Top Things to do in Pulau Perhentian Kecil
Top Restaurants in Pulau Perhentian Kecil
10 Things to Do in Pulau Perhentian Kecil That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Malaysia including Anti Gravity Divers, Sea Voice Divers, Matahari Divers, Turtle Bay Divers, Panorama Diver, Quiver Dive Team, Long Beach, Pulau Perhentian Kincir Angin, Angel Divers, Seahorse Diver.
Restaurants in Pulau Perhentian Kecil
1. Anti Gravity Divers
Overall Ratings
5 based on 208 reviews
Reviewed By Xiaodong W - Beijing, China
This is my first tripadvisor review. Anti-gravity is the best diving center, and I strongly recommend it. My 14-year old daughter and I want to get open water diving certificates. While we are experienced snorkelers, I was a bit nervous about diving at the beginning. I read the reviews of all the diving centers in Perhentian, and found anti-gravity is the only one without a single bad review. I chose them, and our experience exceeded my expectations. Our instructor Chris is very professional and very patient with me, and worked very hard to make sure that we grasp all the essential skills. I was a bit worried at the beginning, so asked Andy (hope I spell your name right) whether my daughter and I can have Chris as our instructor for just two of us, and he kindly agreed. Also we stayed at the PIR, and they picked us up and dropped us off every day. Anti-gravity offers top notch services and equipment, with competitive prices. What more can you ask for?! Both my daughter and myself passed our open water diving course, a major milestone! Thank you, Chris, Andy, and the whole Anti-gravity team.
2. Sea Voice Divers
Overall Ratings
5 based on 166 reviews
We are located in the heart of a little paradise known as the Perhentian Island. Our small dive centre runs PADI certification scuba diving courses from beginners to professional dive master level, marine education and conservation activities, accompanied scuba dives and scuba diving packages for groups as well as individual diver throughout the season.
Reviewed By KelvinP14 - Bangkok, Thailand
This is the second time that I visited Perhentian and SVD to dive. Overall, the family and easy going atmosphere of the dive shop is still there. I planned to surprise the crew by showing up unannounced but sadly Sha was away on maternity haha (congrats! + oh wells...). I would recommend this dive shop to those learning to dive as the small groups, flexibility and relatively slower pace compared to other dive shops would make the learning less intimidating to aspiring divers.
It's still 3 dives a day with really long surface intervals back at the dive shop. Most people will like this arrangement with lots of time in-between dives to relax, especially for the students where they can use the extended interval to do knowledge reviews or dive briefings. Being in holiday mode with nothing else to do on the island, I did not mind this arrangement either. Having said that, a part of me does wish that the first two dives were run with only an hour surface interval in-between as I disliked having to remove and wear back my wet suit all the time.
Saw juv. yellow box fish twice on my dives and they must be the cutest thing I've seen this year! I remember in the last trip I saw a small black blotched porcupine fish taking shelter under a table coral from the current and it is these sights that melts your heart. On another occasion I saw a dead fish on the seabed next to the police wreck. There were no visible signs of predation but its mouth was wide open and it looks locked. I spent some time looking at the fish trying to figure out its cause of death and concluded that it probably died because of shock. Was really tempted to bring the body back to the dive shop for an autopsy! So when you are there do open your eyes to observe the surrounding. What makes diving fun is not the sighting of charismatic species and having said that, I think all dive masters will do well if they can move beyond the "hey everyone look, a turtle!" mentality when guiding.
What I enjoyed most about the dive sites are the underwater structures rather than the marine life. Temple of the Sea is a dive site that everyone who visits Perhentian must go. Dive more than once at that site if you get the chance to. However, I was also pretty disappointed that I did not get to dive Sugar Wreck and do night dives even though this was my second time at Perhentian. I guess if you want to do those dives you will have to go to other dive shops like Ombak where there are more divers.
Visibility was clearing up at around 10m by the time I left in mid-March and it will only get better. There wasn't alot of rubbish in the sea but in the sites where there were, we could spend the entire dive cleaning it up and that was what I did on two of the dives. On one dive I spent 40 minutes removing a ghost net that has been left there for years and must have weighed at least 15kg. On another dive, I was practically picking up plastic bottles and bags along the way. I even found a discarded boat anchor! In case you are wondering, I did remove the anchor from the seabed. Guess who has an extra anchor now? Oh and I even found a mask!
Sadly, on my final dive I found a cigarette butt on the surface. The butt was still fresh and must have been very recently discarded. I am pretty sure that it came from either the boat captain of SVD (it's not the one in the picture; sorry I forgot his name) or the boat captain of the other dive shop that was with us at the same dive site. I hope that it is the latter. Nevertheless, it still upsets me to think that we who work in this industry (actually I don't work in this industry) can actually still litter in the sea. So I just picked up the cigarette butt and threw it back on the boat.
Here are some suggestions on how SVD can further improve:
1. Think of the role of a DM as a mentor diver instead of merely as a tour guide.
In other words, help divers to become better in diving instead of just showing them around underwater. I've seen at least one diver who was clearly over-weighted and this affected her diving. I've also seen SPGs that were floating around underwater. I've also seen divers who simply could not stay still in the water. If we can turn incorporate some teaching and mentoring into guiding, we will surely value add to the divers.
2. Carry a mesh bag on every dive.
Nope, the BCD pocket is not big enough to put rubbish. Really, just carry a mesh bag. I remember there was a dive where I completely filled up my mesh bag and still had to carry lots of rubbish by hand throughout the dive. So yar, everyone should just carry a mesg bag for every dive. You'll never know when you will need it.
3. Equip every diver with a cutter.
You never know when you come across a ghost net. Every helping hand (and cutter) helps, provided one does not crash into the corals while removing the nets. I was fortunate that when I discovered the mega ghost net there was only me and the DM in the group and we both had our own cutters. There were no idle hands around. What will happen if it was a group of 4 divers and only the DM had a cutter? Which leads me to my next point...
4. Brief the divers that every fun dive can turn into a conservation dive in an instant.
If there is a ghost net, would the DM or instructor stop and remove it? From what I saw based on the group that went before me, the answer is no. And it is actually no fault of theirs considering that they were on an OW course and had skills to complete. But what if it were a group of fun divers? Does the DM feel a pressure to continue with the "fun" dive because the divers paid for it, or does the DM feel confident that he can change the Mission of the dive there and then? I think DMs should be empowered to feel the latter. Sure, it is always possible to return later to the dive site to remove the ghost net. But I would not do that because I never know when the ghost net might break and drift. Or I don't know when is the next time a marine creature will get stuck in a ghost net. To me at least, we should always treat the sighting of a ghost net as the last time we will encounter it and do our best to remove it on the spot. SVD does tell the divers to pick up rubbish they see in the water during the dive briefing. I think it is good to go one step further and tell them that the focus of the dive can change in an instant. If the divers are not happy that their "fun" dives have been taken away, I would gladly sponsor their dives any time a ghost net is removed.
So all-in-all I like SVD and think they are doing a great job and is certainly one of the few schools out there with such a clear conservation focus. Regretted that I did not get to talk to Sha during the trip but glad that I was able to contribute a tiny bit for the environment.
3. Matahari Divers
Overall Ratings
5 based on 135 reviews
Reviewed By Florence c
You will definatly would like to come back again to Matahari Dive ...the excellent hospitality by the owner Bro Jeng it makes you feel like home and the friendly people around it make you feel easy going and fun... a bunch of us had decided to pick up open water dive ...it doesnt feel hard as it seem ...under a good guidance of Dive Instructor Mr Rizal n Monica..it almost felt simpler rather than complicated ...we had fun learning and knowledge gain through sharing and its almost stress free experience for us. For those out there who are looking forward to pick up diving come and experience yourself under Matahari Dive...you will not regret it... it is definatly a yes yes yes to come back again... :)
4. Turtle Bay Divers
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 351 reviews
We Dive from March to October. We start PADI course Everyday PADI Open Water Rm 990 PADI Advanced course RM 890 Certified we dive 3 times a day 8:30 am, 12:30pm and 3:30 pm. We also have dive day trips to Redang island 1 to 4 dives RM 75 each dive 5th dive on RM 70 Pinnacle & Sugar Wreck RM 90 each dive All prices above Include Diving Equipment. We accept Cash and credit card. No ATM on the island Contact by email or facebook
Reviewed By babyleng_23 - Malaysia
Went for diving with Turtle Bay Divers at Perhentian.
The staff are friendly and they have great staff too. We did 7 dives but we have all 4 different DM which gives us different experience with different DM. They find some macro stuff to show us which i think i very hard for us to find them by ourselves.
The only offset is that one have to climb into the boat after the dive which I could not do it. So I will request for ladder after every dive.
Not forgetting they have the most clean toilet in their dive center if compare to so many dive centers which I've been.
Well... I will definitely dive with them again, with certain DM which I want to dive with.
but pleassssssssssssssssse.... i need a ladder. :)
5. Panorama Diver
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 436 reviews
Perhentian Island has more than 20 dive spots that are suitable for all levels of experience. New divers can have a nice relaxing reef dive while be amazed by the brilliantly colored tropical fish and coral. Experienced divers can enjoy the freedom of spectacular reef diving, adventurous wreck diving and deep dives in an extremely idyllic and laid back setting. We teamed up with our neighbors Panorama Chalet to offer value for money Dive + Room packages which can be found on our website. Please note the accommodation provided is of basic beach-hut style. All standard rooms which are used for Dive + Room Packages are simple, but clean wooden bungalows for two people with fan, mosquito net and a bathroom with cold water showers. Rooms are set on a shady hill with lots of native trees just seconds walk to the beautiful beach. As Pulau Perhentian has no mains power, generators are used to supply power to the chalets which normally runs from 7pm-8am and 12noon-3pm. Panorama has a village feel with the chalets, great restaurant selling local and western meals from 8am-10pm daily, a small shop selling fruits, cold drinks and snacks and of course Panorama Diver. Everything you need is right here!
Reviewed By I_wander_asia - Greater London, United Kingdom
Only had the buffet breakfast here for 15 ringgit. Absolutely awful food and staff. Food: Cold and soggy roti Cold and sweet eggs Cold food No toaster so just soft white bread The pancake was ok but we had to leave so much food, it...MoreSorry to hear that your breakfast was quite an ordeal. Thank you for the feedback and we'll do our very best to keep the roti warm and toasty.
6. Quiver Dive Team
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 188 reviews
Explore the underwater wonder of Perhentian Islands with Quiver Dive Team, awards-winning IDC Dive Resort. Conduct all PADI courses from Discover Scuba Diving/Open Water upto Staff Instructor, all PADI specialties and also TecRec. Offering dives tailored to your comfort and experience level. We take your safety and enjoyment seriously. Dive with peace of mind- we are fully insured. Emergency oxygen and walkie-talkie are carried on all our boats, which are manned by experienced Captains and have canopies. Electric compressors guarantee clean air.
Reviewed By Aqid Z - Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
I did my advanced open water with Quiver Dive a couple of months ago, and I have to say I regretted my decision to this day.
I skimped about RM100 when I decided to go for this shop at MIDE and lost RM300+ after.
I decided to write a comment a bit later, in order to make sure I'm not writing it out of spite, and I should do it when I'm already calm and what had happened is behind me.
I have a lot of issues with this shop - maybe some are personal related.
I will get to the ones that bugged me the most:-
1. Equipment maintenance - Before I started my first dive, another student's tank burst. The dive instructor complained that it is the same tank that he has asked the worker to mark for repair. Apparently it has burst before but was reused again and again. My depth gauge is broken and the meter is stuck at 5m. I complained to the instructor afterwards - got the same broken depth gauge on the next dive.
2. No AOW book was given. They let me borrow and old one they have. I checked that other dive shop gave one.
3. This shop is linked with a resort that has a private beach, all the way across on the other side. You'd have to walk up and down the stairs. At the beach, the steps are quite high a bit hard to step on especially when you are carrying the equipment. They tried to do as many of the skills at the beach, instead of going out to nice dive sites. Mind you this is Advanced Open Water. I had to do night dive, navigational dive and peak performance buoyancy at the same beach. Again, I checked with other dive shops. They go out to other dive shops for every single skills.
4. Accommodation - there are 2 toilets cum shower separated from the dorm, which is fine. But on one of the days - one of the toilets was kept locked as the worker might have forgotten to unlock it. Contemplated on peeing on the beach instead of waiting for the person inside to finish showering. No worker seen to ask for help to open the other toilet.
Personal issues:-
1. One of the instructor was more interested in showing off his skills rather than teaching. He is a skilled diver for sure - but not that great at teaching.
2. Lost a fin - got fined RM300+. Cant remember the exact figure. Again I checked with other dive shops - the fine for losing a fin is not as high at around RM200+. Bloodsuckers.
In short - there are much better dive shops at Kecil. When you disembark at the Coral Beach jetty, just pass by the Quiver Dive shop, move along and ignore them.
7. Long Beach
Overall Ratings
4 based on 631 reviews
Reviewed By J S - Melbourne, Australia
I stayed here with a friend for 4 nights. We did a lot of exploring of other Beaches around the two Perhentian Islands and this was the one for us. For first timers your should note that you can travel to any beach on the Perhentian Islands for 10-20ringgit per person which is no more than 3 to 6 AUD and these are 24 hours a day.
There are a numbers of restaurants along the beach that offer cheap eats up to expensive (for Malaysia) fine dinning. I don't think you would run at of options with western, Malay, Japanese and Italian to choose from just to name a few.
There are a number of bar options as well as two places that offer Shisha that we found. The beach bars are pretty good and have cheap 8 ringgit cans of tiger. You can sit on the sand with small tables and a mat to sit on provided. there is a main shisa bar that services the area. these are all open with no walls and are just along the beach front. there was also music, fire dancers and fireworks the night we arrived (Monday) and the beach was packed with no sitting room left. The Tuesday had nothing on with alot of the bars closed and so was the Shisha bar.
We did find another bar / restaurant with Shisha open that was quite lively on the Tuesday. Me met a few people who had taken a water taxi to the island only to find out nothing was on that night. it was a bit random what nights where busy and what nights are quiet.
As people have said in other reviews, the water is clear and beautiful but not as beautiful as other Islands due to the large amount of people who flock here at night. we choose to stay here so we could walk of a night and night have to worry about water taxis.
ONE word of warning, there is only one toilet for the entire beach that costs 2ringgit - it does not get busy but is a long walk from some areas. some of the built up bars with walls have thier own toilets.
So the choice is yours, stay on Long Beach and taxi to other Islands or take day trips to snorkel (as we did) and have plenty of options in the afternoon and night.
Or stay at your preferred beach and get a water taxi over at night (just hope its a night that is busy)
8. Pulau Perhentian Kincir Angin
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 59 reviews
Reviewed By Nina C
Our family visited the Prehentian Islands in August 2017. We stayed at the Cosy Resort. Basic accommodation. The grounds around the rooms could have done with a bit of a tidy up . Food brilliant. The views were beautiful. Wifi very poor. Our tour guide was a brilliant guy. Lovely man. And our boat was driven by a fun guy who looked liked Captain Jack Sparrow. Unfortunately we did not get a close up photo of him so that's a good excuse to go back . The deck chairs could have done with cousins. So if you wanted to sunbathe you would need something soft to lay on.
On the second day we went Island Hopping and snorkelling. BRILLIANT. Totally recommend. The sea Gardens are unbelievable. There is a ship wreck off one of the Islands that is worth seeing . Thousands of varieties of fish. And coral .
Redang island is one of the nicest. We say a small variety of Shark there . They don't bother you . It's very safe to snorkell with them. The sands are white with turquoise sea. Absolutely beautiful.
9. Angel Divers
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 57 reviews
Reviewed By Kelz812 - Jersey City, New Jersey
Everyone has told me I would love diving but I had a fear of the equalizing with all my sinus issues. The instructor I had was awesome with explaining everything to me. When we went out to the water he was patient when I thought I couldn't do it because it felt so weird to breath under water, lol. Once I got that hang of it, it was great. I did have a very hard time equalizing but I was able to get to about 8 meters and see some cool fish. Was grateful for a calm, cool instructor. Looking forward to trying it again.
10. Seahorse Diver
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 44 reviews
