Perhentian Islands

• Conservation Charge & Fee Rates, Department of Fisheries Malaysia
• Climate stress ravages Terengganu coral reefs, The Star
• Islanders Squeezed Out by Mainland Boatmen, Reef Check Malaysia
• Are Our Corals Bleaching Again?, Reef Check Malaysia
• Malaysia lost 20% of its coral reefs in three years, Mongabay
• Media Information: Affected Dive Sites Closed Temporarily For Coral Recovery (July 2010 order, expired 31 October 2010 — historical, not current), Tourism Malaysia
• Visit Information for Perhentian Islands Marine Park, Marine Parks of Malaysia
• Visit Information for Redang Marine Park, Marine Parks of Malaysia
• Redang visiting season, trip planning, Redang.org
• Redang dive sites, diving tips, Redang.org
• Dive sites of Perhentian Island, Lekker Divers
• Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary, SEATRU, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
• Sea water temperature Perhentian, Malaysia — monthly averages, Seatemperature.info
• Flights from Kuala Lumpur (Subang) to Redang: SZB to RDN schedule, FlightConnections

Note on the data: The November–February closure is well corroborated across the Marine Parks of Malaysia visitor pages, Redang.org and Malaysian news coverage, but it is a de-facto seasonal shutdown by resorts, boat operators and ferry services rather than a gazetted government closure order, so exact start and end dates shift by a week or two each year and by island — check with a specific operator before booking March or late October. Bleaching figures (Redang 100%/63.6%, Seringgih 54.9%/24.9%) come from The Star's July 2025 reporting of Malaysian Marine Science Society monitoring; the underlying Reef Check Malaysia 2024 bleaching impact report is a scanned PDF that could not be parsed. No evidence was found of a formal Department of Fisheries dive-site closure in Terengganu during the 2024 event — the documented national dive-site closure order covering Redang, Perhentian and Tioman dates from 2010 (until 31 October 2010), and in 2024 it was Johor that closed six islands to tourism. Reef Check Malaysia noted a bleaching watch alert for Terengganu in a recent article and raised site closure only as a possible management response, not a current restriction. Assume no dive sites are closed as of August 2026, but confirm locally. Site coordinates are approximate island-level positions, not surveyed GPS. Visibility and course prices are operator-reported. Sugar Wreck dimensions vary by source (89m, 90m, '300 feet') and its build year and nationality are inconsistently reported. Water temperature: Monthly minimum and maximum surface figures for the Perhentians; Redang, 45km away, runs within about half a degree. There is no meaningful thermocline — a 3mm shorty is enough all season, and sustained surface highs above roughly 31°C in mid-2024 are what drove the bleaching. January and February figures are included for completeness only; the islands are closed then. Access: One domestic hop from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu (KBR) or Kuala Terengganu (TGG), about an hour by road to the Kuala Besut or Merang jetty, then a 30–60 minute speedboat crossing; Berjaya Air also flies Subang to Redang's own strip roughly three times a week in season. Independently verified 2026-08-28. Monsoon closure CONFIRMED against Marine Parks of Malaysia (tourism shuts November to February, restarts around March), and the entry's caveat positively verified: Terengganu has never gazetted a closure — each operator shuts for guest safety, which is why the dates drift. Marine park conservation charge matched the Department of Fisheries schedule line by line (RM30/15/5/2, RM150/month operator, 2017 Order). Critically, NO Terengganu dive sites were closed in the 2024 bleaching event: DOF issued only a conditional 80%-bleaching-threshold warning that was never triggered, and it was Johor that closed islands — the 2010 Tourism Malaysia closure PDF in the source list is a historical order that expired 31 October 2010 and is now retitled so it cannot be misread as current. Sugar Wreck is degraded but not gone and still holds structure and fish; its 6m shallowest point added. Chiloscyllium punctatum and its Near Threatened status confirmed, with the unverified '2024' assessment year dropped.