Brunei's treasures to attract travellers on scuba diving holidays

Diving in Brunei may not be seen as one of the most popular choices amongst professionals and travellers looking for scuba diving holidays but it seems that there are plenty of underwater treasures to be discovered.

General Manager of Poni Waters, Wong Thye Sing, is hopeful that the area's delights will attract local divers and tourists on scuba diving holidays with the help of his new dive club.

Wong explained; "A lot of people don't know you can scuba dive in Brunei...There's not really a scuba diving industry (here)."

However, numerous hidden shipwrecks, barracudas, whale sharks and colourful coral reefs could put the region on the map of diving sites with the help of the government and marine protected areas.

Wong, 26 and a certified PADI instructor, ran a diving club in Canada for eight years and believes that diving in Brunei could fast become a popular sport amongst tourists and locals as the industry looks like it may be picking up once again.

The dive club manager hopes that as professional Bruneians are returning back to the island from abroad, they will look to continue their diving experiences on their home land which will in turn lead to a market for scuba diving holidays.

"We do have really good dive sites and we have a lot of young people that want to dive. We actually have coral patches all along (the Brunei coast)," Wong said.

"We do have whale sharks. They come through two months out of the year... We also have manta (rays) but they are quite rare. Mostly we have school of barracudas, which swim around the shipwrecks".

As the Fisheries Department works to prepare plans for a Marine Protected Area for the waters of Brunei, many sites could soon become treasure spots for divers enjoying scuba diving holidays.

Before they can take to the waters, divers would have to undergo a course comprising 10 hours or theory and 10 hours of practical swimming in a pool to obtain their scuba diving certification.

Brunei is situated on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia and features tropical rainforests, picturesque villages, nature parks and ancient mosques.