KETAMA

Best months: May, Oct

Protected Area

Rantau Abang Fisheries Prohibited Areas

Why dive here

With 143+ marine species recorded in the area - including sea turtles and whale sharks - KETAMA offers some of Redang Island's richest wreck diving. Water ranges 28-31°C, warmest April, May, June.

Marine lifeSea Turtles and Whale Sharks · 143+ species recorded

Water28-31°C · warmest April, May, June

CharacterWreck dive · max 7m

Ketama is a gentle old girl, and we’re quite fond of her. This 92-meter cargo vessel, built in 1949, went down in a typhoon in 1975 carrying cement. It’s a shallow dive, maxing out at seven meters, which makes it perfect for a long, relaxed exploration, especially for those newer to wreck diving. Even after all these years, you can still make out the superstructure, the hull, and some of the cargo holds. We’ve spent many a dive poking around, imagining the ship's last moments. The visibility here can be decent, usually 10 to 15 meters, allowing light to filter through, illuminating the schools of yellowtail snapper that swirl around the deck. Look closely and you’ll spot resident lionfish tucked into crevices and the occasional turtle grazing on algae. It’s a really accessible piece of maritime history, not a deep dark imposing wreck, but a living reef that tells a story. We’d suggest going in the morning; the light is softer and brings out the colours of the corals starting to grow on the metal.