROUND TIOMAN ISLAND

House Reef

Depth: 2-10 m; travel time: 1 minute!

In the sheltered waters off Tekek Beach, the house reef is an ideal training ground. The calm shallow water, combined with a variety of corals on the reef in slightly deeper water, serve to give students an exciting introduction to the underwater world. Boulder, staghorn and brain corals, colourful tropical fish and our very own school of small yellow tail barracuda combine to make this a great introduction to diving. Also used for night dives.

Tom Yam Wreck

Depth: 18m; travel time: 3 minutes

A little further from the beach is our closest wreck, the "Tom Yam". Settled on a sandy bottom, the wreck is dotted with soft corals. Barracuda and reef fish call it home.

Marine Park

Depth: 8-25m; travel time: less than 10 minutes

This site, located off the beach at the Marine Park headquarters, has 8 wrecks at varying depths. Inquisitive batfish follow divers on their exploration - starting just below the surface as you descend. The wrecks are all connected, so finding your way around is not difficult. Soft corals abound and shoals of fusiliers and trevallys can often be seen at the wrecks.

Pirate Reef

Depth: 4-14 m; travel time: 5 minutes

Teeming with juvenile and adult reef fish, Pirate Reef is (together with Renggis Island) one of two main breeding sites at Tioman. Hatching season in March-May sees huge numbers of tiny fish on the reef, with numbers hardly seeming to decrease over the year! There are many hard coral varieties making this busy colourful site ideal for photographers. Also used as a night dive site, when small bamboo sharks are often spotted.

Pirate Wreck

Depth: 18 m; travel time: 5 minutes

The wreck is a few minutes swim from Pirate Reef, and the dives are usually combined. Seldom visited, the wreck is in good condition, with a variety of soft corals and sea fans. Home to a large puffer fish and shoals of common reef fish.

Sawadee

Depth: 30 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes

The deepest dive site close to the main island, Sawadee is often used for deep dive training as part of the Advanced Open Water course, as well as for leisure dives. The two wrecks have many soft and hard corals, and large shoals of fusiliers and kingfish are also found here. Small boxfish hover around the lines of the wrecks, and one wreck is home to a stone fish and a small (shy!) octopus.

RENGGIS ISLAND

Renggis Island Reef

Depth: 6-14 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes

A truly wonderful dive site surrounding Renggis island, and always with a surprise. This beautiful reef has many coral varieties - hard and soft - and teems with marine life - puffer fish, angelfish, butterfly fish, sting rays, moray eels, trigger fish, giant grouper and more. Renggis is one of the best sites for seeing turtles, and harmless black tip reef sharks are often spotted. This site is often used for training dives and night dives - when Boris the giant barracuda likes to keep an eye on proceedings - at a distance, of course!

Renggis Wreck

Depth: 20 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes

A short swim from the island itself lies another Tioman wreck. The wreck has colourful soft corals and small barracuda are often sighted. A moray eel lives in the wreck. This site is usually combined with a dive to Renggis island or Hidden Reef.

Hidden Reef

Depth: 10-12 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes

Accessible only from the wreck at Renggis (with the right compass bearing!), this little visited site is covered in hard corals, including blue corals and pavona cactus. Many varieties of tropical reef fish abound at the reef.

SOYAK ISLAND

Soyak Wrecks

Depth: 20-26 m; travel time: 15 minutes

These two wrecks are covered with a wide variety of soft corals. A giant grouper is often sighted at the wreck (or nearby Soyak island), as are schools of fusiliers, yellow tail kingfish and trevally. Lyre tailed wrasse follow you around and a black tip reef shark is sometimes seen. Usually combined with a dive to Soyak island.

Soyak Island

Depth: 5-15 m; travel time: 15 minutes

A small island surrounded by large underwater rocks, with many soft corals. In addition to many tropical reef fish, common sightings include a giant grouper, lion fish, large bump head parrot fish, nudibranchs, a large napoleon fish and turtles.