of the decade, with easier air travel and greater awareness of the sport, that the bulk of dive shops and operators finally began to open their doors to novices.
It was then that a number of saturated professional divers took a look at the area they had grown to love and decided to turn their skills to teaching recreational diving. All it took was a little capital and some formal qualification from one of the professional dive associations.
GROWING PROFESSIONALISM
The debate as to which of the professional dive associations is the best is one that continues without respite but all training agencies follow the guidelines set out by the Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC). This means there is little difference in the content of each of the agencies’ courses but the materials and the teaching systems and methodologies do vary. PADI has by far the greatest foothold in Southeast Asia (and worldwide), followed by SSI. You’ll find that the majority of dive operators are either PADI or SSI affiliated and follow the standards set out by these two major agencies. Affiliations with other training bodies are also found, such as with CMAS, BSAC or other smaller agencies. All are equally acceptable but PADI and SSI are the two largest internationally recognized training agencies globally. It is not necessary to have training qualifications from the same agency that your chosen dive center is affiliated to. For example, SSI trained divers are welcome in PADI (or any other) affiliated dive center. It is, however, important to dive with a center that does have an affiliation, a good reputation and decent equipment for hire if you are not traveling with your own. There are literally hundreds of affiliated dive centers in Southeast Asia who employ thousands of accredited instructors and divemasters so it is not necessary (or recommended) to dive with operators who are lacking in properly trained staff or facilities.
Entry level courses, such as the open water course, are widely available and usually take between 3 and 4 days. Be aware of operators offering cheaper and shorter courses as you may not be receiving proper instruction and be sure to check that your instructor is up to date with their registration. You can ask to see their certification card. The instructor’s name on your certification card and paperwork should match the name of the instructor who conducted your course. Dive courses in Southeast Asia can be considerably cheaper than those offered in Europe, the United States and Australia and the standard of teaching (generally) is good. If you are short of time during your trip, it is possible (with PADI and SSI) to complete the theory components of your course online before leaving home. It is even possible to complete the pool training dives with a dive center in your home country beforehand and to just make the open water dives during your trip. This makes your training during your holiday considerably shorter.
A green turtle resting on a hard coral outcrop in Sipadan, Sabah.
Mandarin fish are one of Southeast Asia’s most colorful marine species. They are a shy species during day time and hide away amidst the base of corals.
Southeast Asia is also a great destination for continuing your diver training. Advanced open water courses are common as arespecialty courses and rescue courses. For those seeking training beyond recreational levels, Southeast Asia is home to a booming industry in professional level courses with divemaster courses and internships widely available and instructor level courses available in most major diving regions. The prices for professional level courses compare very favorably to prices in Western countries.
ECO-SENSITIVITY
Another improvement in the dive scene over the last three decades is the growing awareness of environmental concerns which touch not only the experiences of recreational divers but the lives of locals and the flora and fauna. Deforestation, discharge of sewage, oil and refuse in the sea, destructive fishing methods as well as coral and shell collection have also all come under the environmental spotlight in Asia.
While lifestyles have not radically changed, some of the destructive practices have been curtailed and local governments have begun to set up marine reserves to encourage the regeneration of the marine environment. Of course, mangrove swamps that have been suffocated by silt do not recover overnight, nor do coral reefs that have been blasted by dynamite or repeatedly broken up by anchors and fins. But recover they do, albeit more slowly than from the blanket damage inflicted by natural disasters, and the results are encouraging. The marine environment rarely returns to what it was before damage but it does recover and proliferate.
WHERE TO DIVE AND WHY
So where do divers head for and what can they expect to find in Southeast Asia?
In Malaysia, most diving has been centered from the east coast and Sabah, in Indonesia from Bali and Manado, across to Flores and beyond to West Papua, in the Philippines from Batangas and the Visayas, and on the Gulf of Thailand and Phuket.
MALAYSIA In Malaysia, the development of an infrastructure on a number of east coast islands has made it easy for dive enthusiasts to enjoy some of the best coral reefs, while the country’s premier dive spot in the deep waters off Sabah has developed into a real dive destination. Off Sabah too, the oceanic reef Layang-Layang has developed into a world-class destination for dive enthusiasts.
INDONESIA With far-flung islands, Indonesia has developed resorts in tandem with the establishment of regular air connections, and in many of these diving and snorkeling are given priority. An improving network of domestic air carriers has made many areas more accessible and liveaboard boats have also made an impact, offering divers the chance to explore really remote areas like the Banda Sea, Raja Ampat and West Papua and numerous other small island chains across the archipelago.
THE PHILIPPINES The diving fraternity in the Philippines has benefited from a burgeoning infrastructure in the smaller island destinations and a proliferation of liveaboard boats that explore the Sulu Sea. The retreat of the US military opened once off-limits areas to the public along with some fantastic wreck diving.
THAILAND In the search for pristine locations and big pelagics, Phuket-based operators have pushed out into the Andaman Sea as far as the Andaman Islands themselves, which are in Indian waters, and to the Mergui Archipelago in Burmese waters (Myanmar). They have also forged southward, toward the Malaysian border, where they have discovered, like their pioneering colleagues from Pattaya, untouched coral reefs and forgotten wrecks.
Juvenile round-faced batfish (Platax orbicularis) can be quite inquisitive.
DIVE TOPOGRAPHY
Most Southeast Asian reefs are fringing reefs, and most diving will be along the outer reef edge, often quite close to shore. The profile is sometimes gently sloping, and sometimes full of bommies and coral heads. But the region is perhaps most famous for its steep drop-offs, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines. The wall at Bunaken near Manado is world famous, and Menjangan, Komodo, Kupang, the Bandas, Selayar Island, Weda Bay in Halmahera and Sangalaki also feature steep drop-offs.
The Philippines offers plenty of good walls—at Verde, Anilao, Nasugbu and Apo as well as a dozen more places. Malaysia offers fabulous walls at Sipadan and Layang-Layang, and even tiny Tenggol off Peninsular Malaysia offers a good one.
The Seven Seas liveaboard is a traditional Indonesian-style phinisi vessel that operates in both Komodo and Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
While not particularly widespread, Southeast
