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Tengool Island

Discover the Best of Tenggol Island and Beyond: A Guide to Activities, Diving, and Nearby Places to Explore

Tenggol Island in Kuala Terengganu is a beautiful destination known for its crystal-clear waters, white sandy beaches, and vibrant coral reefs. While the island itself offers plenty of activities and attractions, there are also several nearby places worth exploring.

Nearby Places of Interest:

  1. Redang Island – Located just a short boat ride away, Redang Island is another popular destination for beach lovers and scuba divers alike. The island boasts stunning coral reefs and a variety of marine life, making it an ideal spot for diving and snorkeling.
  2. Perhentian Islands – The Perhentian Islands are a pair of small islands located off the coast of Terengganu. Like Tenggol Island, they are known for their clear waters and vibrant marine life, and offer a range of activities including diving, snorkeling, and island-hopping.
  3. Kenyir Lake – For those looking for a break from the beach, Kenyir Lake is a nearby freshwater lake that offers a variety of outdoor activities such as fishing, kayaking, and jungle trekking.
  4. Lang Tengah Island- This is a small and relatively undeveloped island located between Redang Island and Perhentian Island. The island is known for its secluded beaches, lush jungle, and excellent snorkeling and diving opportunities. While it may not be as well-known as its neighboring islands, Lang Tengah offers a peaceful and unspoiled escape for visitors looking to get away from the crowds.

Activities in Tenggol:

  1. Scuba Diving – Tenggol Island is particularly popular among scuba diving enthusiasts, thanks to its clear waters and diverse marine life. The island is home to several diving centers that offer PADI-certified courses and guided dives, making it easy for visitors of all skill levels to experience the underwater world.
  2. Snorkeling – For those who prefer to stay closer to the surface, snorkeling is a great way to explore the reefs and see the marine life up close. Many of the resorts and diving centers on Tenggol Island offer snorkeling equipment and guided tours.
  3. Beach Activities – With its pristine beaches and clear waters, Tenggol Island is the perfect place to relax and soak up the sun. Visitors can enjoy activities such as swimming, sunbathing, and beach volleyball, or simply unwind with a good book on the sand.

Diving Experience:

Tenggol Island is one of the best places in Malaysia for scuba diving. The island is surrounded by several dive sites that offer a range of depths and marine life. Some of the most popular dive sites include Tokong Laut, which is known for its large schools of fish and colorful corals, and Coral Garden, which is home to a variety of macro marine life such as nudibranchs and sea horses. Divers can expect to see a wide range of marine life on their dives, including reef sharks, turtles, and barracudas.

In conclusion, Tenggol Island and its surrounding areas offer a wealth of activities and attractions for visitors. Whether you’re looking to explore the underwater world, relax on the beach, or venture out to nearby destinations, Tenggol Island is a must-visit destination for anyone traveling to Kuala Terengganu.

Tengool Island

Explore the Natural Wonders of Tenggol Island: Experience Diving and More at Tenggol Coral Beach Resort

Tenggol Island is a beautiful island located off the east coast of Malaysia, in the state of Terengganu. It is part of the Terengganu Marine Park and is known for its crystal-clear waters, white sandy beaches, and vibrant coral reefs. The island is a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts, as well as those who simply want to relax on the beach and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.

Getting to Tenggol Island typically involves taking a boat from the coastal town of Kuala Dungun, which is about an hour’s drive from Kuala Terengganu. The boat ride takes approximately 45 minutes and offers stunning views of the coastline and surrounding islands.

Once on the island, visitors can enjoy a variety of activities, including swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling, and scuba diving. The waters around Tenggol Island are home to a wide variety of marine life, including colorful fish, sea turtles, and even occasional sightings of larger creatures like whale sharks.

Tenggol Island offers a range of accommodation options for visitors, including the luxurious Tenggol Coral Beach Resort. This  resort offers air-conditioned rooms and facilities, as well as easy access to the beach and stunning views of the surrounding area. Tenggol Coral Beach Resort is particularly popular with diving enthusiasts, as it offers PADI-certified diving experiences and packages. However, they also cater to non-divers with various activities available such as island-hopping, snorkeling, and beach volleyball. Whether you’re looking for a diving adventure or a relaxing beach vacation, Tenggol Coral Beach Resort is a great choice for your stay on Tenggol Island.

Overall, Tenggol Island is a beautiful and serene destination that offers visitors the opportunity to experience the natural beauty and marine life of Malaysia’s east coast. Whether you’re an avid diver or just looking for a peaceful getaway, Tenggol Island is definitely worth considering for your next vacation.

Dive Sites

North Western Dive sites

“Around the north section of Tenggol island, we have eight dive sites. These sites range from sloping fringing coral edges to step sheer rock face drop-offs. The north part of Tenggol is the rockiest and has some of the most interesting rock formations with giant rock walls and structures almost temple-like underwater.”

Rajawali Reef and Gua Rajaiwali & Tanjung Rajawai

Experience Level : Easy – Intermediate Depth: 8m to 25m Avg Visibility : 10-15m

Rajawali Reef and Gua Rajaiwali lay along the northwest tip of Tenggol island. Gua Rajawali starts as a shallow reef that banks down into the sand where soft corals and sea whips are plentiful. Schools of Yellow snapper and Jacks play here and the triggerfish can be frisky at certain times of the year. Always keep a lookout in the blue here for other larger paraplegic fish especially as you get further north closer to Rajawali reef leading into Tanjung Rajawali. Here the depth drops off faster and Manta-Ray and eagle Rays can sometimes be seen swimming by.

Teluk Rajawali Reef and The Lost World

Experience Level : Easy Depth: 10m to 18m Avg Visibility : 5m-15m
As we come around the Northwest tip of Tenggol you will see a large bay where the water laps the steep rocky inclines of the north of the island. Just around the corner and similar in topography to Tanjung Rajawali Teluk Rajawali flattens out to a more consistent depth. This reef is huge and leads right to and through what is known as the Lost world. Hard coral, soft corals, whips, sponges, and anemones totally cover this area. Large schools of fish play in the shallows and micro life happily hide and thrive in and among the rocks. Sometimes baby blacktip reef shark is seen here but they are very cautious of approaching divers. Great place for snorkeling also.

Tanjung Api and Sri Nokhota

Experience Level : Intermediate – Expert Depth: 12m to 30+m Avg Visibility : 10m-25m
On the most western tip of Tenggol towards the north, we have Tanjung Api and Sri Nokhota. These dive sites can be visited by open water divers but a reasonable range in experience ability is recommended due to the potential depth, current, and surge that can occur at these dive sites. This side of the island is characterized by steep rock faces that extend and slip down into the ocean floor. These rock walls are famous on Tenggol for the Nudibranch. As you venture deeper the rock formations get even bigger, some rocks under the ocean here are 20m tall and create vast underwater mounts covered in giant sea fans to explore. There are a vast range of Angle fish in these areas as well as large hump head parrotfish and schools of batfish. if you’re lucky and venture out deeper you might even catch the manta rays playing around the end of the season.
Dive Sites

South Western Dive sites

“Down at the southern end of Tenggol we have six dive sites to visit. The south end is a nice mixture of everything great about Tenggol dive sites. Huge Rocks, Fringing coral slopes, underwater formations, deep blue drifts and everything in between. One of the most famous and possibly best dive sites in Tenggol, Tokong Timur is located south of the island and is the best place to see the Tenggol Whale sharks from Aug to October every year.”

Sarang Lang & Tanjung Sarang Lang

Experience Level : Intermediate Depth: 12m to 20m Avg Visibility : 10-15m
The most southwestern tip of Tenggol is probably one of the least visited areas of the island. Winds can make surge waves and surge here that throw you from side to side over 6m at certain times of the year. The reef is very nice and large schools of jacks and yellow back fusilier illuminate the coral backdrops. This is a good place to look out for stingrays in the sand as well as blue spot stingrays among the corals.

Batu Chachang & The Edge

Experience Level : Intermediate Depth: 12m to 25+m Avg Visibility : 10-20m
These sites usually begin with a drop off over shallow water close to the island. shortly after descending you can usually expect some mild to moderate current to drift you along a coralline littered with large rock formations. Sea whips cover the sand areas and the rocks on the southwestern edge drop down beyond 25m. one rock, in particular, gives the later part of this dive site the nickname ” The Edge” because that’s exactly what you get as you drift over a rock at about 17m and all of a sudden it drops away over the edge into the deep blue. a great place to see larger Pelagic fish playing with the currents and hunting.

Tokong Timur

Experience Level : Intermediate – Expert Depth: 12m to 30+m Avg Visibility : 15-30m
One of the most famous dives sites in Tenggol. Tokong Timur. This dive site is awesome all year round. frequently you can see hunting great barracuda and giant schools of 20+ Batfish here. It’s actually a small island in its self just south of Tenggol with a lighthouse on it. the south side is bar far the best with very nice colorful corals and fish in the shallows and interesting rocks to search around down deeper. It’s between Aug and Oct every year that the Whale Sharks Are seen swimming around this rock feeding. The currents can be very strong here and even have undertow on the western side of it hence careful dive planning and a recommended Intermediate to expert level of experience.
News

Diving Disaster Averted At Tenggol Coral

Recently a Diving Disaster was Averted at Tenggol Coral Tenggol Coral Beach Dive Team and friends. Our instructors and Divemaster crew along with our Dive Interns and diver friends located and cut out a huge fishing net that had snagged and covered one of our most treasured dive sites, Tokong Timur. This absolutely huge fishing net was about 60-70 meters long and 30 meters deep and practically covered the whole south side of the nearby Tenggol island. It’s so sad to see how our underwater friends died tragically.. among the casualties we found baby blacktip reef sharks, giant trevally fish, stingrays, grouper and queenfish. The hardest part of this kind of project isn’t just removing the fishing net but seeing how some of the aquatic life that was still stuck on the net were still alive! Fortunately, we did manage to help them, cut them free and release a few. Irresponsible fishing activities should not be allowed to happen around this beautiful island because Tenggol Island is part of a larger Marine Park group, meaning its reefs and wildlife are protected and no fishing should occur here. Thankfully, we caught this threat and disaster quickly and therefore minimized the impact on most of the aquatic life and corals are still healthy and beautiful. We already work closely with Project Aware to keep this pristine island and its reefs in the best possible condition and we also look to assist Taman Laut Malaysia and Marine Team Malaysia To monitor those irresponsible Fisherman. Thank you to our dive friends underwaterclicks everyone who helped and took part in this rescue project.
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