Pulau Hantu Published by Achim Schlöffel on 2009-06-21

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Often when I travel for classes, I am always put to the question how diving is like in Singapore. Being an island in the tropics, foreigners always have the mindset that it boasts crystal clear water with coconut trees, till when they actually see Singapore, which is a bustling city. The most popular and convenient dive location in Singapore, is Pulau Hantu.

As Singapore has a significant malay culture, some places still have malay names on streets, buildings and islands. If we translate Pulau Hantu into english, it actually means the “island of ghosts”. Legend has it that the spirits of warriors during an ancient battle actually remain there. For the local divers, they are not at all bothered and are rather busy chatting or kitting up their scuba equipment ready for the dive.

Being the “World’s Busiest Port” and on-going reclamation process for the country, Singapore for sure do not have the ability to boast crystal clear water. Visibility are in the range of 1-6m depending on tide and dates of the month. To most who have enjoyed the ‘luxury’ of diving in Asia, this might not sound appealing. It is very common for Singaporeans to go on a weekend trip to dive sites of neighboring countries, and only dive Pulau Hantu during the monsoon season of those sites.

That being said, if you actually experience Pulau Hantu, not only would you be a ‘better’ diver by exercising good aquatic skills in low visibility, the marine lives there are fantastic. Due to the fact that not many divers are interested to dive there, the marine lives are not affected by commercialization. From macro lives to pelagic, the friendly hawksbill turtle will appear suddenly beside you giving you a lovely experience. Photographers will definitely appreciate the wide array of nudibranchs species, frog-fishes, sea horses and the lovely soft and hard corals formations. To top it up, the maximum depth is only about 10m, that gives really good bottom time. Water temperature is at the 30 degrees celsius range and divers appearing in rash guards and board shorts are a common sight.

Therefore, on your next or upcoming visit to Singapore and apart from indulging in this food paradise. Do remember to spend a day diving at Pulau Hantu too. These trips are usually via a liveaboard and a couple of dives. Some operators will actually embark and do a BBQ on Pulau Hantu itself! For now, safe diving and keep diving! Yang Yihao

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