Southeast Asia · Malaysia
Tenggol Island
Offshore rock past 40 m and an August-to-October whale shark season off Terengganu
A small marine-park island 24 km off Terengganu, the southern end of the chain that runs up to Perhentian and Redang, with around 25 sites on the main island and its satellite rocks. The fringing reefs, Coral Garden and Turtle Point, stay inside 18 m, but the rock in open water goes deeper: Tokong Timur drops past 40 m, Clerk's Pinnacle is dived only at slack tide, and Gua Rajawali adds a cavern and swim-throughs. Whale sharks are logged mostly from August to October, and the island shuts for the monsoon from November to February.
About diving in Tenggol Island
The island is about 3 km long and 2 km across, and the resort with the PADI centre sits on the west beach, the largest on the island, 45 minutes to an hour by boat from Kuala Dungun on the mainland. The diving runs from small speedboats, around the main island and out to the satellite rocks, where the resort counts another seven sites; Amazing Grace off Nyireh Island is about 15 minutes away. The house reef off the beach covers shore dives and night dives, and is where the macro photographers spend their evenings. Tenggol Coral Beach Resort runs the centre on the island; Dlagoon Dive Center works out of Kuala Dungun, and either can arrange the transfer.
Most of the sites are fringing reef inside 18 m, which is where Coral Garden and Turtle Point sit and what an Open Water card covers. The deeper sites are mostly rock in open water. Tokong Timur has reef at 10 to 15 m by the lighthouse and drops past 40 m; Clerk's Pinnacle is two hillsides between 12 and 35 m with nothing showing at the surface; Tokong Laut is among the deepest, most pelagic sites, with strong current and big fish; Tanjung Api is a headland drift. The Edge is a wall from 12 to 25 m, Gua Rajawali a cavern with swim-throughs above a coral garden, and the Fisherman Wreck a 20 m boat upright in 18 m, one of three wrecks. Visibility runs 15 to 20 m and swings with the weather.
Tenggol is small, 2.62 km2, and beyond the resort with the dive centre there are a few chalet operations of seven to sixteen chalets; drinking water comes from the mainland because the island's ground water is only good for washing. It is a protected marine park, with the resort's PADI centre and a second operator across the water in Kuala Dungun. That suits a diver who wants deeper rock, current and a whale shark season, and who either holds Advanced or is willing to take the course here. Anyone after a choice of operators, easy shallow reefs and a busier island should go to Perhentian or Redang, 130 km up the coast, which open in the same months and run on a far larger industry.
When to dive Tenggol Island
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season |
The island is closed for the northeast monsoon from November to the end of February; whale sharks are logged mostly from August to October, with a few in May.
Dive types & marine life
Whale sharks are logged mostly from August to October, with a few in May; Tokong Timur is one of the likelier sites. Green and hawksbill turtles turn up through the open season, Turtle Point especially, and barracuda are the big fish logged most often. The macro holds all season: nudibranchs in numbers, ornate ghost pipefish, and boxer shrimps and young bamboo sharks on the Fisherman Wreck.
- Reef
- Wall
- Drift
- Wreck
- Cave & cavern
- Pelagic & blue water
- Whale sharks
- Sea turtles
- Barracuda
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Reef fish swarms
Notable dive sites in Tenggol Island
Pinnacle
Two submerged hillsides from 35 m up to 12 m, dived only at slack tide
Coral garden
Coral-covered slopes to about 18 m, one of the island's most popular sites
Wreck
A 20 m fishing boat sitting upright in 18 m, sized for a first wreck
Cave & cavern
Cavern and swim-throughs between 8 and 25 m on the island's northeast side
Reef
Flat reef in a bay at the northwest tip, 10 to 18 m, also snorkelled
Reef
Gentle 9 to 25 m slope with a pinnacle further out
Wall
A stone wall from 5 m to beyond 30 m, with nudibranchs and sea slugs for macro lenses
Wall
Drift past a rock at about 17 m to where the seabed falls away into the blue
Pinnacle
Pinnacle and boulder terrain to about 35 m on the middle of the three Tokongs
Reef
One of the island's likelier whale shark points; reef at 10 to 15 m under the lighthouse
Reef
Sheltered fringing reef from 4 to 18 m on the island's west side
Getting there
The gateway is Kuala Dungun on Terengganu's east coast; boats take 45 minutes to an hour to reach the island, and any dive shop or most mainland resorts can arrange the transfer. Tenggol Coral Beach Resort has its dive centre on the island's west beach and a mainland address in Kuala Dungun, where Dlagoon Dive Center is also based. The island is not accessible from November to February.
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