Raja Laut

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Dive site name : Tokong Laut

Tokong Laut is one of Perhentian Islands best dive sites. It's a pinnacle that just break the surface and drops underwater to 24 metres. The rocks are home to a vast amount of marince life. Pufferfish and boxfish are common here along side several species of anemonefish living amongst the vivid corals. Bigger pelagics are also often spotted including barracuda and tuna with large schools of snappers and fusiliers sweeping in and out of the formations. If you are lucky enough one can see whalesharks passing by this area.

Dive site name : Pulau Rawa

Pulau Rawa is a boulder dive site located to the north west of Perhentian Kecil. There are a couple of small caves and swimthroughs here and some nice black coral and sea fans. Nurse sharks may be spotted resting in the crevices here. The boulders are covered with soft corals and sea fans and reef fish are prolific.

Dive site name : Batu Nisan

A gentler and shallower dive here where there is an abundance of giant clams, anemones and christmas tree worms. Hard corals such as staghorn, brain and mushroom coral fight for space with giant clams. Stingrays can be found resting on the sandy bottom here. The reef crest is rich with life. One organism that is almost guaranteed to encounter is the Blue Spotted Stingray.Batu Nisan is also a good spot for a night dive as crabs, shrimps and feather stars are in abundance as are parrotfish which will be asleep and encased by nightfall.

Dive site name : Pasir Tani Wreck

The wreck of a landing craft used by Vietnamese boat-people on route to Malaysia lies upright in 22 metres off the southwest coast of Perhentian Kecil. The dive in this area is very challenging due to the upswing currents, divers are rewarded with the sheer variety of marine life such as boxfish, devil scorpion fish, great barracudas, batfish, jacks, wrasses, giant groupers and stone fish. Easy to penetrate making this wreck a fantastic experience. Soft corals covers most of the wreck.

Dive site name : Sugar Wreck

This dive site is characterized by being the wreck of a cargo ship, located off the coast of Kuala Besut, west of Perhentian Kecil. Its location is marked with a buoy. It is layed at a depth of 18 meters in its starboard side. Its bow is facing Northeast and there are pieces of its cranes and deck holds scattered around the deep sea. Sugar Wreck sank in a storm in 1999. The most shallow part of this vessel is only 6 meters below the surface. The flow of the tide affects the dives at this site. However, during the new moon, the tidal changes are insignificant, causing little or no current.

Although visibility can be challenging, the sheer number of fishes that can be found are more than compensates. Schooling yellowtail barracudas, stonefish, lionfish, giant pufferfish, tiny boxfish, nurse sharks, crabs, bamboo sharks are lovely finds.

Dive site name : Artificial Reef ( Pasir Kerangi )

This dive site is characterized by an artificial reef formed by PVC tubes, which were glued together to form a lattice-like structure. The structure was lowered with weights on the sandy bottom in 1991 and has been an attraction for a wide variety of marine life and vegetation.

The latticework is weighted down an lies in 18 meters of water, it serves to encourage coral growth and some soft corals have already reached 60cm high by feeding off nutrient rich currents. The artificial reef is also home to many smaller fish such as damsels, gobys and wrasse. Currents are mild and visibility is rarely more than 10 metres.

Dive site name : Gua Kambing

Gua Kambing is a rocky boulder dive site on the east coast of Perhentian Kecil. This dive site is characterized by being a reef wall formed by huge rocks that go down to a sandy bottom at a depth of 19 meters. the coral life is a little sparse, however you may observe some rocky corals near a few anemones housed by their clownfish residents. You can also encounter butterflyfish, bannerfish, squirrelfish, damselfish, pufferfish, surgeonfish, lionfish, stingrays, razorfish, fuziliers, sea cucumbers, starfish and sea urchins. Cleaner shrimp are often seen busily at work. Currents are mild with a visibility averaging about 10 metres.

Dive site name : Tanjung Besi

On the northern tip of Perhentian Besar is a peninsular with a reef at round 20 meters. There are some big rock formations and a couple of small caves and swimthroughs. This dive site is characterized by being a reef wall that lead to a sandy bottom at a depth of 24 meters.

Tanjung besi is also home to a variety of coral species, morays, bannerfish, damselfish, butterflyfish, squirrelfish, snappers, scorpionfish, fuziliers, clownfish among anemones, white tip sharks, gray reef sharks, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and starfish. As the current is often stronger here there are usually schools of bigger fish such as barracuda, trevally and mullet. There are also often big groupers lurking around in the depths.

Dive site name : Terumbu Tiga

Terumbu Tiga or Tiger rock as it is known in English is regarded os one of the best dive sites in the Perhentian Islands. This dive site is characterized by a rock formation that goes down from the coast to a sandy bottom at a depth of 20 meters. It boasts some large coral formations, barrel sponges, soft whip corals and gorgonian fans. Small reef fish like anthias and damsels flit in and out of the corals heads. Fish life can be equally as impressive with schools of mackerel and barracuda. White tip reef sharks can be seen further out in the blue. These water have a maximum depth of 20 metres and visibility ranges from 5 to 15 metres.

Dive site name : Rubix Cube Reef

This dive site is characterized by being a pile of cement blocks, placed in this location by the government near the wreck of the Vietnamese wooden trawler. The aim was to form an artificial reef to attract a wide variety of marine life. There is a huge biodiversity for marine fish here including lionfish, boxfish, scorpionfish, pufferfish and sweetlips.