Visibility is never guaranteed. Weather, ocean conditions or natural causes like plankton bloom, will reduce visibility even in much-touted exotic dive destinations. We have no control except to make it worse. Ever noticed that one of the first (if not THE first) question asked is "How is the visibility like?". Does it mean that if the visibility is not as expected, it's not worth getting wet? Sometimes, low visibility caused by plankton bloom, offers a higher chance of seeing the "big" stuff like mantas and whale sharks as they feed on them. If you really enjoy diving, it should not matter how the visibility is like. You will still be able to adapt and make any dive a good dive!

Diving in Singapore may not be everyone's cup of tea. Most people would be put off by the limited visibilty. You would think that the water surrounding our islands is murky and polluted. Murky, yes! Polluted, no! The low visibility is caused by lots of sediment in the water. This is due mainly by the reclamation of land and also ship traffic. Singapore being a small island and one of the busiest port in the world, we have to live with that. However, with strict controls, there is no pollution in terms of sewage running off the land into the sea thus our waters can be considered relatively clean.

Why dive in Singapore? With average visibility of just 3 metres, why bother? If visibility is your concern then I would say don't bother. If all you want is to go out and get in some dive time without having to travel far or take days off, then it would be convenient for a day-trip.

An ideal place to boost your confidence and increase your navigational skills. Being comfortable in murky waters, you will find that if conditions worsen for any reasons when you go to an exotic dive destination, you will still be able to adapt quite comfortably to it. Diving in limited visibility takes confidence and some skills. Take a diver that is trained in diving in clear water and put that diver in a limited visibility environment, you will get a very stressed diver. On the other hand, take a diver trained in and is comfortable with diving in limited visibility, that diver will adapt to any situations quite easily. We all have a saying that if you can dive in Singapore, you can dive anywhere. If want some tips as to how to handle yourself in limited visibility, check this out!

What can you expect in our local waters? Visibility is usually between 2 to 3 m but it can get worse (arm's length) and it can be quite good at times with 8 to 10 m (though rare). Ask any seasoned divers there and they have seen it all.

As for marine life, we don't expect the "big" stuff but we have spotted turtles (mainly the Hawksbill - Eretmochelys imbricata) quite regularly, nurse sharks, a great barracuda and even dolphins (on the surface), including a pink one. What we would advise divers is to concentrate looking for the smaller creatures like nudibranchs, flatworms, shrimps, crabs, gobies, seahorses, pipefishes, frogfishes, toadfishes, cuttlefishes, squids, octopus, butterflyfishes, angelfishes, razorfishes, schools of yellowtail barracudas, rabbitfishes, flounders, iminicus species, anemonefishes (3 species), pufferfishes, comets, stingrays and the list goes on. Discovering things that you don't expect to find in Singapore is all part of the fun. Check out some of the marine life that has been "shot" locally in our Singapore Photo Gallery.

Besides looking out for the marine life, try practising your navigation (the ideal location to do so) or even practise on your macro photography. You will be surprised what you can achieve if you work within your limitations. Dive with an open mind and will greatly enjoy your day's outing.

If you have any queries about diving in Singapore or would like to know more, contact us and we will guide you with our best knowledge about diving locally.

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