Where to Dive Each Season: 2027 Calendar from Kuala Lumpur

Sekawan runs a four-season rotation from Kuala Lumpur. January to April is the Maldives, when the northeast monsoon brings sunny skies, flat seas and clear water. April to July is Sipadan, which has the best visibility and calmest seas of its year. July to October is Komodo, when the dry season and cooler water bring out the marine action. October to January is Malapascua in the Philippines, for thresher sharks. Each window is chosen so that somewhere good is always in season, wherever the Malaysian monsoon happens to be.

Because Malaysia has two opposite seasons. The east coast islands, Redang, Perhentian, Tioman and Tenggol, run March to October and close November to February for the northeast monsoon. Sabah runs the other way. This calendar fills the gaps with regional destinations that peak when Malaysia does not, so there is no dead time in a diving year.

This is the northeast monsoon, which in the Maldives means the dry season: sunny weather, flat seas and the clearest water of the year. Conditions are settled enough for atoll crossings and liveaboard itineraries that are uncomfortable at other times. It is also peak season, so flights and boats book out early, and the weeks either side of Chinese New Year carry the steepest surcharges.

Expect the higher end of our range, roughly USD 1,500 to 2,200 per person depending on whether you choose a liveaboard or a local island stay. Seven nights suits a liveaboard; five days and four nights works for a local island base. This is the premium slot in the calendar.

Yes. Malapascua in the Philippines peaks in exactly the same months, and costs roughly USD 700 to 1,200 per person for five days and four nights. January to April is its best visibility of the year and peak thresher shark season. If your dates are fixed by school holidays but your budget is not the Maldives, this is the trip.

Sipadan dives well most of the year, but April to July is when visibility is at its best and the sea is at its calmest. Barracuda schools, turtles and wall diving are at their most reliable. Because permits are limited and issued through resorts rather than agencies, this window fills earliest.

Two matter. Labour Day falls on Saturday 1 May with a replacement holiday on Monday 3 May, so two days of leave buys five days off from Friday 30 April to Tuesday 4 May. The bigger one is May: Hari Raya Haji on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 May, then Wesak Day on Thursday 20 May. Taking only Wednesday 19 May as leave gives you nine days off, from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 May. That is the single best block of the Malaysian year and it lands inside Sipadan season.

This is Komodo’s dry season. Cooler, nutrient-rich water pushes through the park and brings the marine action with it, particularly manta rays at the cleaning stations. Visibility is good and the weather is settled. The trade-off is that the same currents that feed the mantas make some sites demanding, so this window suits divers with experience rather than absolute beginners.

Both work. A liveaboard reaches the further sites and dives more of the park, but it is no good for anyone prone to seasickness. A land-based resort near Labuan Bajo runs daily boats into the park with lunch aboard, costs less, and lets non-diving partners do the dragons and the islands. For mixed groups we usually recommend land-based.

Thresher sharks. Malapascua is the only place in the world with daily thresher shark dives at Kimud Shoal, and sighting rates are high in every month of the year, which is what makes this window workable at all. Water sits around 26 to 29 degrees, dropping to 24 to 26 in January and February.

You should know this before booking. Late October through December is the highest-risk period of the year for tropical cyclones in the Central Visayas. A storm does not have to hit the island to matter: it can disrupt ferries, local transport and island access for several days. Published guidance generally rates December to May as the more settled season, with October to December less reliable. The thresher sharks are there regardless, but your travel days are the exposed part. If you book this window, build spare days into the return leg and take flexible flights. December and January are the calmer half of the window, and we would steer you there first.

For peak windows, four to six months. Sipadan permit allocations and Maldives liveaboard berths are the two that close earliest. Group blocks of eight to ten need the same lead time to secure wholesale rates. If your dates are tied to a Malaysian public holiday, assume everyone else has spotted the same long weekend.

Yes, and it is where an agency earns its keep. We block resort and boat capacity months ahead, arrange the Kuala Lumpur departure, flights and transfers as one booking, and can combine destinations that no single resort will sell you. Tell us the size of the group and the window, and we will come back with dates that work against the 2027 holiday calendar.