Scuba Destinations

 
Destinations - North America, Central America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East & Red Sea, Indian Ocean, South East Asia, Australasia and South Pacific South Pacific Australasia South East Asia Indian Ocean Middle East & Red Sea Africa Europe South America Caribbean Central America North America

Southeast Asia

Scuba diving in Southeast Asia . . . relatively inexpensive and ideal for underwater photography . . .
Overview:
South East Asia, as it is known to westerners, comprises of a massive area from China and Mongolia in the north, to Indonesia and The Philippines in the south.  Ranging from the pollution of industrial China to the crystal clear waters with underwater visibility of up to 40 meters in The Philippines

The main scuba diving holiday areas are in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and The Philippines where the main attractions are the clarity of the water, the impressive coral reefs, the beautifully coloured fish that adorn the reefs and the opportunity of seeing some of the worlds largest pelagics, such as Whale Sharks.  Diving in South East Asia is relatively inexpensive compared to other locations in the world and is ideal for underwater photography.

  • Borneo - Sipadan, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world
  • Indonesia - Bali
  • Malaysia - WWII wrecks
  • Philippines - WWII wrecks and Whale Sharks
  • Taiwan - A big surprise for divers - schools of Hammerheads
  • Thailand - Outstanding reefs and pelagics

And, if you want to read the best book about diving in southeast Asia, look no further than Beth and Shaun Tierney's fabulous book called just that!

Diving Southeast Asia - a guide to the world's most diverse marine environment provides thorough coverage of the four main Asian dive destinations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

This guide covers the regions that people voted as being high upon their hit-list of must do destinations. It features personal opinions and anecdotes from both experts and other divers, as well as recommendations of what to do and see on dry land.

 

See Also

South East Asia: Latest User Reviews

Impressively Well Organized  AquaMarine Diving – Bali, Indonesia 5 Star Rating Added: 20th May 2013 by uwkwaj
Following a highly favorably recommendation from friends based on several of their dive trips arranged by AquaMarine Diving, it was logical to book our first dive trip to Bali with them. Following a wonderful tour that consisted of 11 days of diving, we immediately booked a second 14 day custom...
Aquamarine was excellent all around  AquaMarine Diving – Bali, Indonesia 5 Star Rating Added: 14th May 2013 by shutterthethought
My trip organizer (Sarah) was very helpful and prompt. My guide(s) were very helpful, organized and as expected and hoped for very good critter spotters. My dive buddy and I started at the North end of Bali and over 11 days we dove our way down to the south end....
Amazing team at Downbelow!  Downbelow Marine & Wildlife Adventures, Borneo 5 Star Rating Added: 23rd April 2013 by charitylindsay
I recently returned from a 2.5 week trip to Sabah, Borneo. I booked, via Downbelow, 2 different wildlife programs that took me to multiple places throughout Sabah, as well as my PADI Open Water Diver course in Kota Kinabalu. I have nothing but amazing things to say about this company!...
great liveaboard trip to Similan islands  Khao Lak Explorer, Thailand 5 Star Rating Added: 20th April 2013 by similanislands
The best trip I ever done, 4 days 4 nights at the Similan islands, the equipment was great and the food, excellent!! Thanks to Khao Lak Explorer Team!!
GREAT DAY OUT  Downbelow Marine & Wildlife Adventures, Borneo 5 Star Rating Added: 18th April 2013 by hazelbanks
We made a one day trip to Gaya Island from Rasa Ria Hotel in KK. Although we had contacted Downbelow directly, the booking and payment actually went via the hotel as they are partners with this hotel. We were collected promptly from the hotel and driven to the Marina in KK...
Nomad Bangka - First Class  Nomad Divers Bangka, North Sulawesi 5 Star Rating Added: 9th April 2013 by TomPlatt
We visited Nomad Divers recently, we had an excellent time - everything was taken care of from the moment we were picked up directly from Manado airport and delivered to our brand new beach-front cottage. The focus with Nomad is squared heavily on providing world class diving, coupled with authentic...
PADI Certification Easter 2013  Scubafish, Thailand 5 Star Rating Added: 8th April 2013 by SimonWW
We visited Ko Lanta just after Easter with the objectives of (a) getting my 13 year old daughter and I PADI open water certified and (b) giving my wife a refresher course. We had all done the theory online via PADI (recommended, since classroom work at the resort would be...
Scubadviser Search