People ask me…I do the peripheral islands so much so why don’t I do places like Sipadan, Mabul, Bunaken, Raja Ampat, Tulamben etc? I ask them back, “What is so special about these places?”
They tell me about the good viz compared to places like Perhentian, Redang and Tioman, and can see may things like Manta, Mandarin fish etc etc.
Do you know why I dive the peripheral islands?
1. I don’t believe in paying so much for air fare, accommodation, food etc when I can burn this money for more dives. I only need a place where I can lie down..it doesn’t have to be a room.
2. I get cheaper dives wherever I go.
3. If I want to see Mandarin Fish, I just go to a pet shop.
4. If I want to take people see Manta or Whale Shark, I can do that by taking a boat out from Redang, Perhentian or Tioman..say two hours out from these islands…which is the same amount of time spent on a boat if you want to see these things, say, in Phuket. So what’s the fuss?
5. Good viz? Define Bad Viz! To me, there is no such thing as a bad dive site. There are only bad divers. If you cannot enjoy low viz, then yu are not a diver but merely a tourist. Pussies, in short.
So here’s the trip report. Pics will be uploaded once I’ve done the video for this trip.
Friday – 4th May 07
Mocha arrived for dinner at 8.30pm. Spazm came to join at around 9.30pm, followed by Deepblu an hour later. Finally departed KL at 11.50pm…this time driving the Perdana. The Saga would have been a bit small for comfort, the Naza Ria a bit too big.
Saturday – 5th May 07
Rendezvous with Bubble Trouble at the BHP after Gombak toll at 12.30am..and quickly made our way through Bentong, Raub, Benta, Kuala Lipis, Merapoh to Gua Musang doing speeds not less than 100km/h. Got to Gua Musang at 3am..stopped for coffee and my usual nasi air (congee..has to have something to do with Gee here). Departed Gua Musang at 4.15am, finally Mocha and Deepblu slept and I continued the drive alone (Bubble Trouble drove alone in his Maggi-sponsored car). I was accompanied by people like Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra and Simone.
Arrived Kuala Besut at 6.15am. Parked the car and made our way to the jetty for the 7am boat. Arrived at Seahorse Dive Center about a quarter to 8am. Nazimkecik joined us for the 9am dive after reluctantly playing the role as maid cum babysitter so his wife could enjoy diving. Some may call it “considerate.” I call it “subservient.”
Dive One – Tukun Laut
Slight surface current. Descended to 12m then made way to 24m. I was busy taking videos of the other divers despite having a hard time keeping my eyes open. The usual were seen…Bamboo Sharks, huge school of fusiliers with Trevallies darting to feed. Took videos and photos of a Banded Sea Snake that was snooping looking for food. There was also a Devil Scorpionfish. After that a turtle came by to feed..swam with it or more than a minute after it fed. I felt really sleepy…signaled to the dive guide that I was going up to sleep. Just then, something hilarious happened: two triggerfish attacked Bubble Trouble and I laughed like mad underwater. It was a funny sight. Deepblu went missing too. Found him later on the surface. Viz was good…around 15m.
On the way back to the DC, I remember sleeping. Totally exhausted from the drive.
Dive Two – Karang Cupak
This is a new dive site. In fact, no DC has organised a dive trip here, simply because it’s very easy to miss it. Lots of jellyfish around. Max depth was around 18m. Lots of trevallies and fusiliers. Highlight I think was this group of shrimps..good photo op. Other than that I was busy taking photos and videos of jellyfishes. Mocha got stung by jellyfish.
On the way back I slept on the floorboard of the boat.
The afternoon dive never took place. All of us slept. Woke up at about 6pm to prepare for the night dive.
Dive Three – Tukun Laut (again)
We left the DC at 7pm. Got to Tukun Laut around 25 minutes later. Quick prep, and we sent Mocha to the surface as shark bait. Then the rest of us entered the water. Slight current at 18m. Lots of scorpionfishes, Bamboo Sharks that refuse to come out to feed (maybe they were fasting). Got photos and video of a Cat Shark that seemed agitated by our presence. Did mini deco stops towards the end just to get rid of bubbles in a more gradual and gentle manner. Leafbug got stung by jellyfish.
Got back to several plates of fried rice, BBQ chicken, squids and fish.
I slept by 11pm. Just too exhausted.
Sunday – 6th May 07
Dive Four – Sugar Wreck
The instructors at the DC didn’t havd anything to do this morning and all requested to follow us to have fun. So Deepblu, myself and Mocha taught them how to have fun. Lots of jellyfish. Quickly descended…was off the bow and started moving towards the stern. I took Birgit (the Lead Dive Guide) to the “missing” cargo doors and anchor. Took photos of the same butt-ugly nudi(?) I had seen 6 weeks earlier. Then went back to the wreck, took photos and videos of porcupinefishes, lionfishes, razorfishes…then went to have a look at possible penetration points.
On the way up, did mini deco stops again but had to scan all around for jellyfish. One tentacle managed to wrap me on my right knee (I did not use my wetsuit on this day because I wanted it dry for packing later).
Dive Five – Terumbu Tiga
Final dive for this trip. Lots and lots of jellyfish. Descended carefully and straight down to the bottom. Viz was at 5m the best. Nevertheless, pointed out some critters and shrimps to Mocha and Deepblu as I did not take my camera down this time. Mocha went missing in the poor viz towards the end of the dive. While searching, a loose connection between my DIN 1st stage and the Yoke connector caused air to escape from my tank. I immediately launched my SMB and made my way slowly up, with Gee the dive guide frantically trying to pass me her octopus when she saw my pressure gauge was showing ZERO. I just smiled and declined, breathed slowly and performed my 3-minute safety stop at 5m, accompanied by Gee and Deepblu. In the end, air in the 1st stage ran out as I surfaced. It was a good dive nevertheless.
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