MV Nautica
Dive locations that you wont miss to book a trip
The Anambas Islands bring crystal clear waters amongst this group of islands in the South China Sea. Formerly an area mainly playing host to off-shore oil & gas rigs, divers have started adventuring to this region because of the healthy corals here. With occasional dolphins & whale shark sightings along with Turtles, Sharks and Reef Fish living among Wrecks, Anambas is an ideal location to explore over a weekend of diving.
Anambas Islands were featured in CNN as one of the Asia’s Best Top 5 Tropical Island Paradises & Anambas has now been made possible with MV Nautica. You will be transported into aquarium-like conditions at Tokong Malang Biru, where visibility is an easy 30m.
Probably the highlight of MV Nautica’s Mapur & Anambas trips, Igara Wreck excites all divers on-board! She was only a year old when SS Igara, a 297.3m long Italian Iron Ore Carrier sank with her US$25million cargo on 11th March 1973. The cause of her demise? An uncharted rock in the South China Sea.
SS Igara did not give up easily though, the location where she struck the rock was far from where she lays now. In fact, only half of the ship remains as a rescue team was able to cut through her hull & salvage the rear end, which was towed to Japan & reconstructed into a new vessel.
Pose for a picture in the Diver’s Playground, discover more wrecks that litter the seabed, or simply enjoy the friendly marine life at Tioman! Rays, Turtles and Reef Fish are used to divers sharing the ocean with them, so don’t be alarmed if they swim up to greet you. Nature-lovers will be well-rested onboard MV Nautica as she sails to Tioman overnight, allowing you to wake up refreshed & ready to roll out of bed & immediately hit the water in the morning! Another plus point is that Nautica can sail out to the dive sites which are further away from Tioman Island, not limited by distance.
One of these dive sites is Tiger Reef, which is not frequented by divers, so expect very little human impact on the marine life here. Tioman is known for rather mild diving conditions, but stronger currents at Tiger Reef bring large schools of Jacks, Yellowfin Barracudas & Rainbow Runners moving alongside the permanent residents of Napoleon Wrasses, Nurse Sharks, Titan Triggerfish & Batfish which meander between the giant boulders at this dive site.
Dive Sites At a Glance:
Tiger Reef: Usually strong currents and swell. This is considered the best dive site off Pulau Tioman. A jumble of volcanic boulders, rising to within ten meters of the surface, teems with large shoals of fish. You can swim around these boulders and enjoy the sponges, gorgonian sea fans, lots of nudibranchs and many species of pufferfish. Barracuda, Rainbow Runners, tuna, batfish, trevallies, snappers, Yellowtail Jacks, fusiliers, wrasse shoals.
Pulau Renggis: A good site for training. Most of the local species of angelfish and butterflyfish, barracuda, batfish, triggerfish, blue-spotted lagoon rays, moray eels, and black-tip sharks can be found here. Slight drift.
Magicienne Rock: It is a pinnacle that rises to eight metres below the surface. This dive site is open to the sea, so pelagics can be found here sometimes. There are shoals of jacks, golden-striped trevallies, fusiliers, snappers, groupers.
Bahara Rock: This is a mini drop-off with various pelagic species as well as most of the local reef fish. The area is not dived often, so on a calm day you can expect to find plenty of marine life among the corals.
Pulau Chebeh: A jumble of huge volcanic boulders descends to a sandy bottom, producing clefts and tunnels that you can swim through. Lots of large white gorgonian sea fans at the site, with shoals of fusiliers and snappers, lone triggerfish, turtles, Napoleon wrasse, batfish. The boulder coral has Christmas-tree worms and there are also fan worms, stingrays and moray eels.
Malang Rock: This relatively shallow dive site allows you to swim around and in-between the boulders. There are large patches of lettuce corals, sponges and some very big soft corals in the caves. Also present are many stinging hydroids and some fire coral. Nudibranchs and large cuttlefish abound, and there are hundreds of anemones with attendant clownfish. There are shoals of barracuda and trevallies hanging in the open water and of Yellow-lined snappers hiding in the caves.
Pulau Labas: There are many swim-throughs at this dive site. The local species of angelfish, butterflyfish and small wrasse are present, and there are good gorgonian sea fans and lots of cuttlefish. The whole island can be circled in one dive. Usually calm but might have gentle currents at times.