My Scuba Diving Tour Date With A Blacktip Reef Shark

Michael Tham takes SmartDory on a scuba diving tour and shows her a gorgeous Blacktip Reef Shark swimming by!

There’s a saying, “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen everything!” Well, that’s not for scuba diving!

Teeming with fascinating marine life and vegetation, the Pulau Payar Marine Park comprises of four uninhabited islands of Payar, Lembu, Kaca, and Segantang.

Malaysia’s oldest Marine Park sanctuary offers the best diving site on Peninsular Malaysia’s west coast.

The best part; it’s a mere 80km north of Penang and easily accessible by speedboats and catamarans which ply the route regularly from Langkawi and Penang.

The largest island, Pulau Payar, has the Marine Park Centre, which was set up and operated by the Fisheries Department. Here, first-time visitors can find useful information.

There is no accommodation in the Marine Park so most visitors are day-trippers who could opt to stay in Penang Island or Langkawi.

Fishing is strictly prohibited around the islands; either for hobby or commercial purposes.

Scuba Diving Tour Date

The water surrounding the four islands has an average visibility of 9 to 15 meters, making it ideal for scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming.

The coral reefs are home to a lively mix of tropical fish, including Horse-eyed Jacks, Moray Eels, Clown Fish, Groupers, and even baby sharks.

The Pulau Payar Marine Park has many interesting dive sites.

So let’s check out the Pontoon, Pulau Payar Jetty, Main Payar Marine Park, Coral Garden at the back of Pulau Payar, and last but not least, Shark Point.

Pontoon

In the early days of the Pontoon’s history, the sandy bottom below the pontoon was ideal for rookie drivers to descend via a safety line.

Upon ascending, there was a Monkey bar to sit out the diver’s 6-meter, 3-minute safety decompression stop.

A vicious-looking barracuda called Mustapha used to live there.

We were taught that lone barracudas are like injured wolves discarded from the pack and looking for easy prey.

However, he was just a docile curious fella who liked to check the divers out.

Phew!

Coral Garden

Welcome to a vivid world of colored soft and hard corals. The corals cover most of the rocky underwater seascape of this small bay.

It is no wonder that this is a favorite dive site among divers.

Two outcrop ridges protrude out of the waters during low tide at the base of a sandy bottom.

Residential nudibranchs, sea slugs, and fish are abundant in the Coral Garden; you can swim over the ridge, where schools of marine life of every conceivable color, shape, and size await.

If you are lucky you may spot one or two juvenile Blacktip Reef Sharks; easily identified by the prominent black tips on its fins.

We were awed by the seven blacktip sharks swimming around us during a dive.

These curious creatures were curious about our presence in the sea, so we laid flat on our bellies and watched them swim around the group.

It was one of my most memorable trips to Pulau Payar!!

Crocodile Fish

You’ve probably never heard of this bizarre fish before: the Crocodile Fish, seen lying quietly on top of an old tire.

Pulau Lembu and Pulau Kaca

Relatively sandy, with artificial reefs built from tires, concrete blocks, and old boats, the corals have grown into mature reefs famed for the beautiful species of triggerfish.

Here, you can see diverse coral formations.

Notoriously ill-tempered triggerfishes will guard their eggs to the extent of going after divers to bite the diver’s fins with their parrot-like mouths!!

If you are lucky, you may see the resident moray eel.

In the 1980s, it was not unusual for me to encounter sea turtles in my dives around the Pulau Payar Marine Park, but sadly, these great creatures have disappeared.

Many species of sharks are becoming extinct due to the consumption of Shark fin soup, a luxury soup of Chinese cuisine served at banquets.

Dying Corals

Waste dumps into the seas and oceans have contributed to dying corals. Many snorkelers and inexperienced divers are stepping onto hard corals, breaking them and polluting the sea with their urine.

The only monster I can see is Mankind, who is destroying the oceans.

That’s why all Dive Institutions educate divers on ocean conservation. Don’t touch anything pretty or ugly.

NO SHOOTING OF FISHES the only shooting to be done is by cameras!!

One day, the sea may be barren if we continue to hunt and eat the fishes into extinction.

Diving is an adventure that awaits every unconverted landlubber.

So, to see for yourself, the next step is to take up dive lessons.

Pulau Payar can be visited all year round, but the best time will be between March to September.

The speedboat takes an hour to reach the Pulau Payar Marine Park from Penang. From Kuah jetty, Langkawi, a catamaran or speedboat takes 45 minutes to reach the Park.

Michael Tham is a resident Great White Shark, Chef, and Barista at large. He rules the roost and the deep blue where he meets Dory. Sometimes, Michael cycles.