Scuba Diving South East Asia

T his article describes some       of about 10m (32ft) to 30m         of the better dive sites in     (100ft) over 120m (385ft) of the   South East Asia. As a scuba     sea bed. Divers can see guns,      diver, you will probably know         toilets, ship anchor chain among   that scuba diving in South East       other things of a typical          Asia has always been very popular     shipwreck. The wreck is heavily    because of its vast species of        encrusted with corals and          marine life and rich diversity of     brightly decorated with gorgonian  colorful corals.                      sea fans and sea anemones.                                                                                  As a matter of fact, there are        Scuba divers will also encounter   many world class dive sites in        large schools of trevally and      this region and with its              more than 400 species of marine    excellent underwater visibility,      fishes and even exotic colonies    South East Asia is indeed a scuba     of elusive garden eels.            diver's haven. So, here are some                                         of the top dive sites in South        Similan island in Thailand is      East Asia many of which I have        another interesting dive site.     dived in several times.               Similan is located off the coast                                         of Khao Lak which was hit badly    We shall start with Indonesia and     by a Tsunami 2006. Nine granite    of course, the island of Bali         islands made up the Similan        cannot be left out. Perhaps the       islands. These islands are         most dived site in Bali is the        covered by luxuriant tropical      Liberty wreck. The wreck was a US     rainforests surrounded by          army logistic ship sunk by            pristine white beaches and         Japanese submarine torpedoes          turquoise blue water.              during the last world war.                                                                                     This area is a protected national  Liberty wreck lies in the depth       park. Below the water lie a        sprawling underwater garden of        even various species of sharks.    deep canyons, coral gardens, huge                                        granite boulders, caves and           Manado, northen Sulawesi,          walls. Liveaboard scuba diving is     Indonesia is the gateway to world  the norm here.                        class dive spots in the Bunaken                                          National Park. Muck diving,        Sipadan Island in Malaysia was        meaning diving for little          made famous by Jacques Cousteau's     critters on the seabed in Manado   documentary entitled Ghost Of The     bay is the norm here. In this      Sea Turtles. This is an oceanic       part of Indonesia, you will        island which is not connected to      encounter exhilarating wall        any continental shelf that rises      dives, drop offs, huge napoleon    about 2000 ft on an awesome           wrasse, reef sharks and also       limestone pinnacle and mushrooms      another shipwreck.                 out at the surface.                                                                                            Layang Layang in Malaysia is a     Many dive magazines have named        breathtaking atoll. It is part of  Sipadan as one of the best dive       a shoal group in the South China   sites in the world and reported       Sea known as the Spratly islands.  to have the largest variety of        Here, massive numbers of           soft corals in the world. At          barracuda roams the water, large   Sipadan, scuba divers will            pelagic fishes and sharks make     encounter exciting drift dives,       this place home. Do not be         fascinating coral formations,         surprised if you are investigated  turtles, lobsters, barracudas and     by a school of hammerhead sharks.  About the Author: Chris Chew owns a website about traveling in Asia at Bali Resort Hotels and Indonesia tourist attractions Published At: www.Isnare.com