Ever since I watch this movie where the hero steps out of the water in his diving suit, stripped it off and walk off dressed in a tuxedo (might be James Bond, can't recall).. I told myself... "that is so cool. I wanna do that too"... So years down the road and after some encouragements from friends.. I finally did it.. I signed up for a Open Water Course package under Quiver Dive Team Pulau Perhentian for only RM990 during the Dive Expo 2011. And my adventure begins...
Bikinis packed. Checked. Sunscreen packed. Checked. Sunglasses packed. Checked. I'm good to go. The 12 hours drive there was a blur. All I recall was many stops for toilets, and food, and to stretch our legs. As we neared our destination, and the sky slowly brightens, it suddenly dawn to me... What in the world was I thinking? Me? Diving? I am someone who shrinks at the sight of animals... and worst, scaly, cold animals... I push that thought of fear out of mind as logistic arrangements took preference. After a quick breakfast near the jetty, we got into the speedboat for Pulau Kecil....
As the boat speed-ed towards the island, my fears, un-seemingly like the wind that blew through my hair.. stuck fast.. And as I step out out the boat, the thoughts, the worries.. were all pushed to the back of mind as I made arrangement's for my family room. They were booked to stay at The World Cafe...which seems OK in the website but as we stepped into the room, we realized that we had booked a dorm style room with quad beds.. rundown, not well maintained with a really ugly backyard that we had to walk through every time we go to and fro.. Just beyond the bamboo fence , 5 feet away from out room door, was a 5-star chalet. I felt like we were squatter-ing. Chalets were out of the questions as 1 night cost up to RM550.
Next stop, dive center. As I sat there, slowly filling up the documents and listening to the waves... I talked myself into getting over it...No more fear. No more feeling of dread. No more uncertainty. I am here. and I am here to complete my course. Esther is here to stay!!! Woots!!! Self- prep talk :)
I then check into my room, which is 1/3 beach away from my family's accommodation... Since I signed up for the package, accommodation was included. I was taken to this dorm and upon checking in, I was given a whole dorm to myself..Yay!! I peeped into the dorm beside and found it almost full.. Something funny happened the next morning.. as I was leaving for my class, I again passed by the dorm and since the door was opened, I happened to glance into it and was mildly embarrassed to see a back view of a guy. He was sleeping and somehow through the night, the blanket must have slipped off and I was looking at a pair of nude colour undies.. sticking out from the blanket.. lets not talk about what's beyond that... I guess its a norm for them but I'm also not going to say anything to make me sound like a virgin who have not seen something like this before...My dorm was called Sunrise.. which I discovered only on the last day and have been telling everyone for the last couple of days that I was staying in Matahari... Sunrise is even better the The World Cafe. Must cleaner and better maintained... The only downside is the power cut starts at 7.30am till about 6pm and I cannot shower or pee during that time as the toilet is dark... Oh, and the water pumps starts pumping when the power comes back on and after while the water tank starts to overflow, thus creating a waterfall in the bathroom :)
Back to my course. Day 1 was boring. There was only 2 person in the class. Me and my dive buddy, a French guy from Paris. Our instructor was Simon, which all I can say is that he wasn't good and I was thinking to myself, "Gosh! I'm going to dread this"... OK, let me rephrase that... I don't know if he is good or not as he didn't taught much.. but I know well enough to say that I did not feel comfortable with him.. and he wasn't friendly.... 5 hours of videos... with a couple of power cuts.. and we had to walk to the other dive center the other end of the beach... I am done for the day... I have not even gotten into the water yet...
Let's talk about dinner... Dinner was yummy! More expensive that expected but good food nonetheless. It was so good that we spend most of our meals for the next 4 days here.. Price per dish average out to RM7 - RM12. And the service was great. Upon realizing that we were locals, they even gave us extra discounts..:)
Next morning. Since our new instructor *Simon didn't want to teach us boohoo* was occupied in the morning, I walked back towards The World Cafe to meet my family for breakfast. One thing I noticed about Perhentian Island is that people do not venture out in the morning... The beach starts filling up with sunbathers around noon time...
Since we had a bit of time, we decided to walk across the island to Coral Bay. 15 mins walk through the 'jungle'.. we arrived on a small beach.. cluttered with wooden shacks, offering all kinds of services.. Our breakfast was simple...costing about RM7 per plate.. With a full stomach, we hike back to Long Beach and I rushed for my class which was at the other end of the beach. It's a wonder how much exercise I got... The length of Long Beach from one end to the other was about 1.5-2km.. and I had to walk back and forth at least 4 times a day...
The next 2 days passed by so quickly and boy, it was fun.. Many thanks to our instructor, Carlotta, a tiny Italian lady. She was very friendly, and interesting and I learnt a lot from her. She made it so easy, and there was no pressure... my fears went away unnoticed... Oh, of cos there was the nervousness and slight fear when I first entered the water, when the water turned from warm to cold... or when some fishes swim to close to me... Or worrying that I might crash into the corals below as I'm still getting a hang out of the buoyancy thingie..or that my ears will burst from the pressure... The 12L tanks were super heavy and each time I carried it, I felt like a turtle... Its really heavy!!! But Carlotta managed to secure some smaller tank of 10L just for me.. Yay!! We also had an addition to our class, a girl from San Francisco...
Picture credited to Max, my French dive buddy. I took this off his FB :)
Picture credited to Max, my French dive buddy. I took this off his FB :)
During my dives, I saw a turtle, travely fish, trigger fish, yellow spotted stingray, yellow tailed barracudas, and also the very cute Yellow Juvenile Box Fish... On our last dive, we had the chance to visit D' Lagoon and hoping that we catch Ben, the huge Jengking Ray (or is it a Manta Ray)... and we did.. He is HUGE!!!
Picture credited to Max, my French dive buddy. I took this off his FB :)
Picture credited to Max, my French dive buddy. I took this off his FB :)
Yellow boxfish juvenile © Oskar Henriksson
Picture credited to Chumbe Island Coral Park.
This is the infamous Damsel Fish... Infamous cos it has the tendency to be aggressive... and IT BIT ME!!!! We were having our lesson on CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent) and we had to take turns going to the surface... while the others wait below. I was kneeling on the sand watching when suddenly I felt something bit a chunk off my thighs.. I jumped *yes, I can jump in the water* and swimed over to Max... We took turns watching each others back and trying to chase it away... It was really aggressive. It kept chasing after other fishes who came too close to his lump of rock.. which I concluded was his house.. Thankfully it was harmless and even though I could see its teeth mark, the swelling went down after a week... *please ignore the hair k. I enlarge the picture so in reality, the hairs are really tiny*. Someone should rename that... fish...
Picture credited to Max, my French dive buddy. I took this off his FB :)
Some other pictures from my tripe.. Best breakfast can be found at The World Cafe. Price is slightly higher but portion is way bigger... We had choice of either bacon or sausages, sunny-side up or scramble eggs and coffee, tea or orange juice... It also comes with 3 toasts and baked beans... All that for a price of RM14..
Dinners. We ordered similar food for our time there as we concluded that they were the best around :) On the last night, we tried the BBQ.. BBQ goes for a flat rate of RM20 and vegetarian BBQ goes for RM18. It comes with your choice of meat (fish, chicken, etc), a sauce, fries, vegetables, fruits and a drink. And though it is not the best BBQ I have tasted, the feeling of sand between my feet, wind blowing through my hair, sound of waves crashing, smell of BBQ smoke and the hot charr-ness of the food beats any BBQ I have ever eaten..
Watching the sunrise from my bed...
The sun setting as we walk to dinner..
The moon shining down as we sat by the beach at night...
Pulau Kecil, Perhentian Island have quite a happening night life... As the sun starts setting, wooden tables with candles starts appearing on the beach, music starts blasting through the set-up speakers and drinks starts flowing... As I was worn out for most of my nights there after a long day of class, I only managed to 'party' on the last night.. A sort-of celebration after completing my course... We did have some beers and some cheap shots (only RM5 for 2 glass).... cutely named "Monkey Baileys and Monkey Juice"... that was it... I was with my parents and siblings and it was a fun time people watching... and just lying on the sand watching the moon play tricks on our eyes...
Picture of Long Beach. The World Cafe, where my parents were staying are located on the far left. Sunrise Dorms are located somewhere in the middle and Quiver Dive Center is on the far right. The picture dimension is a little out as there is actually a long stretch of beach between Sunrise and Quiver Dive Centre. Sunrise is actually 1/3 away from The World Cafe.
I shall skipped being cheesy by saying that it was an amazing trip.. So I am just going to sum up by saying to everyone "GO get your diving licence".. It'll open your eyes to a whole new world... A beautiful world hidden away... I had a great experience thanks to my instructor, Carlotta and my dive buddies, Max and Wendy... Pulau Perhentian is a beautiful island but I am sad to say that 99% of the visitors that I see are foreigners. We Malaysians do not appreciate what we have here.. but others, flew all the way just to see the beauty of Malaysia..
Me, Carlotta, Max, Wendy, guy, girl
Another instructor
One item to strike of my to do list.. many more to go :)
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