Snorkeling in Shark-Infested Waters....wow!!

A trip to Langkawi is an absolute waste if you do not make at least one trip to Pulau Payar Marine Park, about 45 minutes boatride from Langkawi Yacht Club or jetty in Kuah Town. The trip is really worth it if you love snorkeling or scuba diving to catch a glimpse of the myriad of colours among the corals underneath the sea. According to vice president of Malaysia Scuba Diving Association Syed Abd Rahman, Pulau Payar, which boasts a diversity of marine life, is an ideal diving site for beginner as well as avid divers.

He also said visibility of the water average between 10 to 15m, making the park an ideal place for scuba diving, snorkeling and swimming. 

Other amenities for those who do not snorkel or dive are the gazebos and picnic tables and barbecue pits. The sight of the reef fishes darting about and the graceful and majestic presence of the Blacktip Reef Sharks are sure to mesmerize you and these are the key attractions to tourists and locals alike. 

Snorkeling among the Blacktip Reef Shark is relatively safe if the NO FEEDING regulation is observed!

A recent trip to the island was a trip re-visited for me. It was years ago, before 2008 since I went to P. Payar and the place still holds a special attraction. Snorkeling among the Blacktip Reef Sharks still has that adrenalin-boosting effect for me! People claim the sharks are harmless, they may be so but I still have my reservations where the predators are concerned! But since the fish-feeding activities at Pulau Payar had been stopped, there has been no reports of shark gracing...(nips!) at the island. So, man and shark co-exist in the water in harmony on the day of my visit.

Out of the water,  I spent hours up on the jetty just to have an aerial view of the graceful family of predators. They never fail to mesmerize me so my camera went click, click, click. The largest I saw was about 4 feet and I was a bit disappointed at not having the chance to spot anything larger. There were also many baby sharks nearer to shore and underneath the jetty. They were the star attraction as I could hear, shrieks of "shark, shark" now and then as they swim nearer to the crowd.

 And there were thousands of other reef fishes swimming along with the sharks among the coral reef. According to Syed, there are many ideal dive spots at Pulau Payar. One of the spots is the coral garden which is now out of bound for divers due to the excessive coral bleaching caused by extreme sea temperature. The coral bleaching causes the corals to take on a dull grey hue instead of they myriad of rainbow colours they are supposed to be.

The gazebos and picnic tables offer a cool shade from the scorching sun (which is ideal for tourists who come to sunbathe), otherwise, locals like me would remain safely under the gazebo when not in the water!
The beach is sandy and clean. But, I wish the cleaners would do something about the toilet though! All in all, I would highly recommend a trip to Payar for those who visit Langkawi. As for me, I would gladly visit Pulau Payar again in the hope of sighting the larger predators!!