pulau redang for snorkelling & scuba diving





among the few places - tioman, redang, the great barrier reef and the southern islands of singapore - where i have snorkelled, i will rank redang as the best. not so much in terms of beauty or variety but more in terms of accessibility and convenience. imagine, you walk into the sea from your chalet and you can start snorkelling right away.

redang island is located 45 km offshore of terengganu. the sea around redang abounds with marine fish, turtles and coral reefs, ensuring a great snorkelling and scuba-diving experience. redang island is approximately 7km in length and 6km in width.

there are 500 species of live corals, more than a thousand species of invertebrates and almost 3000 species of fish which include manta rays, stingrays, sharks and whale sharks, all living in harmony in the reefs fringing the islands.

redang waters also contains two historic shipwrecks. the h.m.s prince of wales and h.m.s. repulse were sunk here during the wwii, setting the stage for the japanese occupation of malaya.

when we drive, we take the north-south highway and exit at yong peng. from yong peng, we will head for the segamat highway which leads us to kuantan. we usually break journey in kuantan. spend the night in kuantan or just outside it and then get up early the next morning to get to merang.

you can take a coach from singapore to kuala terengganu. the journey takes nearly ten hours. if you want to go by air, you have to go to senai airport in johor to take the flight.

whichever approach you take, you need to go to the merang jetty to catch the ferry for the 45- minute ride to redang. there is provision for parking near the jetty; the charge is M$5 per night.

there is no jetty, so you have to be prepared to get wet. you definitely have to take off your shoes before you disembark from the ferry.