Further south, near Lumut lies Sembilan Island or Malaysia Pulau Sembilan. The dive sites here are generally more challenging due to the currents and sometimes the visibility is not more than 2-3 metres. Diving depth ranges from 5 m to 40 m. White Rock, which is characterised by a lighthouse, has steep walls to 40 m, where groupers and snappers sleep in the crevices and under overhangs. In the open water, it is not unusual to see barracuda, jacks and other big pelagic species.
Around Saga, Lalang, Rumbia and Buluh, one finds nice reefs with lots of table corals and brain corals as well as tentacle corals. Around the orange daisy corals, it is common to see big schools of damselfish. It is also a good site for coral scallops and nudibranches. Among the prevalent species of fish, we find parrotfish, angelfish, pufferfish, lionfish and moray eels.
Right in the middle of the straits, 40 miles (64 km) off Pulau Pangkor, lies Pulau Jarak, a small uninhabited island that has better underwater visibility due to its remoteness. Dolphins and sailfish have been sighted here, but beyond that there are probably well-kept secrets unknown to everyone but the most hardcore divers.
Divers would do well to exploring this archipelago.
The dive season is busy from November through March, since one can’t dive at all on the east coast during that time. The diving is easy with a maximum depth of 15-20 m in the interesting areas, whereas in the deeper parts, there is mostly sandy bottom. There is one submerged reef off Jarak at about 25 m depth, however the currents can be quite strong there.
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