Sibu & Tinggi Islands · Malaysia · Reef
Lima Besar
A large, shy green turtle that lives on the reef
Photo: Wolfgang Ahlmer · CC BY 4.0
A fringing reef off Lima Besar, an island near Pulau Sibu with a large white sand beach. The reef begins a short swim from the shore and slopes gently seaward, with the deepest water off the eastern tip. A rather large, shy green turtle lives on the reef.
Also known as Pulau Lima Besar, Lima Baser.
Where it is and how deep
2.2197° N, 104.1505° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef lies only a short swim from the beach and starts in about 2 m of water, sloping gradually to 12 m further out past fields of sea anemones. The green turtle that lives on this reef is large but wary, and tends to show itself to quiet divers. On the eastern tip the reef drops to its deepest point at 18 m, where batfish and angelfish, adults and juveniles, keep to cover and take some searching.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Good | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Sibu & Tinggi Islands: Most resorts close for the monsoon from December into February; visibility also dips in August, the warmest month.
Questions divers ask
Is Lima Besar suitable for newly certified divers?+
Yes. The reef starts at 2 m beside the beach and only reaches 18 m off the eastern tip, which keeps the whole dive within Open Water limits.
Sources
- Diving at Rimba Resort — Rimba Resort / Hi-Tide Divers
- Pulau Sibu, Malaysia - Dive Sites — GS-Diving
- Pulau Lima Besar — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- A green and blue parrotfish swims over rounded coral boulders in hazy green water with small striped damselfish by Wolfgang Ahlmer, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Sibu & Tinggi Islands
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Named for the barracuda school that met its first divers
A rock that shows above water only at low tide
Coral garden
Massive, undamaged hard-coral formations off Pulau Tinggi
Coral garden
An islet with one tree, ringed all round by hard and soft coral
Reef
Soft coral layered over hard coral, with bumphead parrotfish passing
Similar dives elsewhere
White sand to 15 m, no current, twenty minutes from town
Hard coral, soft coral and sea fans on a sand slope to 20 m
Resident turtles around an old wooden boat wreck
A gentle drift over coral and sand to 18 m