Layang-Layang · Malaysia · Wall · Pelagic & blue water
The Point
Leave the reef at 30-35 m and watch open water for hammerheads
Area photo: matthew lee · CC BY 2.0
The Point sits on the eastern point of Layang-Layang, where the reef edge turns and the atoll drops away into open ocean. It is a deep dive, 25 to 40 metres, and most of it is spent facing away from the reef and watching blue water for the scalloped hammerhead schools that patrol the island in April and May. Reef sharks are the site's other draw.
Where it is and how deep
7.3770° N, 113.8542° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat ride from the island's dive resort takes between five and fifteen minutes, and the dive begins on the reef edge before you leave it behind. This is the site where divers swim away from the reef at the start, out into the blue at about 30 to 35 metres, rather than following the wall along. Current is usually none to light, so holding a position in open water is straightforward, but there is no bottom reference once you are off the edge and depth creeps without you noticing.
What follows is a waiting game. Hammerhead schools patrol around the island in April and May and sightings are not guaranteed, so the deep phase is spent scanning empty water while keeping an eye on gas and depth; reef sharks are the other thing the site is known for. Visibility is usually good here, around 50 metres, which is what makes the open-water watch worth doing at all. Once the deep phase is over you come back onto the reef and work slowly up it for the ascent.
Marine life and season
- Hammerheads
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Layang-Layang: Closed to visitors since the resort's licence was revoked in January 2025. When it operated, the season ran March to August, with hammerheads peaking in April and May.
Know before you go
- The deep phase is flown in open water with nothing below you to judge depth against, so agree a turn depth before the dive and check your computer far more often than you would on the reef.
Dive videos
Three minutes at the end of a dive on The Point, Layang Layang, Malaysia · Vance Stevens on YouTube
Questions divers ask
When can you see hammerheads at The Point?+
Schools of scalloped hammerheads patrol around Layang-Layang in April and May, and at The Point they are watched from open water at roughly 30 to 35 metres rather than along the reef. Divezone rates February to April as the best diving period on the atoll.
How deep is The Point?+
It is dived as a deep site, between 25 and 40 metres, and is rated for advanced divers. Much of the profile is spent off the reef in open water, so it suits divers comfortable with depth and no bottom reference.
Sources
- The Point Dive Site - Divezone — Divezone
- Layang Layang - Wikivoyage — Wikivoyage
- Diving in Layang Layang - Divezone — Divezone
In The Logbook
- Why things look bigger underwaterOcean science · 12 min read
- When and where to dive with hammerheadsBig animals · 16 min read
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