Snorkelling in malaysia

[Glenn'n'Emm]

Hi all

Emma and i will be in Malaysia and Singapore for a little over three weeks in May. I would love to find some beaches with good snorkelling.

Neither of us dive but were hoping to snorkel over a reef if we can. Reading the literature most of the popular dive sites are on islands of the north east coast but we were intending to stay opn the penninsular.

We intend to stay on the mainland of malaysia and then visit singapore for the last few days. If anyone has any ideas where would be a good place to visit from a snorkelling viewpoint id be pleased to know bout it.

Regards

Glenn

[Suk]

Hi Glen 'n' Emm,
I've been to M'sia 5 times now for hols which have usually involved snorkling & diving. From my experience I would say you definitely have to head for the islands, all you'll get at the mainland is run-off from the land giving you lack of vis & generally not that much to see anyway.

On the other hand, some of the easily accessable islands have extremely good vis & an abundance of fish & fauna.

From Kuala Lumpur the easiest Island to get to is Pulau Pangkor, about a 2 hr drive northwest & a 15min ferry crossing. There's numerous beaches around the island, a vast staghorn forest just off the beach on coral beach.
It's easy to just hire a couple of mopeds & ride around the island at your leisure.

From Singapore I'd recommend you take the Hydrofoil straight to Pulau Tioman, one of my fav islands. There's a great jungle trek through the rain forest which takes you to Juara Vill on the northern side, the snorkling here is fantastic.

Of course, if you want to save time then take a local flight, KL to Tioman is 45mins. You could also fly to Kota Bharu, north east side, travel down by bus to get a ferry across to Pulau Perhentian, another fav spot in all M'sia.

Hope that's been of help

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