With more than twenty fantastic dive sites to offer, the little Malaysian island of Kapalai is a photographer’s paradise, particularly if you’re into macro life. Offering wrecks and reefs, as well as scenic walls and other amazing underwater marine environments, this is a wonderful place for all divers. Let’s take a look at just seven incredible Kapalai dive sites.
The Jetty
Humble to see from above, and incredible below the surface, the Kapalai house reef, known simply as The Jetty, offers world class diving in very shallow and serene water. Amazingly, there are five small wrecks to explore here, as well as the sloping reef. With maximum depth at just 18 meters, and home to an abundance of marine life ranging from well-hidden stonefish to colorful orangutan crabs, a rainbow of nudibranchs, and schooling grouper and snapper, The Jetty is wonderful for all divers and offers visibility that can sometimes reach 30 meters.
Mid Reef
Best known for its branching hard corals and its seahorse colony, Mid Reef features a maximum depth at 25 meters, and offers visibility that can often be better than 30 meters. Here, you will find an incredibly diverse array of life. With tiny shrimp and huge groupers, moray eels and crabs, plus the pygmy seahorses that hide among the coral branches, the site is subject to a strong current most of the time and is suitable for experienced divers only.
Mandarin Valley
Also known as Mandarin Alley, Mandarin Valley is located to the left of The Jetty. With a shallow, gently sloped profile that leads to maximum depth at just 18 meters, this sheltered site is an excellent place to find Harlequin Ghost Pipe fish, Frog Fish, Octopus, Stone Fish, and many other creatures.
You’ve got to be sure to move very slowly, and let your eyes become accustomed to the contours of the bottom, in order to be sure you can spot all the creatures that hide here. Also a nursery for a multitude of juvenile fish and other creatures, the site is a good place to encounter colorful cuttlefish, particularly at night, and most often around the wreck of a small fishing boat which is located at the bottom of the slope.
After passing the wreck and its colorful inhabitants, you will find yourself on the other side of the valley, amidst brilliant sponges and coral, where the mandarinfish that give the site its name can often be found in abundance, glowing blue against a muted palette of sea urchins. Other reef fish are here in profusion, and if you are lucky, you may even spot some fairly large sharks, as well as jawfish and rare leaf fish.
Ideal for all divers, the site offers visibility that can often exceed 35 meters, making it a paradise for photographers.
Gurnard Point
Located next to the famous Police Jetty dive site, Gurnard Point is home to the colorful Flying Gurnard, as well as frogfish and sting rays, moray eels, groupers, snapper, and an endless cast of other fantastic underwater characters. Ideal for snorkelers as well as for divers from novice to expert, it offers a maximum depth at 20 meters, although there is plenty to see in much shallower water. The site features a small wreck and a sandy plateau, and is fantastic for diving day and night.
Spotted Ray Channel
Beginning in about 5 meters of water and descending slowly to a depth of 20 meters, Spotted Ray Channel is a relaxing dive for all to enjoy. With brilliant blue ribbon eels and cuttlefish, the occasional Pegasus or dragonfish, and other colorful creatures flashing against a backdrop that provides shelter to a variety of other, better camouflaged creatures, the channel is truly splendid.
Across the channel, a lovely coral garden awaits, teeming with more fish and other species than might seem possible. With visibility that often exceeds 20 meters, the site is also a good place to encounter the spotted rays that lend it its name, as well as smaller flights of stingrays which can be found along the sandy bottom.
Mantis Ground
Named for the mantis shrimp which can be hard to find at other sites, Mantis Ground is also home to a fantastic array of nudibranchs and anemone crabs, small fish, and plenty of other creatures. The Mantis shrimp are amazing little creatures which are strong enough to break the glass in aquariums and which can slice your finger so deeply that you may need stitches. Looking almost like scorpions, they can sometimes appear as a brilliant blue tinged with shades of red and orange, or they may blend in with their surroundings. Tempting as it may be to try to touch them, don’t do it!
Maximum depth in this little slice of macro-paradise is just 19 meters, and visibility is usually very good, sometimes even exceeding 30 meters. It is ideal for all divers, and is fun for night diving, when the dark-loving creatures that inhabit it are at their most active.
Sweetlips Table
Located to the northwest of Kapalai, Sweetlips Table is named for the distinctive Oriental sweetlips which inhabit it. You will want to visit at night to see the fish while they’re most active, although you will find them here during the day, as well. Watch for nudibranchs and shrimp, colorful Spanish dancers, and larger creatures, such as moray eels as you explore the area, with its brilliant coral formations contrasting beautifully with the sand of the table itself. Besides the schooling sweetlips, you will see lots of other tropical fish, along with the occasional small reef shark. Maximum depth is just 18 meters, and visibility is great, often reaching 30 meters. Splendid to see, the site is ideal for all divers, and perfect for both macro and wide angle photos.
You can dive in Kapalai all year, but as with other Malaysian dive sites, the visibility is best between March and October, during the dry season. There are many wonderful places to stay, including bungalows on stilts over the blue water, and fantastic resorts. As vacations in Malaysia offer great value for the price, the area is popular with visitors from around the world. Book well in advance of your holiday and enjoy what may well be one of the most memorable trips you’ll ever take!