The Maldives is renown for being one of the top diving destinations in Asia, and quite possibly in the world. The country is mainly comprises of water with only 1% being land based. Its islands and surrounding waters blessed with white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and are teeming with marine life, in particular, large pelagics like manta rays, tunas, giant trevallies and a variety of sharks, including whalesharks. 

Although most hotels and resorts around the archipelago have in-house diving facilities, it is commonly believed that the best way to the Maldives is via a liveaboard since the best dive sites are peppered throughout the atolls and not just within one particular region. Each hotel and resort island may one a few good dive sites nearby, however, to experience the wide variety of diving in Maldives, liveaboards are highly recommended. 

Most dive sites in the Maldives have medium to strong currents. The Indian Monsoon Current through the channels between the islands, bringing along with it rich nutrients to feed the abundant marine and coral life living in its waters.

Climate

Maldives lives up to its name for being a tropical resort location all year round and has a tropical-monsoon climate. The annual average daily surface temperature ranges from 25°C (77°F) to 31°C (88°F), with March typically being the hottest month and  January the coldest month. February enjoys the most sunshine with almost 10 hours of sunshine daily on average. September is usually the wettest month with the most rain.  

Water temperatures remain fairly constant year round as well, usually ranging from 26°C (79°F) to 30°C (86°F).

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Few would argue that Indonesia is one of the top diving destinations in Asia. Not many other countries can boast of such a number of world class dive destinations housed within waters. The main dive sites include:

- Bali

- Komodo

- Lombok and Gili Islands

- Manado and Lembeh Straits

- Pulau Weh

- Raja Ampat

Even more amazing is the amazing range of dives one can do within this sparse archipelago -  muck diving in the Lembeh Straits, wreck diving in Bali, and large pelagics in Komodo and Raja Ampat.

Climate

Indonesia enjoys predominantly a tropical climate all-year round at coastal areas with average air temperatures rising to 31°C (88°F) in the day and falling to 23°C (73°F) at night. Humidity throughout the year is generally high at about 75 to 95% .

As mentioned above, the Indonesian archipelago spans such a large area that it is not possible to generalise water temperatures. For example, waters at Nusa Penida, Bali requestly fall below 20°C (68°F), whilst the waters around Raja Ampat average around 29°C (84°F). It is best to check with the experts in advance of your trip.

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Malaysia is being blessed with tropical climate, beautiful waters and abundant natural resources gave birth to marvellously vibrant and colourful underwater scene. As such, it is only natural that Malaysia is the ideal country for diving holidays. Here are some of the must-visit places if you want a diving holiday in Malaysia.

- Sipadan Island

- Redang Island

- Tenggol Island

- Tioman Island

- Perhentian Island

Sipadan Island

Being one of the habitats with the most diverse marine life in the world has made the name ‘Sipadan’ almost synonymous with diving itself in Malaysia, especially in the Borneo states. Located off the east coast of Sabah, the island’s ecosystem houses thousands of species of fish, hundreds of species of corals, and a great many other animals like Bumphead parrotfish, barracuda, reef sharks, as well as green and hawksbill turtles. No diver would discuss diving holidays in Malaysia without mentioning Sipadan Island.

Tenggol Island

The relatively lesser known Tenggol Island off the peninsular east coast offers magnificent dive sites with splendid diving conditions and abundant marine life. One notable feature here is that unlike many other dive sites, there are demanding areas recommended only to experienced divers due to harsher currents around the island. Like Redang Island, it cannot be visited between October and March due to the monsoon season.

Tioman Island

Tioman Island is a densely forested, sparsely populated, and has its marine area declared as marine parks and marine reserves alongside other surrounding islands. Being a host during WWII being the Japanese and British had the waters littered with war remains. As a result, the island not only houses great diversity of marine life and beautiful corals, it is also one of the few places in Malaysia where wreck diving is available.  

Redang Island

The island off the coast of Terengganu is a well-known tourist attraction, turtle conservation site, and diving holiday destination in Malaysia. Warm, crystal clear waters, cooling breeze, and abundant marine life diversity give the island a perfect diving condition, and widely recommended place for beginning divers to start. The island, however, like other east coast islands of peninsular Malaysia, is susceptible to the monsoon season between October and March and cannot be visited.

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The Republic of Philippines (commonly known as the Philippines) is situated in the western Pacific Ocean that comprises over 7,100 islands which are broadly grouped into 3 main areas: Mindanao, Luzon and Visayas.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity and is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons. This, however, also provides it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest marine biodiversity. Amazingly, many of the marine species can only be found in the Philippines and nowhere else in the world.

The Philippines forms an important part of the “Coral Triangle” which is home to more than 3,000 species of fish, including the whale shark and the elusive coelacanth. Six out of the world's seven marine turtle species can also be found in the Coral Triangle. The Philippines is estimated to be home to 500 coral species and 2,400 species of marine fish. In addition, new  species continue to be discovered in these waters and continuously increase these numbers highlighting the biodiversity and uniqueness of the marine life in the Philippines. The Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. 

Climate

Like most other top dive destinations in Asia, the Philippines enjoys a tropical maritime climate and is usually hot and humid. There are 3 main seasons (see above) which affect the general weather.

The average temperatures usually range from 21°C (70°F) to 33°C (91°F) although it can get cooler or hotter depending on the different season. The coolest month is usually January and the warmest month is May.

Unfortunately for the residents of and visitors to the Philippines, being located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and the typhoon belt, the Philippines subject to frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons. Most of the archipelago experience annual torrential rains and thunderstorms from July to October. Bagyo is the local term for a tropical cyclone in the Philippines.

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