Diving aficionados know that some of Asia's most exciting dive sites are found along the swatch of sea along the east coast of Malaysia. The nutrient-rich, warm waters here have turned this tropical archipelago into an underwater Garden of Eden. With its wall-to-wall marine life, this not-so-remote corner of Malaysia has become a vortex for visitors with adventure on their minds: particularly underwater ones.

Five major islands

There are five major islands or island clusters along Malaysia's east coast, stretching for hundreds of kilometres from Tioman in the south, to Tenggol, Lang Tengah, Redang and Perhentian in the far north. With 10 to 15 dive sites per island, it makes for endless diving possibilities.

The diving around here takes in the whole range: drop-off, drift, swim-throughs, macro, pelagic, shallow and wreck diving. Needless to say, divers are spoilt for choice.

With beautiful, banana-yellow beaches bathed in balmy breezes, it is important to realise that this area is one of the few places on earth where the rainforest and reef, two mutually exclusive biospheres, coexist harmoniously.

There are no crowds here. Often, it is just your group gliding through the Big Blue. This way, marine life will more likely come out and perform for you.

Like seeing schools of barracudas. To be diving beneath a steadily swirling storm of these sleek predators,with shafts of early morning sunlight shimmering off their silvery backs, is enough to make you go slack-jawed with awe.

Awesome wrecks

But these islands are also fast gaining a reputation for good wreck diving. There are dozens of wrecks to choose from, most of them within easy reach of your island (if you are land-based).

Just offshore from Tioman's Salang Village lies the beautiful Soyak Wreck. Six years ago, the marine police caught an old wooden Thai junk fishing illegally in Malaysian waters and confiscated it. When the owner refused to pay for its release, the Marine Fisheries Department asked the local dive operators if they wanted some fresh wrecks to dive to. The rest is photogenic history. The wreck stands upright 12m underwater looking like something out of the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean.

A few kilometres further offshore lies the eerie Pulau Berhala Wreck. A ghostly relic of World War II, this Japanese gunboat remains disturbingly intact, reminding you that the war was not that long ago.In the 12 to 15m depth lies a rusty carcass of a boat with two gun turrets standing sentry over the swirling armies of bannerfish and jacks.

At the other end of the archipelago, off Perhentian, lies the hulking mass of the Sugar Wreck. It sank three years ago during a monsoon storm due to a bad leak. It was on its way back to Singapore for repairs after dropping off cargo up north. Lying on its side in 20m depth, it is now home to lots of soft coral and basically anything that excites macro-photographers. Leopard sharks, nurse sharks and big rays are also a common attraction.

At the end of the day, there is nothing quite like just sitting top deck with your dive buddies, talking about all the stuff you have seen that day, now and then glancing out at the mesmerising vastness of the sea at sunset.

This is the thing about the east coast islands. It is as rock 'n' roll or as quiet as you want it to be. Explore huge battleship wrecks, dodge 2m-long morays, or do less than nothing. It is as if the waves slowly wash away your memory of anything outside of these islands that crown this coral kingdom.