There are so many fabulous things for the active person to do in Malaysia that it becomes a question of time as much as money. But it sometimes seems to me that people do not take full advantage of the excellent possibilities for pleasurable activity which Malaysia affords. This is very true of a sport which I enjoy immensely, scuba diving. The diving sites in Malaysia are among the best anywhere. The South China Sea and the Celebes Sea are superb; they have magnificent coral reefs, a multitude of beautiful fish, and some of the best wreck diving in the world. In the nine years since I learned to scuba, I have dived not only here in Malaysia but in Egypt, in Canada, Crete, Eritrea, Oman, Thailand, and New Zealand. That’s a pretty diverse range of locales, but, believe me, diving in Malaysia compares favourably to any and, in fact, surpasses most of them. The water is warm, in season the visibility is excellent, and the reef life is extraordinary.

Dive sites in Sabah such as Sipadan and Mabul particularly are some of the most beautiful anywhere. There are also a number of other excellent places with dive centers such as Layang, Tioman, Redang, and Perhentian. Sipadan Island, however, is perhaps the best of them all. A tiny, tropical forestcovered island of only 30 acres floating on the royal blue of the Celebes Sea, it has been declared both a protected area and a bird sanctuary by the Malaysian government. The island is indisputably the most famous dive destination in Malaysia, with diving giants like Jacques Cousteau praising enthusiastically the wonderful diversity of its marine life.

Sipadan has also been at the top of Scuba Diving magazine’s Gold List for The Top Dive Destinations of the World, a distinction it shared with two other destinations known for an equal diversity of their marine life – the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific and Truk in

Micronesia . It is surrounded by a sand and coral shelf which, at an average distance of a couple of hundred metres out from the shore, plummets dramatically to drop off down a vertical wall for some 800 metres. Nearby Mabul Island with its resorts is similar.

Smaller sea life which one might see diving at Sipadan and Mabul, or, in fact, anywhere in Malaysia, makes for an exotically-named list: Bannerfish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish, Cornetfish, Parrotfish, Mandarin Fish, Sea Horses and Pipefish, Crocodilefish, Frogfish and Stonefish, Octopus, Eels, Spiny Shrimps and Lobsters, Cuttlefish and huge, brilliant nudibranch.

My favourite is the Pyramid Butterflyfish, a common, but dramatically beautiful reef resident mostly seen on small schools of several dozen. Another colourful resident of many reefs is the Redfin Anthias, often seen with more common orange Anthias.

This beautiful little fish has a lemon yellow body with a purplish red dorsal fin, tail and body. The abundance, colour and variety of fish in Malaysia is amazing. On a typical dive Yellowback Fusiliers might flash past a pair of bright Foxface Rabbitfish who are dancing an elaborate courtship. A Harlequin Sweetlips Juvenile, all white polka dots and oversized fins, might propel itself by in frantic wriggles like an eager puppy.

Beautiful too are the coral gardens which grace the top of many reefs. They are a cornucopia of mauve, deep-purple, limegreen, red and yellow soft corals. The shallowness of these coral gardens make them ideal for snorkelers, a macro heaven on earth.

At the top of the list of Malaysian dives is an extraordinary Sipadan site, Barracuda Point. If you are lucky, and the water conditions are right, you will witness a remarkable vortex of thousands of Chevron Barracuda swirling like an underwater tornado; hence the name of the site. Schools of thousands of silvery Jackfish, or Big Eye Trevally, also twist and flash in the aquamarine water. Barracuda Point is also home to dozens of huge Green Sea Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles which are completely unfazed by divers and which one can approach very closely. Here too, White Tip Reef Sharks are frequently sighted. Grey Reef Sharks, Scalloped Hammerheads and Leopard Sharks are also common. Out in the blue you might see a school of Rays swimming gracefully past. Malaysian waters, I think each time I dive them, are God’s own aquarium.