Dive Sites of Pulau Sibu

Lima Besar

A hard and soft coral reef fringes the island with the deepest part at 18 metres on the East side. Descent is made slowly down the reef rather than in open water and dropping to 18 metres straightaway. A gentle drift dive keeping the reef on the right shoulder with sand below, there are however some outcrops of reef section to explore on the left side as and when we come to them.

Lima Kechil

Lima Kechil makes its claim as a dive site for the huge table coral throughout the dive. Predominately hard coral, the initial descent is to 10 metres where we head south to do a circuit around 2 large rocks, coming back on ourselves to head through the coral garden looking out for friendly batfish, blue spotted stingrays and puffer fish hiding out underneath the table coral. Heading towards the north end of the island the depth bottoms out at 16 metres where 4 spurs of reef section jut out from the island and we start to get into the soft coral and sea fans. Having explored up in between these spurs the dive finishes with a large mix of hard and soft coral as we come in closer to the island to do our safety stop on the upper reef at 5 metres. This allows further inspection for all the different types of nudibranchs that we get here.

One Tree Rock

A Small island completely encircled by a hard coral garden, huge table corals and many other types makes great hiding places for the puffer fish, stingrays and morays. Maximum depth depends on how far away from the island you go but on the northern side of the island there are three huge boulders at 15 metres covered in soft coral so keep your eyes open for the nudibranchs on them and also on the western side there is a large rock formation that extends away from the island with lovely gorgonian fans along that make a nice feature of the dive.

Ibol Besar

One of the furthest dive sites away from the Dan’s Nasty Base this is a nice sheltered site that boasts an impressive underwater topography similar to Siam Knoll, large underwater rocks covered with young hard corals in pristine condition that really let you have a good look around for the small critters.

Dropping in the water on the North West corner of the island, initial descent is to 8 metres on top of the coral garden. Finning east along the coast you come head on to an elongated rock formation that is well worth an inspection, which takes us down to the maximum depth for the dive at 12 metres, continuing on we slowly ascend to the surface to finish the dive with our safety stop on the upper reef.

Rimba Reef

A reef that extends the length of the beach at Rimba Resort on the North East tip of Sibu, this is just a stones throw away from Dan’s Nasty Dive Base. Depending on the direction of the current we start at either the western side or the eastern side it is predominantly hard coral but a great dive, with large table corals and bommies to explore. Its great for snorkelers too, they can reach the beach by walking through the jungle from Sea Gypsy (which takes about 20 minutes) don’t forget your mosquito spray though and a good pair of strap sandals to make the trip.

SG Artificial House Reef

A 60 meter swim from our beach this little reef is a testament to how simple and cheap it can be to help our marine ecology.

We started in '96 when we renewed our water towers. We used old fishing nets and natural fiber to tie coconuts onto the old towers. We sank them just off shore and marked them with a buoy. Subsequently whenever we have anything of interest we tie them down in the same way. For the next year our diving instructor took the food waste from the kitchen and fed the growing fish life. The reef is now self sustaining, although it takes quite a bashing every December & January during north east monsoon, and a source of great pride. It's great for Bubble Makers, Discover Scuba, Refresher Dives or even a night dive. The depth depends on the tide but maximum is 6 metres.

SG Natural House Reef

Our Natural House Reef is a slightly longer walk down to the end of the beach, but a simple beach entry and short surface swim and you are in amongst a lovely mix of hard and soft coral.

Equally good for snorkellers, the upper reef (depending on tide) sits in 2 metres of water with the maximum depth of 7 metres as you continue around the headland. Current is moderate, but still has to be taken into account and the dive is planned depending on the conditions at the time. Great for beginners with the instructor for a follow up dive after the Discover Scuba Program or experienced if you don’t quite make the morning dive boat and want to get wet and blow some bubbles.

Siam Knoll

Very different from our other dive sites and one of three that we visit on Pulau Tinggi, Siam Knoll is a site for the macro enthusiast. Initial descent is to 8 metres on to a hard coral garden, where we follow the rock outcrop heading north which quickly slopes down to our maximum depth of 12 metres. The first thing that strikes you is the predominantly juvenile table coral, the second is that the reef is in absolute pristine condition. There is the real feeling of space underwater with this dive, which allows the divers to spread out and really have a good explore. There are all of the usual suspects to be found here, but taking it slowly and looking closer, will throw up many small critters that are much harder to spot on the other dive sites . Drifting with the current North East we enter into a beautiful coral garden and then finish off the dive exploring in amongst several large boulders.

Tokong Blalang

A DNF favourite, the main features of this dive are the area west of the descent point on the west of the island, where there is a huge coral garden covered in sea fans and soft coral dropping down to 18 metres. Having had a good explore around this area heading south we have the choice of two swim throughs (not covered). The first is 3 to 4 metres wide with sheer walls on both sides, where the blue ringed angelfish show off their formation swimming and we may find the well camouflaged stone fish and scorpion fish lurking. The second is the channel between the end of the main island and the small rock just off it. The depth being 10 metres we normally come through this on the way up to the safety stop, although if there is a bit of a current flowing we may just continue round to the east side of the island where there are 3 large spurs requiring exploration.

Tokong Chondong

With several huge coral encrusted boulders on the north side and a beautiful reef circling the remainder this dive site is relatively easy to navigate, but always throws us a curve ball as to the marine life that we find here. All of the usual suspects, plus the nurse sharks hiding away and friendly batfish that follow our progress, shoals of barracuda coming in close to take a look at these crazy bubble blowing humans invading their world.

Tokong Chopak

Nicknamed Coral Cathedral because the shape of this rock is similar to a spire, with only a small amount showing above the surface. This site is the furthest away from Sea Gypsy and with a flat sea takes 20 minutes to reach it. Being a relatively small site descent is made anywhere on the rock following the reef to a maximum of 18 metres and then slowly circling round and making our way up to the surface. Marine life and coral is abundant with lots of hiding places, where we can find Morey Eels, Lobster, and all sorts of other little guys. Interesting dive due to the profile you seem feel that you have seen that part of the reef before but you are viewing it from a totally different angle and see things that you may have missed before.

Tokong Gantang

Depending on the current, the descent is made on the west side of the rock to 6 metres and then the reef slopes down to 12 metres. We head north for a time to find the two large boulders covered in coral, then south to circumnavigate the massive underwater rock formation at the south end of the island. There the depth bottoms out at 15 metres and the sheer wall stretches right up to about 3 metres. Coming in towards the island the depth shallows to 11 metres but, after being a little bit deeper, the colour here seems much brighter and is a beautiful part of the dive. Sea fans gently waving, the stingrays tucked underneath the coral and the Robust and Yellow stripe Fusiliers crisscrossing in front of your face. Coming back out the way we came we carry on heading round the island to explore a couple of small caves, hopefully finding a resting turtle in there. The dive usually finishes by coming in closer to the island where there's a giant anchor that has grown in to the reef and makes a great photo – we are still wondering how such a large anchor could have got in that close to the island.

Tokong Rakit

This dive site has spectacular soft coral due to strong currents. The currents make this a demanding site as there is little shelter from them. Descent on the south side of rock A is to 12 metres down a sheer wall face, where in the cracks and crevices you can find lobsters hiding. Keep your eyes peeled for all the Moray Eels that we quite often see on our descent point, a nice way to start off the dive. Heading clockwise round rock A the first reef section is abundant with reef life, the sheer diversity of it is breathtaking. There are Nudibranchs aplenty and 5 different types if anemone fish will bravely try and usher you away from their territory whilst you look for the sleeping Tawny nurse shark in the crevices. Moving on we find a sandy floor and hop skip and jump around islands of reef section. Coming in towards the island we come up against a sheer wall and follow this round to the deepest part of the dive at 18 metres as we head through the centre of the islands. Current here can be medium to strong due to the channelling of the water, but with sheer walls on both sides covered with coral every colour of the rainbow its worth a bit of leg work to get through there. Depending on time and conditions the dive will either continue on to rock B where you find more of the same or come round and carry out the safety stop on top of the first reef section that we saw.

Tokong Sanggol 3

Nicknamed Little Bay this dive site has a small sheltered bay area on the north facing side of the island. Entry is normally made here where the initial descent is only 6 metres down on to a hard coral garden. Extending to the North is a 65 metre reef section which gradually slopes down to our maximum depth of 14 metres with the sheer face of the reef on our right hand shoulder and the hard coral beneath us. Rounding the corner of the reef where the soft coral is particularly nice (a good place to look for small critters hiding out)

There is often small amount of current that we head into for 5 to 10 minutes but as we head south we will begin to gently drift with it through a beautiful coral garden with a huge mix of hard and soft corals.

One of the main features of the dive is reached about halfway through where we come in closer to the island and see a huge column with several windows through which the soft coral is just amazing and always very busy with reef life. Continuing further south the depth slowly shallows to 8 metres where we hit a sandy floor then we hop skip and jump in between outcrops of reef section.