Tenggol Island · Malaysia · Pinnacle
Tokong Burung
Pinnacle and boulder terrain to about 35 m on the middle of the three Tokongs
Tokong Burung is the middle of the three Tokongs, the offshore rocks around Tenggol Island whose name means temple in Malay. The terrain is pinnacle and boulders, and the site goes down to a maximum of approximately 35 m, which puts it in the hands of experienced divers rather than Open Water divers. It is dived from the boat as a deep rock dive.
Where it is and how deep
4.8606° N, 103.6590° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat runs out to the rock and drops the group beside it; you descend on the pinnacle and follow the boulders down the flank. The site's maximum depth is approximately 35 m, so the plan is a deep-first profile: reach the planned maximum early, while the guide still has the most time in hand, then work back up over the boulder field with the pinnacle as the reference point for the whole dive.
The middle section of the dive is spent among the boulders on the way back up. The published description does not name species for the site, and gives no current or visibility, so the briefing on the boat is where those details come from. The dive ends up on the pinnacle at its shallowest point for the safety stop before you surface beside the rock and wait for the boat to come alongside.
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 | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Tenggol Island: 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.
Sources
- Tokong Burung - Scubago — Scubago
More 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
Similar dives elsewhere
Large schools of barracuda on an exposed pinnacle in strong current
Granite arches at the exposed north end of the chain
Granite tunnels and arches between islands 6 and 7
Purple soft-coral wall dropping past recreational limits