Planning your trip

SPECIALIST INTEREST TRAVEL
Trekking and climbing There are good jungle treks in Taman Negara and in the Endau Rompin National Park and hiking in the Cameron Highlands. There are numerous opportunities for climbing, especially in East Malaysia. Most of East Malaysia's parks offer hiking trails, but the best are in the Niah, Gunung Mulu and Gunung Kinabalu national parks Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, to be at summit for sunrise, Is one of the most popular hikes.

Diving Dive sites off the Peninsula are not world class although there are some very good places to learn to scuba dive including Pulau Paya, Pulau Panqkor Tioman, the Pulau Sibu archipelago, Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian. There are some world class dive sires in East Malaysia including Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Layang-Layang, the Tunku Abdul Rahman and Turtle Islands national parks, Pulau Tiga and L.abuan.

West coast Generally, the diving off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia is least spectacular in the country-However, as the hulk of Malaysia's population live near here, it is the most accessible from, KL and other important centres The islands of the Paya archipelago, to the north of Penang and south of Langkawi, offer the best diving opportunities it is now protected as an underwater reserve, having being gazetted in 198S.1 he principal islands are Paya, Kacha, Lembu and Segantan a they support a marine flora and fauna that includes 36 genera of hard corals, 92 other marine invertebrates and 45 genera of fish On Pulau Paya itself, the waters offer the rocky, southwest tip offer the best diving; the corals here are particularly good (with semi-precious black coral in deeper waters). Barracuda, grouper, lack and garfish regularly seen in deeper waters. Facilities include an information centre and bathroom Facilities. Camping is allowed (if the authorities are informed beforehand; see Paya, Langkawi for further information), but there is no accommodation available: the nearest Langkawi to the north, or Penang to the south. Further expansion is planned however

Other west coast dive sites. less well-known and developed dive sites off the re Peninsula include Pulau Sembilan, Pulau Pangkor and Pulau Pangkor , laut,situated far from the town of Lumut.

East coast The waters around Pulau Tioman have been devastated in recent over-fishing and the uncontrolled activities of tourists However, it is a convenient base tovisit islands in the area including Pulau Tulai, Labas,Chebeh and sepoi , Pulau Sibu Archipelago is a group of islands off Mersing in johore and includes Pulau Rawa , Babi Hujung, Babi Tengah, Babi Besar,Tinggi, Mentinggi and Sibu . They are all included within single marine park and with the exception of Babi Hujunq and Mentinggi, offer basic accommodation Pulau Tenggol is the largest of a small group of islands, still relatively undeveloped and unspoilt. The range and number offish here is impressive. Particularlu noteworthy are the spectacular sunken cliffs. There is no accommodation available. Like Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Kapas is an area suited to v shallow dives (3-10m) The beaches are good and there is accommodation available.

The dive sites around the protected Pulau Redang island group, consisting of nine island 45km off the terengganu coast, are numerous and varied and are considered some of the best in Malaysia. There are an estimated 500species of cora1.1,000species of Bivalves and some 3,000 species of fish, and the star of the show is a resident whale shark. There are also large schools of red snapper and other fish. The beaches of the island that constitute the Pulau Redang Marine Park are nesting sites for the hawksbill and rarer green turtles. A fishing village on stilts occupies one end of the , no dedicated tourist accommodation.

Shallow water snorkelling is excellent around Pulau Perhentian, and in July and august dolphins and pilot whales migrate through the waters fringing the island accommodation in 'A'-frame huts available.

Distands islands: Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil are situated l5km apart about 65km of the coast of the Peninsula to the south of Tioman. Their remoteness has mean that they are the least disturbed diving locations in the area.

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