Miri Scuba Diving

For anyone interested in Miri scuba diving, two dive operators are located here. Miri is branded as a resort city north of Sarawak, next to Brunei and on the island of Borneo.

Scuba diving in Miri is a niche, as only a few people know you can dive here. As for me, this article highlights that you can actually dive in Miri, as some beautiful dive sites are found around here.

The dive sites are part of the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reef National Park. Dive sites here range from around 7 to 30 meters deep, and you can find over 800 species of hard and soft corals. Marine life is abundant with various coral fish, midwater fish, and, on occasion, larger fish.

Miri Scuba Diving

On a dive trip to Miri in May 2017, I had the opportunity to dive at three spots with Coco Dive. They will pick you up from your hotel and bring you to the on-site dive centre, which is located at Marina Bay Jetty in Miri.

You are led to the dive boat after signing the appropriate documents and gearing up. It takes about 20-30 minutes from the marina to go out into the open sea. The boats are medium-sized and come with a roof.

Initially, we were supposed to dive at the Siwah Reef dive site, but we had to change our site due to strong currents.

At the following site, the waters were much calmer and upon descending, we were greeted by decent visibility of around 7-10 meters.

What do the dive sites in Miri look like? I am in the photo, taken with a basic action camera.

The corals were thriving with rich marine life while colours stood out about 17 meters deep. Nudibranches were easily spotted apart from the common coral fish. A very mild current in our direction made the dive much more accessible.

After our first dive, the surface interval was en route to the following site, which is about 15 minutes, plus the time we took to gear up, listen to the dive brief, checks and so on.

Once everyone was cleared to dive, we quickly got into the water for the next dive.

 A school of Jacks, which contributes to the rich undersea life in Miri.

During the second dive at Batu Belias, the visibility was around 10 meters. A bonus halfway through the dive was that I encountered a lone Bumphead Parrotfish banging away at the hard corals.

It must have been at least 1.5 meters in size. Of course, I tried to get closer, but it eventually swam away.

The final dive was at Eve's Garden dive site, which is relatively shallow and rich with abundant corals. It is here where you can find lots of smaller critters.

The occasional spotted blue ray will pass by, while at some holes, the common Moray Eel is seen with his head sticking out.

Miri Scuba Diving Information

For the first-timer, you should know that Miri is well known as the gateway to some fantastic national parks in Sarawak, namely Mulu National Park and Niah National Park.

The resort city is also home to the Borneo Jazz Festival, which takes place every May, with top international jazz musicians performing here.

There are over 40 dive sites in Miri for you to choose from, depending on what kind of diving you want. However, you must consider the time of the year for some dives.

All the dives in Miri are boat dives, and each dive site is around 20 to 60 minutes of boat rides. Usually, the nearer dive sites are the most popular, namely Eve's Garden, Belias Reef and Anemone Garden dive sites.

For macro divers, there are plenty of dive sites in Miri with beautiful underwater landscapes rich in macro life, nudibranchs and other small critters. You must inform the dive operator what type of diving you want to experience here.

For general divers, several dive sites cater to leisure diving and chances to spot larger fishes. Schools of barracudas and jacks are common; if you are lucky enough, you can even spot a whale shark.

Visibility for diving in Miri varies from around 5 to 20 meters, depending on the time of the year and weather.

In my three times diving in Miri, two gave me 10-15 meters visibility, while one was just around 5-8 meters.

For those who want to experience scuba diving in Miri, you can do DSD (Discover Scuba Diving), where they give you a quick course at a swimming pool before taking you out to the sea for a real-time experience.

Miri Scuba Diving Operators

There are two leading dive operators in Miri; one has been around for years, and the other is a new player here. Both dive shops in Miri are located in the town area too.

Previously, there was another dive operator, Hoopa Dive, but apparently, they closed the shop in 2016. Below are the dive centres in Miri with some basic information.

Coco Dive Center

Coco Dive is the pioneer dive operator in Miri, having been here for more than 10 years. They are located in Miri City, while at the Marina Bay Jetty, they now have a mobile dive office and centre in a container-style shop.

Coco Dive has been very active in promoting diving in Miri over the years, as they have worked with numerous divers, media and me. I have dived with Coco Dive thrice, and all dives have been pretty good.

They offer PADI courses for beginners to instructors while you can do simple 2 dives or even custom our dive package in Miri.

For the dive courses, you can also learn to be a divemaster, assistant instructor, master scuba diving trainer, IDC staff instructor, Emergency first response instructor, and even do an internship with them.

Coco Dive Miri Address

Lot 2117, Block 9, Jalan Miri-Pujut, MCLD,

Sarawak, 98000 Miri, Malaysia

Hours: 7.00 AM to 8.00 PM

Phone: +60 85 414 433

Coco Dive Website: http://www.divemiri.com/

Borneo Dive Network team heading for a dive in Miri. Photo from www.tripadvisor.com.

Borneo Dive Network

The newest dive operator in Miri is Borneo Dive Network, which is part of a travel agent based in Miri. They are also a dive school, offering PADI courses for anyone wanting to learn scuba diving.

Apart from that, they do leisure dives to over 30 dive sites in Miri. I have yet to experience diving with Borneo Dive Network, but hopefully, I will get to do so, and I can give you a much better review of them.

Borneo Dive Network Address

Lot 1084, First Floor, Jalan Merpati,

Miri 98000, Malaysia

Phone: +60 85 417 751

BDN Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BorneoDiveNetwork/

One of the divers spots a school of fish passing by in Miri.

Best Time for Miri Scuba Diving

The best time to dive in Miri is from April to October, and this is weather pending. You can dive during the other months, but the weather poses an issue, especially the rainy season and choppy seas.

However, there have been reports of divers going in November and December and having excellent dives with great visibility. This is pure luck, as some may say. I usually dive around May, which has been great.

You can also see the Sarawak Tourism website, as they have diving and other tourism-related info about Miri and Sarawak.

Me diving in Miri just had to include this underwater selfie.

Other Than Diving in Miri

For anyone planning to visit Miri, many hotels and resorts are available here. For those on a budget, guesthouses and backpacker lodges are also available. I wrote an article on the many things to do in Miri, especially if you are a first-time visitor.

Miri offers exciting exploration as a resort city if you love old cities. The old part of Miri town is worth a visit, especially to the markets, temples and local coffee shops.

For the modern-day traveller, Miri offers exciting and modern shopping malls with cafes, fast food chains and cinemas.

For divers, if you have been looking for a new place to dive and experience, Miri is one of the latest diving destinations in Malaysia.

The dives here are peaceful, and most of the time, it is usually one boat going out to sea.

The fascinating underwater landscape of Miri. This is just one of them.

This means it is not high-traffic like other dive sites in Malaysia. I am sure you have experienced diving at peak areas, where you see multiple dive boats at one dive site. You will see many groups of divers versus marine life when you descend below.

One of the places in Miri that I would like to dive into is no other than the Luconia Shoals. This dive site is said to be one of the most beautiful in Malaysia, yet one of the most challenging places to get to.

Luconia Shoals requires a live on board boat as the distance is over 100 kilometres from Miri, out in the South China Sea.

Having seen photos of this fantastic dive site, it is my mission to have a dive here and, hopefully, one day.

Scuba diving in Miri is highly recommended for any diver.

Conclusion

For those planning to explore the largest state in Malaysia, here is a list of dive sites in Sarawak for you to consider. If you are a wreck diver, plenty of wrecks are found in Miri and Kuching.

Scuba diving in Miri is growing at a slow pace, and for now, it is considered a beautiful place to dive, especially if you are looking for a peaceful dive without many other divers in the water at the same time. I also recommend you experience it fast before it becomes commercial.