Dive site: UMT Christmas Ghost Wreck
Location: Terengganu, Malaysia
Dive guide: Figo from Big Blue World DC

This divesite is located somewhere near Bidong Island, Terengganu. I’m not sure the exact coordinates of this dive site, though, but I promise to update the exact location once I found out about it.

I have always wanted to see sunken ship wrecks, and this time, I was privileged enough to see not only one, but two of them at the same dive site.

There are two shipwrecks at this dive site and the ships were sunk at about 24-26m. According to our boatman, the ships were sunk by UMT back in 2020 so that it can be a home to the marine lives down there.

I was abit nervous about the strong current during this dive and was watching my NDL closely. I’ve done 2 dives prior to this dive and I was diving conservative this time. I didn’t want to hit my NDL as it would be nasty if I have to perform a deco stop before ending the dive cuz my air wouldn’t be enough to complete my deco stop obligation on top of the safety stop at 5m since this is already a deep dive to begin with and air consumption is definitely alot more than my previous dive, which was a drift dive. I heard divecoms beeping from other divers in the group, but I’m glad mine didn’t til the end of the dive, despite ending the dive with just 50 bar of air to spare.

The vis was excellent. I can see the entire ship, but there’s no penetration cuz I’m not a trained wreck diver and I didn’t really explore at the bottom side of it. I tried to just maintain my depth at 22m and explored the ship from that depth, but even at 22m and above, the wrecks are mesmerising. It has become a habitat to all sorts of marine creatures and schooling fishes can be seen swimming around.

The ships has also become somewhat a home for beautiful white corals. I’m no coral expert, so I’m not sure what these white corals are called, so I’d appreciate if any of you out there can ID it for me. All I know is that the wrecks gives somewhat a wintry and Christmassy feel, with snow white corals everywhere on the wrecks around alongside with the strong current and cold temperature.

I’ve seen wrecks at other sites before, but not as big and as beautiful as this one. Hopefully this will not be my last shipwreck. 🙏

Things divers should take note about this dive site:

-Strong current, so it requires strong swimmer and divers with a sense of adventure

– Due to the depth of the shipwrecks, this dive site is recommended only for Advance Open Water level and above

-There’s thermocline over here and warm temperature can changed from warm to cold drastically, so be sure to suit up well if you’re to explore this place.