Sugar Wreck

The following descriptions are from Anuar Abdullah, a local diver who has been diving for more than 17 years in east and west Malaysia, has logged more then 6000 dives and knows Perhentian by heart: Sugar Wreck is an easily accessible sunken 3500-ton sugar hauler located just off the shores of Kuala Besut, south west of Perhentian Kecil. A cardinal buoy marks her resting place. She lays in 18 meters of water on her starboard, her bow pointing northeast and parts of her gentry cranes and cargo hatches strewn on the bottom in the vicinity. The boat sank in the monsoon of 1999. Being recent, the wreck harbors little marine growth, but fish are abundant. The tidal stream affects diving at this site. Diving at the wreck is best during a new moon. At this time, tidal changes are insignificant, causing little or no currents. Visibility also improves as there is no stir up. A large school of juvenile barracuda can be found around the wreck, especially near the cargo hold and wheel house. Red snappers and sweetlips are plenty too. Shipwrecks are usually home to many species of venomous fish, like lionfish, scorpion fish and stonefish. Most conspicuous at the Sugar Wreck are the Plain Tailed Lionfish (Pterois ruselli). The shallowest part of this wreck is only 6 meters below the surface. A mooring line is attached to the superstructure at this point. Like Tokong Laut, the Sugar Wreck is one of the most popular dive sites in Perhentian. The buoy is near a big cardinal buoy, south west of Pulau Perhentian Kecil.