Diver-sity @ Perhentian Island

For the Labor Day long weekend i went on  a dive trip to Perhentian Island with muazah, ikin and ain.

April 30th,2015
Ain, muazah and i drove from shah alam on 30/4 around 9pm.

May 1st,2015
Picked up ikin in kuantan around 1.45 am and met up cik wan, his wife and 3 kids at kuala terengganu around 6 am. At the kuala besut jetty, we met up another 3 guys. The 12 of us took a boat to perhentian island.
There's a lot of ppl since it was a long weekend which was very unfortunate for us as we planned to walk in at backpackers hostels in long beach which were all fully booked. We went straight to the dive shop while looking for any vacancy at nearby area. The dive shop resort finally allowed us to rent at their employees room at rm100/nite. As only one room available, we decided that the ladies will stay in the room while the guys will camp by the beach.
We started our first dive at d'lagoon in the evening. It's more like a check out dive.
At night, went for a dinner at nearby restaurant called Mama's Place. The food was nice, and the employees were polite.

May 2nd, 2015
We did 3 dives at tokong laut, terumbu tiga and police wreck. It was my first wreck dive and it was amazing.
Went for a dinner at long beach and met up with my collegue balqis and her friends. Hv dinner at a place called Meeting Point. The food was boleh laa...but the service was super lousy. Ain didnt get her food at all and we did wait for 2 hours. I went to the kitchen to pick up my air suam after requesting/reminding the waiter/ess for several time. With the price they charge us...it just not worth the money.

May 3rd, 2015
On the last day we managed to do 2 dives at batu layar and sugar wreck. My 2nd wreck dive at sugar wreck was really awesome.
Took 4pm boat off the island. On the way back to kuala terengganu stopped by the restaurant by the beach for seafood. It was really great and worth it.
What a surprise that while eating, saw kak su who also stopped by to eat.
Around 8pm we arrived at KT bus station. Took 9.30pm Sani bus express to Shah Alam.

Diving Tips and People

Since i got my OWD certification back in 2013, i've done over 40 dives. Most of the dives i did with different group of people and it was a blessed as i got a lot of tips/advices and know different kind of divers along the way;

What i learned:

1) snorkle on you left and reg on your right so that you wont put on snorkle instead of reg while descent. Which i did a few time...now im very comfortable diving without snorkle.

2) wear you dive com inward instead of outward to avoid dive com surface from scratches

3) while taking a photo of an object, get as close as possible to the object for a better picture. (unfortunately the rule about no touching is still apply).

4) i learn different way divers use to sign  'air measurement' during dive. I just need to listen to briefing to identify which sign they want to use.

5) off course i met few cocky divers...the one who say things like...
- "im still new in diving...so far i did about 300 dives." Im pretty sure she thought most of newbies that she talked to have done more than thousands dives.
- "during my first dive i went to 40 meters. Im fine."  obviously, otherwise you wont be here bragging about it.
-  " if my buddy missing, ill look for my buddy till my gas run out, then ill surface" pls find a buddy who will do the same if you went missing.
- "ive been diving forever and i never got myself certified." Rules are made to be broken unless you got caught.

6) fussy dm/instructor make me feel safe and confident.

7) sometimes, ppl get blinded by the fact that knowing a person and following the rules. You cant just say that she/he a good DM/instructor just because you know him/her...and you tent to overlook basic procedure that she/he skipped.

8) when it's normal that you thank ppl at the surface when you got help underwater, you will always find those dont even acknowledge it/or denied being helped. " yeah, im pretty sure nobody hold you when you loss your bouyancy."....in that case i must be halucianating you trying to reach out for me as you started to ascent uncontrollably.

9) sometime ppl blame dm/instructor for their poor performance.
 

2014-04 : Dive Mabul

Last week (23/10/2014-25/10/2014) i went for a 3D2N dive trip to Mabul Island. I stayed at Seahorse Sipadan Scuba Lodge. It was a budget lodge but has a very nice environment and friendly staffs.
The package include 3 dives with equipment, foods, accommodation and return boat transfer from Semporna.

I did one dive on 23/10/2014 at dive site called Paradise 1, and the other 2 dives on 24/10/2014 at the dives site called Water Bungalow House Reef and Eel Garden. Paradise 1 and Water Bungalow are 2 sandy dive area but there's plenty of marine life to see. Eel Garden is reef area claimed to be famous of it's many garden eel but unfortunately during my dive, i didnt spot any. There's slight current which made me struggle to scrutinize the area for the amazing marine life but i did find a nudi with her baby nudi. Already made my day!

Dive site in Mabul Island

Water Bungalow House Reef Map

True love kiss maybe!

Trumpet fish

Filefish

Can anyone teach me how to make the underwater bubble ring?

OK!

One of my favorite Finding Nemo character-Gill a.k.a moorish idol.

Nudibranch

Orangutan crab...guess how's the hand signal?

Nudibranch - Chromodoris leopardus

Puffer fish

Leaf fish

Can you spotted the ghost pipefish?

Nudibranch

Nudibranch again!

 I'll absolutely visit Mabul Island again in the future + Sipadan after i upgrade my diving license to Advance Open Water. Next year perhaps =).

2014-03 : Live, Laugh, Love & Dive

Recently i hv developed immunization towards diving. Not that addicted anymore but still love it.... psyched for my dive trip to mabul this end of the month. I was planning to buy a dive computer but apparently the new stock only available by early Nov =( ...but a friend offered me to borrow his ... yeah me....

So my dive related collections so far ;

• A dive t-shirt - the deeper the cooler....impulse buying...totally at show-off zone..but on my defend, i dont wear it at public...
• Pink Cressi Mask and pink snorkel - i really want my own mask and snorkel but the "pink" part is still slightly on "show-off" zone...but on the +ve side, it's quick identification during the dive. 
• Blue patch full-length wetsuit - i believed that i've made a good investment... firstly, it's within my "dont hv to think twice to buy" budget for wetsuit...secondly, nicely fit me & serve the purpose...thirdly, keep my mind of "did anyone ever peed in this wetsuit" rental wetsuit. 
• Underwater camera - for a camera and casing, it's consider a good investment. and i can use the camera for normal off-water use. Still i need to improve my skill as most of the time, the pictures turned out slightly bluish. 
• Ocean Blue Watch - i invested on a watch so that i could leave my delicate everyday watch at home when i go diving. 

Future investment

• dive computer - recently i've just trigger my safety conscious button after a lot of reading about diving. Seriously, i should hv invested on dive comp months ago. 
• Fins - as a light traveler, i always think that it was quiet a mess to pack  fins as it might not fit my hand luggage. But along the way, i found out having a comfy fin that fit my feet is more important. Should consider invest in fins
• Regulator 
• BCD

2014-02 : Shut-up and dive

Back in Oct 2011, i accompanied a friend taking diving open water license without any expectation. It turned out i wasnt very comfortable being in the water, so the instructor gave me Scuba Diver license instead. She told me to have few fun dive to get myself comfortable in the water and upgrade my license to Open Water Diver.
I've spend some time swimming and overcome my fear of water.  I didnt do any dive till last year in 2013, i retook Open Water Diver license and felt more confident. I found that the more i dive, the more addicted i'm into diving.

Why?
1) the wonderful feeling of weightless
2) the amazing underwater world and colorful creatures
3) No talking - signaling only
4) keep my mind of my real life problems.

Isnt it amazing?