Having had a very nice night's sleep on
the overnight train from Chumporn, we arrive very fresh at Sungai
Kolok for the day's trials and tribulations that would undoubtedly
occur.
First, was how to get from the train station
to the Thai/Malay border? Easy, taxi - only these taxi's were
mopeds! So on we hop laden with heavy bags full of dive gear.
Tracy got whisked off first, shortly followed by a touch concerned
Terry! Safely at the border we pass without incident into Malaysia,
change some money and catch a cab (this time a car) to Kota Bahru.
According to "Lonely Planet", this place was worth staying
overnight because of it's culture and colonial architecture...
After half an hour we left by another taxi as no one would rent
us a room in a hotel and the city seemed a touch oppressive after
the care free ways of Koh Tao! Our next port of call was Kuala
Besut where we managed to catch one of the last fast ferries out
to the Perhentian Islands. We get transferred onto a smaller boat
taxi (which they don't tell you about and you pay about 2 ringit
for) at Perhentian Kecil (Small Island) and land on the popular
backpackers hang out of Long Beach, only to find that all the
reasonably priced accommodation was full. After a bit of to-ing
and fro-ing we finally end up on Perhentian Besar (Big Island)
with affordable accommodation (30R a night) at Mama's Place.
The next day, we started our routine hunt
for work, catching boat taxi's from island to island and bay to
bay, doing the rounds of all the dive centres. We got the usual
replies of "come back tomorrow, the boss will be here then".
So we try with no luck for 3 or 4 days until we finally give in
and decide to pay for a dive (much to Tracy's delight as she had
only just become a Divemaster and was still nervous about leading
divers after various Trigger Fish experiences on Koh Tao). We
dived at Watercolours, next door to Mama's, after Terry had a
chat with Mike, the Chinese-Malay owner who offered us a good
rate as we were both Divemasters and had our own equipment. So
in the excitement we set up our gear that night ready for the
next day's dive. Our Divemaster was an Austrian girl called Sonja
and she assured us (Tracy) that if we come across a Titan Trigger
Fish, unlike it's counterparts in Koh Tao, it would not attack.
Guess what? On our first dive at Terumba Tiga we encounter a Titan
Trigger Fish and yes it damn well did attack! According to Sonja,
it was our fault as it knew we were from Koh Tao!
After 3 days diving at Watercolours, we
end up having a chat with Mike and his German partner Anke and
they offer us work... BUT... One of us needed to become an Instructor.
After careful consideration (no straws required) we decide it
should be Tracy, who would do her IDC/IE with a friend of Mike's
at Dive Asia in the Tioman Islands a bit further down the coast.
The course was to start in a few days! So armed with a borrowed
instructor manual we leave Perhentian, taxi it back to Kota Bahru,
then bus to Mersing and boat to Tioman and check into our accommodation
on Salang Beach before Tracy goes straight into the classroom
to swat up, ready to become an instructor.
Fourteen hectic days later, Tracy was
a fully fledged Open Water Scuba Instructor and Terry (despite
a chronic ear infection) had had a nice two week holiday with
the occasional bit of Divemastering for Roger Ng, the owner of
Dive Asia. We travel overnight back to Kuala Besut then on to
Perhentian having been on the go for about 30 hours and manage
to make it back to Watercolours for the first dive of the day
and put straight back to work!
We ended up staying in Mama's place long
term and got to be part of the set up at Watercolours along with
Claude and Nelson (who were our next door neighbours and on who's
balcony we sipped many a Milo during the odd tropical storm),
Sonja, Russell, and Kylie the latter of which we were to meet
again whilst working on Phi Phi in Thailand. Tracy's first Advanced
student Nigel and his friends Ian and Rhona became very close
friends who we end up staying with on 2 separate occasions in
Kuala Lumpur when we decided to move on from Perhentian after
Tracy got caught red handed by an immigration task force and again
when we return from Thailand to make an appearance at Rhona and
Dave's wedding - But these are stories in themselves, so read
on for the dive tips, travel tips and stories about friends we
made along the way. Top
As we said we ended up working for Mike
and Anke at Watercolours (watercolours@pd.jaring.my) on Perhentian
Besar, which at the time was their only shop but apparently, they
now also have a shop on Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil. The major
benefit of diving with Watercolours was that the groups are small,
maximum of 4 divers per guide and a maximum of 10 divers to a
boat. The dive shop is right on the beach so instruction and briefings
are done in very pleasant tropical surroundings. The dives are
done at 10am and 2pm (more dives can be done by arrangement),
and you are fed in between dives which is included in the price
of the dives. You can also help yourself to as much tea and coffee
as you like whilst you while away your surface interval. As for
the diving, a variety of sites are offered as you can see below.
On every dive all your tanks and weights
are set up for you and carried to the boat so all you have to
worry about is your own mask and fins. The boats are relatively
small, kind of longish fibre glass dinghies powered by an outboard
motor and skippered by one of the local boat boys. All the dive
sites are quite close, only about 30 mins journey away. The deeper
dive sites, which are further away, are dived in the morning,
and the closer, shallower sites in the afternoon. So here is a
round up of our personal favourites. Top
TOKONG LAUT (TEMPLE OF
THE SEA)
This was Terry's favourite and he generally
got sent there every morning much to his pleasure. The dive site
is basically a pinnacle breaking the surface by a metre or two
and dropping down to a sandy seabed around 24-26m. The way to
dive it is a quick back roll off the boat then a free fall to
the bottom of the pinnacle where you will find an array of White-Eyed
Morays, and sleeping Bamboo Sharks. From there you slowly ascend
in a circular way, spiraling your way to a 5m safety stop. As
you climb you will be greeted by Mappa Puffers, Cube Box Fish,
Jackfish (Trevally) and a wall of purple soft corals, which if
you have the sun entering the water behind, makes you realise
this is a temple to be worshipped as the light refracts and brings
the place to life. All in all this is truly one of the most beautiful
sites we have dived. Top
TERUMBA TIGA
Meaning, "three reefs", this
site consists of three major rock formations, which could be dived
individually. The main reef and the most dived, just breaks the
surface and bottoms out around 27m. There are various swim throughs
on this site and a lot of out-crops and overhangs to explore.
Coral life and marine life is very prolific here with an abundance
of Stag Horn coral, which unfortunately seems to attract a large
amount or Crown of Thorns Starfish which merrily feast on the
coral polyps, destroying all in their way. But that's nature for
you and as not enough research has been done on these creatures,
we personally feel that it is not up to divers to "play God"
and remove or kill them. Man has obliterated on of the only predators
of the Crown of Thorns, being the Giant Triton Shell, which look
lovely all polished up on people's fireplaces! Top
BATU LAYA
This is one of the usual afternoon dives
as it is quite shallow, having a maximum depth of 20m and is only
10 minutes boat ride from the shop. Once at the site, the boat
ties up on a mooring line (no anchors used at all). This line
is attached to a large piece of steelwork left behind from a fishing
boat. Once on the steel work, divers will notice a kind of cross
on the superstructure. If you use the top of the cross as a bearing
it will point you directly across the sand and onto the reef.
Well, it did while we were there, but according to Russell, this
may have changed due to a large boat dragging the mooring line
and subsequently altering the direction of the cross, as he and
his group of divers found out one day when they missed the reef
completely and had a nice dive in the sand for 40 minutes or so.
Couldn't have happened to a nice bloke, hee, hee, hee!!!
Once on the reef, it's worth skirting
around it's sand edge for a while looking for Octopus and Rays
then over the top amongst the coral, keeping an eye out for Black
Tips and Cobia. Safety stops can be done amongst a school of Yellow
Tail Barracuda, which, (if you hang still enough in mid water)
will encircle you. Top
BATU NISSAN
Another afternoon dive just off Long Beach
on Perhentian Kecil. This is a small outcrop of reef that takes
around 15 minutes to get around. Once you've been round then it's
a quick trip across the sand and skirt along the reef of Perhentian
Kecil. The site is also marked up with a buoy. Descending down
the line you will quite often see Turtles and Mappa Puffers. Honeycomb
Morays are quite common on this site, as are Cuttlefish on your
journey across the sand. Quite often used for night dives, this
site boasts a profusion of Hermit Crabs, Octopus and Boxer Shrimps.
Top
D'LAGOON
Yet another relaxing afternoon dive. This
site starts off in about 5m of water on a sandy bottom. There
are some very territorial Damsel fish which will nip at your legs
as you enter the water. Once on the reef, it is best to keep on
the sand with the reef on your left. Here you will see Jenkins
Whiptail Rays buried in the sand. As you ascend you go across
a forest of Stag Horn coral which can play host to Turtles, Blue
Ringed Angelfish, plus Terry's and Sonja's favourite fish the
Red Breasted Splendor Wrasse!! Once in the shallow reef it is
best to head back into D'Lagoon. Occasionally, some Divemasters
will continue down the reef until it turns into a series of large
boulders. Napoleon Wrasse can be found here as can Turtles, Cube
Boxfish and Silver Batfish. Top
VIETNAMESE SHIPWRECK
Located in the channel between the two
islands and out from the fishing village on Perhentian Kecil.
This is the final resting place of an American Landing craft which
had been used by fleeing Vietnamese Boat People.
Now overturned and lying in around 26m
of water, this completely overgrown wreck now plays host to Titan
Trigger Fish, a solitary Great Barracuda, Mappa Puffers and Seal
Puffers. You can get "under" the wreck as it is resting
on it's bow and cabin, giving access along it's sides. You get
an eerie feeling inside this dark space especially with the Barracuda
encircling you. Due to the fact that this wreck is the only thing
in the sand thereabouts, bottom time is limited, so make sure
you have a good look around as there are many will camouflaged
treats such as Stonefish and Scorpion fish hidden in the growth
now encrusting the boat's hull. Top
TUNKU ABDUL RAMAN PARK (TARP)
Situated only 3km from
Kota Kinabalu and stretching out another 5km, covering 5,000
hectares of land, Tunku Abdul Raman Park (named after Malaysia's
first Prime minister) was originally designated a National
Park in 1974 after 92 years of exploitation through logging by the
British North Borneo Company. It originally only encompassed
Pulau Gaya and Pulau Sapi but in 1979 was expanded to it's current
state to include Pulau Manukan, Sulug and Mamutik.
There are thirteen
designated dive sites around the islands but most of it is off
Mamutik Island where Borneo Divers have a dive store. It is definitely
not the most spectacular diving in the world but a good place to
learn as it is a protected area with buoyed off training areas and
quite a pretty little house. We dived here several times on the
Instructor Course and had the pleasure of seeing some beautiful
juvenile Bat Fish, Cuttlefish, Bamboo Sharks and some Giant
Barracuda, plus all the usual reef fish. We also did 2 boat dives
off Sulug which were basically the same as the shore dive off
Mamutik. Pretty but nothing really special. If you are in KK, it's
worth a trip out to the islands as you get 3 dives (2 boat, 1
shore) and lunch. It also gets you out of KK for a day! Top
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