Pulau Payar Marine Park

Feed fishes with crumbs of bread and feel the tickling sensation of fingers being nibbled by them. Here at the Pulau Payar Marine Park, this is what draws visitors most, many of whom would put on snorkel and face mask for a swim with the fishes while a handful will choose to don scuba gears to enjoy a fun dive.

The marine park is a collection of four uninhabited islands of Pulau Payar, Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu and Pulau Segantang, the only marine park off the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is popular as it is easy to access by speedboats and packaged tours. A ferry stops over to drop off day trippers and divers enroute from Penang to Langkawi.

The chartered Langkawi Coral boat has a day package with lunch buffet on board. On a floating platform of the Langkawi Coral pontoon, here’s where visitors enter a tunnel-like Underwater Observation Chamber built under the platform, more than 10 feet below the sea. This experience of viewing the spectacular panorama of the marine kingdom will make you feel as if you are suspended in a life-size aquarium.

But don’t just be an observer! Take a boat to the pearl white beachfront of Pulau Payar and feel the sand beneath your bare feet as you walk into the waters. Jump in and snorkel worry-free with baby black-tip sharks as this species is absolutely safe to be your playmates.

While you’re at it, be sure to spot for the resident giant barracuda, Mr Mustaffa for a little game of hide and seek besides encountering huge groupers amongst rich marine life and colourful corals.

To further explore the underwater utopia of the marine park, dive into the many diving sites around the four islands for a more expansive experience of the aquatic treasures of the marine park. The deeper waters are teeming with barracudas, groupers, snappers, lion fishes, stone fishes, seahorses, angelfishes to name a few. Hidden in crevices are shy lobsters.

At the south-western tip of Pulau Payar is a popular diving site known as Coral Garden. True to its name, diving here let you experience a myriad of seascape with multi-hued gardens of soft corals, horns, sea fans and sea anemones.

Whether you’re looking for a nice tan, snorkel or dive, Pulau Payar Marine Park’s pristine emerald-green waters of the Andaman Sea has it all for a brief respite. The best thing is that snorkelling and diving equipment are provided by the tour operators. All you need is to pack a change of clothes and sunscreen (and bread) to ‘sea’ a different world for a day.