Redang & Perhentian Islands · Malaysia · Wreck · Artificial reef
Six Sisters
Six impounded fishing boats sunk together at 23 m
Area photo: Ditch Townsend · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Six Sisters are a cluster of six impounded fishing boats sunk together as an artificial reef in the Perhentians. The wrecks lie at around 23 m and have become a haven for fish life. They are sometimes called the Magnificent 7, after a seventh boat that was never located on the site.
Also known as Magnificent 7.
Where it is and how deep
5.9031° N, 102.6729° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Six hulls in one place at around 23 m, so the dive is a circuit rather than a tour of a single wreck. The depth is the constraint: no-decompression time at 23 m is limited, and the sensible plan is to choose which of the boats you want, swim them in order and leave the rest for a second dive rather than trying to cover the whole cluster in one go.
What has grown up around them is the reason to come back. The wrecks are a haven of fish life, which is what an artificial reef of this size is meant to produce, and the fish hold thickest around the structure itself rather than out on the open bottom. No shallower part of the site is published, so plan the ascent and the safety stop off the wrecks instead of expecting reef to finish the dive on.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Six impounded fishing boats
- Type
- Fishing boats
- Cause
- Impounded and sunk deliberately as an artificial reef
- Lies
- In a cluster on the bottom at around 23 m
The boats were impounded fishing vessels put down together to make an artificial reef rather than lost at sea, which is why they sit as a group instead of scattered across the bottom. Divers sometimes call the site the Magnificent 7: the story attached to it is of a seventh boat in the group, but that boat was never located, and six wrecks is what anyone diving the site actually finds down there today.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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 are the Six Sisters called the Magnificent 7?+
A seventh boat is said to belong to the group, but it was never located. Six impounded fishing boats are what divers find, lying together at around 23 m.
Sources
- Six Sisters - Scubago — Scubago (SSI)
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