Redang & Perhentian Islands · Malaysia · Reef
Baby Shark Point
A shallow shark nursery reached straight from the beach
Area photo: Ditch Townsend · CC BY-SA 4.0
Baby Shark Point is a shore dive on Redang documented as a natural shark nursery and breeding site. The bottom is sand out to about 3 m and then turns into a massive staghorn coral reef, with a maximum depth of around 12 m. It is a shallow, easily reached dive whose interest is the young sharks working the coral.
Where it is and how deep
5.7722° N, 103.0346° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The entry is from the beach and the first stretch is sand, which runs out to about 3 m before the bottom changes into a massive staghorn reef. That transition is the site: open sand on one side, dense coral on the other, and an edge you can follow without needing a wall or a line. Maximum depth is around 12 m, so the dive is long and slow rather than deep, and the whole profile sits inside Open Water limits.
Sharks are the reason to dive it. The site is described as a natural shark nursery and breeding ground, so what you are looking for is small animals holding close to the coral rather than anything out in the blue. Work the reef edge quietly and give the staghorn thickets room instead of pushing into them. Beyond the sharks and the coral, no visibility or current figures are published for the site, so ask the centre what it has been doing that week.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Redang & Perhentian Islands: The marine park is officially closed November 1-February 28 for the northeast monsoon; conditions are calmest and clearest April-September.
Questions divers ask
Why is it called Baby Shark Point?+
The site is documented as a natural shark nursery and breeding ground, so the sharks divers see here are small animals sheltering in the staghorn coral rather than adults out in open water.
Sources
- Baby Shark Point - Scubago — Scubago (SSI)
More dive sites in Redang & Perhentian Islands
Reef
Stacked boulders and swim-throughs on Besar's east face
Reef
Staghorn and table coral to 18 m, with reliably clear water
Pinnacle
Submerged pinnacle from 14 m down a wall to 32 m of sand
Wreck
A 32 m patrol vessel scuttled as a reef, top at 16 m
Reef
Coral slope two minutes off Long Beach, ending on rock
Wreck
Three police boats sunk in 2012 between 14 and 19 m
Wreck
Six impounded fishing boats sunk together at 23 m
Wreck
A 90 m sugar carrier the coral has not finished claiming
Similar dives elsewhere
Shallow bay under the duck-shaped rock, with no current
Shallow coral bay used for snorkelling and night dives
Huge schools of snapper over large hard-coral tables
Shallow coral-block reef the dive tables list as a night dive