Redang offers many different dive sites to suit all kinds of skill levels, from beach dives, shallow dives to challenging deep dives. There are beautiful hard and soft coral gardens as well as sandy bottom sites offering muck dives. The dive sites are all located nearby and are quickly accessible by speedboat.

Dive centres are found at most resorts and offer PADI/NAUI dive courses as well as 'discovery dives' for non-divers eager to experience diving. Guests are free to use any dive centre they wish though it's usually more convenient to use the dive centre at the resort one is staying at.

Among the three northern sites, Tanjung Tokong and Tunnel Point are the most popular, offering abundant fish life in waters with a maximum depth of 30 metres. Tanjung Lang is the shallowest, offering fans, whips and other corals in waters up to a maximum depth of 18 metres.

The corals at these northern sites are among the healthiest in Redang due to the fact that they are situated away from most resorts and they are in close proximity to the protected beach at Chagar Hutang which is off-limits to visitors as it hosts SEATRU's turtle conservation efforts.

Tunnel point

As its name implies, at Tunnel Point large boulders pile up in such a way as to form tunnel-like structures that divers can swim through, offering a different underwater experience from the other dive sites.

At one point, if one pays attention and listens carefully, one can hear a boulder creaking when surf action pushes against it, causing it to move slightly.

There are quite a number of gorgonian fans, soft and hard coral while the reef life encountered here include bumphead parrotfish, small barracudas, jacks and nudibranch.

Tanjung Tokong (North Point)

Tanjung Tokong is situated very close to Turtle Bay at Chagar Hutang where SEATRU has its field station. As such, it offers opportunities to spot green and hawksbill turtles.

The sea here can get rough at times but divers will be rewarded with the diversity of fishes and other reef life found here, including jacks, snappers, napolean wrasse, fusiliers, nudibranch, flatworms and the occasional shark.

Many boulders are covered with soft coral and sea fans. When sea conditions are calm, it is possible to snorkel from Tanjung Tokong all the way to Turtle Bay, where there are opportunities to spot turtles.

Tanjung Gua Kawah

At the northeastern tip of Redang, Tanjung Gua Kawah tends to have strong surface and deep-water currents and is best left to experienced divers. Rocks and boulders descend to sandy bottom at around 15 metres. Coral growth is average but due to the currents, there are opportunities to encounter pelagics in the open water, and other fish life in caves and under overhangs.

Due to their easy accessibility, the housereefs at Tanjung Tengah and Tanjung Mak Cantik in Pasir Panjang are good for snorkelling, beach dives (both day and night) and discovery dives.

A stone's throw away are the islands of Pulau Paku Besar and Pulau Paku Kecil which are popular snorkelling haunts but also have enough to keep divers happy. But the most popular sites here are located just off Tanjung Mak Cantik - the underwater seamounts of Mak Cantik (Maxi Mount) and Chek Isa (Mini Mount).

Chek Isa (Mini Mount)

Chek Isa is a submerged reef that starts from 8 metres in depth and features 2 enormous boulders carpeted with many different species of soft corals, sponges and stinging hydroids scattered around until it hits the sandy bottom at 20 metres.

Cowries, spider shells and colourful Christmas tree worms are often encountered, together with angelfish, parrotfish, wrasses, groupers and other reef dwellers. Look out for well-camouflaged devil scorpionfish buried in the sandy bottom.

Night diving can be a rewarding experience with many nocturnal creatures like crabs and eels, urchins, squids, spiny lobsters and cowries making their appearances.

Mak Cantik (Maxi Mount)

Close to Chek Isa is Mak Cantik (which means 'beautiful mother' in Malay), an underwater seamount in waters 12-18 metres deep that's home to a large coral garden comprising many hard and soft corals. Some divers prefer this to Chek Isa as the coral gardens here are prettier, including some lovely anemone gardens.

There is also a good abundance of fish life, including yellowtail barracudas, rays, puffers and all the usual damsels, wrasses, parrotfish, angels, butterflyfish and snappers. Look out at the fringe of the reef and you might see nurse sharks, white-tip sharks and large rays.

Tanjung Cina Terjun

If there is one place in Redang that qualifies as a macro photographer's wonderland, it must be Cina Terjun, one of my favourite sites in Redang. It might as well be called 'eel & lionfish city' too since divers are almost certain to encounter eels and lionfish here.

The sandy bottom fringing the reef is home to many stingrays, while scorpionfish and stonefish lie camouflaged against corals. Lionfish and porcupine fish shelter amidst a garden of sea whips, while schools of large puffers swim nearby. Small cat sharks, bamboo sharks and leopard sharks can be found sleeping under rocks.

This spot offers great day and night dives at depths up to 18 metres in fairly calm waters, so it is suitable for novice divers too. Shine your torch into a hole or crevice at night and chances are you'll see an eel.

Pulau Kerengga

Northwest of China Terjun are the islands of Pulau Kerengga Besar and Pulau Kerengga Kecil with a large expanse of shallow reef which is ideal for snorkellers as well as novice divers. If Cina Terjun is 'eel & lionfish city', Kerengga is 'ray city' as the shallow sandy bottom around it is home to a large number of rays and a few sharks. The diving around Kerengga Besar is in relatively calm and shallow waters up to about 15 metres maximum depth. A coral garden comprising both hard and soft coral lies between the two islands. Humphead parrots, snappers, tuna, jacks and trevallies may be encountered at the reef, while many species of shrimp and crab may be found especially during night dives.

A research study in 1976 found Pulau Lima and its associated sea mounts as perhaps the most valuable entity within the Redang marine park as the reefs around this islet represented all environments found elsewhere in Redang, thereby providing a miniaturized view of the entire park's marine environment.

Easily accessible from the resorts at Pasir Panjang, Pulau Lima translated means 5 islets. There's good diving to be found all around it on the east, west, northern and southern tips. Among the most popular are Big Mount in the north and Black Coral Garden in the west with its large fields of anemone and other soft corals.

Pulau Lima South

The southern tip comprises a series of large boulders covered with hard and soft corals, sea anemones and other invertebrates, with caves and grottos at the base of the boulders forming hideouts for many reef fishes. The eastern side comprises steep walls encrusted with corals dropping to about 13 meters before sloping away gradually to 30 meters. Sea fans and whips can be found at the deeper bottoms. Apart from the usual reef fishes, look out for black tip reef sharks, moray eels, lionfish and puffer fish.

Pulau Lima North

"Big Mount", located about 50 to 100 metres from the northern tip of Pulau Lima, is considered by many divers to be the best of all the dive sites around Pulau Lima and is probably one of the deeper dive sites, going down to about 35 meters.

Highly rated by local divers, it provides interesting encounters with a variety of pelagics such as tuna, barracudas, groupers, black-tip sharks and the rare but unforgettable encounter with the whale shark. Starting at about 20 meters, the boulder terrain drops away to 30+ meters and is filled with many varieties of hard and soft corals, gorgonian fans, sea anemones and whip coral gardens.

Terumbu Kili, a rocky outcrop that appears above water and slopes down to a sandy bottom at about 20 metres in depth, lies at the southern tip of Pulau Pinang and is one of the top dive sites at Redang.

Beware the strong surface currents in the channel separating this outcrop from Pulau Pinang. Due to the strong currents, this site is best left to more experienced divers. Those who take the plunge may be rewarded with sightings of occasional blacktip sharks, barracudas, jacks, snappers, fusiliers, jellyfish and schools of yellowtail. A coral garden of leather corals, soft coral, whips and fans occupy several ledges on the slope front. Hawksbill turtles are commonly encountered here.

Pulau Ling & Batu Chipor

Pulau Ling, a small rocky outcrop with no beach, used to be a popular dive spot in Redang with 2 massive, mushroom-shaped coral heads, believed to be the among the largest coral structures on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Estimated to be hundreds of years old, the larger head measures 24.5 metres while the smaller head measures 23.2 metres at their base circumference. These can be explored at relatively shallow depths of 10-20 metres. Caves found at the bases of the two heads are home to angelfishes, moorish idols and cardinal fish while the overhangs of these caves are encrusted with brilliant orange daisy corals.

North of Pulau Ling, Batu Chipor is marked by a buoy about 20m away from a tiny rocky outcrop barely exposed during high tide. Although a fairly shallow dive (8-15 metres), the sea around it can be choppy with currents and it is more suitable for experienced divers. The rocky wall is covered with soft tree corals, leather corals and fans, while the sandy bottom is covered mainly with hard staghorn, lettuce and boulder corals.

Both these dive spots are now less frequently visited by divers due to the large increase in boat traffic which pass these areas.

Pulau Ekor Tebu

The northeast tip of Pulau Ekor Tebu comprises mainly steep granite boulders dropping to 24 metres where it hits the sandy bottom. An underwater cave can be found at about 20 metres depth. Look out for healthy staghorn, table and lettuce coral. Sightings of trevallies, black tip sharks, pompano, barracuda, batfish and the occasional eagle ray can be expected especially when there are currents. Giant clams and other shells can also be encountered.

If you are planning to become a certified diver, or if you have not dived for a long time, here are some tips for safe diving:

• All dive students need to fill up a medical self-assessment questionnaire. If you are a new diver or have not dived for a long time, you should also go for a medical checkup. It is important to answer the questions honestly. Many students are afraid they will be disqualified if they disclose certain medical conditions, and choose not to - these students are just putting themselves and their dive buddies at greater risk. In many cases, your medical condition may not affect your ability to dive, and your disclosure will help alert the doctor doing the medical checkup to assess your condition more thoroughly.
• Make sure you are proficient in the water. Some dive schools do not adequately check proficiency in their eagerness to just accept students while others require that students are able to swim 200 meters non-stop (any style), tread water for 15 minutes continuously and swim 20m underwater on a single breath. It's to your benefit to train yourself to meet or exceed these requirements.
• Practice makes perfect! Even after you've been certified, you can practice basic skills in a pool with a mask, snorkel and fins. You can focus on improving finning techniques, practice mask clearing, removal & wearing your mask underwater. You can also do a pool refresher course at your local dive school. You depend a lot on your equipment, and it is to your advantage to be well-versed with their use. The whole idea is to familiarize yourself to a point that all these become second nature.
• Never be pressured to dive when you are sick or unwell, physically exhausted, or feel uncomfortable about diving conditions. Diving involves quite a bit of physical exertion. Just as you should avoid strenuous exercise when you have the flu, better to skip diving too. If you feel unwell during a dive, you should also alert your buddy or dive master and cut short the dive if you need to.
• Pay attention to dive briefings and follow the dive plan. It's best to dive with a buddy you are familiar with but if you have a new buddy, make sure you agree on hand signals and specific requirements (like underwater photography) before you enter the water. It's common for underwater photographers to be left behind while they are busy trying to take pictures!
• Keep fit! Exercise regularly and make sure you are physically fit to handle the physical demands of diving. Drinking and diving don't mix, so don't drink & dive!
• Dive within the limits of your training and experience. If you are not comfortable with the dive plan, tell the dive master. Don't take unnecessary risks or try to impress others with your underwater skills.