Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi

Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi Overview

Pulau Payar Marine Park, located about 30 km from the main island of Langkawi, is one of the most popular scuba diving and snorkelling destinations in Malaysia. This is the perfect place to visit for both experienced divers and newbies who want to try their hands at it.

At Pulau Payar Marine Park one can observe the natural habitat of various species of fish and baby sharks and feed them. This island comprises of four smaller islands, all of which are uninhabited and are highly monitored to prevent any degradation of the virginal marine life. The stunning island also has jade green rainforests forming a natural border around it which is not open for all tourists but can be accessed only with special permission from the authorities.

The pristine Pulau Payar Marine Park can be accessed only as a part of some tour package affiliated to the Fisheries Department of Kedah to promote the conservation of marine life and to raise awareness against coral bleaching and degradation.

Top Things to Do at Pulau Payar Marine Park

Pulau Payar Marine Park is made up of 4 smaller islands namely Pulau Payar which is the main island, Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu and Pulau Segantang. This island offers a few of the best diving sites and snorkelling patches and due to these fun activities, tourists keep frequenting this destination.

Scuba Diving
This marine park has about 15 diving sites located at different points around the island. They have separate provisions for beginners and the more experienced drivers.

The ‘Visitor’s Center’ diving spot is meant especially for beginners while a few others like the ones around Pulau Segantang are meant for the more experienced divers with more challenging cliffs and stronger water currents in that area.
Some of the other popular points are the Sponge Reef, Lembu Rocks and the Shark Point.

NOTE: Many of the points allow only certified divers to participate in the activities

Snorkelling
The Coral Garden is the most popular diving and snorkelling point of this island as this region absolutely teems with coral reefs and newly formed corals. The special snorkelling points allow one to immerse amongst the friendly aquatic creatures and easily spot a school of eels, pufferfish, snappers or even batfish and the Titan triggerfish.
There is a special coral park which has a huge variety of rare, colourful corals which are highly monitored and protected from visitors. Special permission from the authorities has to be taken to visit the coral park.

Price: Adult - RM 180, Child (3-11 years): RM 150, Infant - RM 100

Feeding
There are certain marked areas located in the off-shore areas of the Coral Gardens where one can feed the school of fishes. Also, there is a special point where one can feed baby sharks! The baby sharks can be fed either from the jetty itself or in the shallow water once the ‘shark caller’ calls them for their next meal.

Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi — Bird's eye view of Pulau Payar (Source)

How to Reach Pualau Payar

Take a speed boat from the Kuah Jetty which is the ferry terminal at Kuah Town, in the main island of Langkawi. The boat ride is about 45 minutes long. The entire trip including the ferry ride, snorkelling and scuba diving activities can cost anywhere between RM 350 - RM 430 depending on the number of dives one chooses to make.

Tips

Make sure to carry swimwear, towels, spare clothes, sunscreen lotions and enough cash.
Do not touch any of the corals. Wear float jackets and avoid wearing flippers so that your body doesn’t make contact with any of the corals.
Don’t litter the island or throw anything into the sea.
Follow the safety measures given by the instructors. Do not violate any of the rules and try to stick to the techniques demonstrated by them, especially if you’re a newbie.