After completing my open water diving course in Sept last year (2011),
me and my friend decided to breath 20m underwater again.
Since we had our course in Pulau Tioman, this time we headed to Pulau Perhentian Kecil.
Upon arrival, you'll be greeted by many boat transfer companies.
They will try their best to arrange car park for you if you're driving.
The boat transfer fees is quite fixed.
RM70 for a return ticket.
But if you had booked some snorkeling package/ diving package,
the transfer fees may be a bit cheaper at the rate of RM60.
Before going to Perhentian Kecil, we had done a little research on which dive center to go.
So far, Turtle Bay Diver (TBD) has the most good reviews from tripadvisor.
Some of the plus points are:
- credit card at no additional charges
- powered lens available with no additional charges
- RM70 for each dive, RM80 for Pinnacles & sugar wreck, discount of RM10 from the 5th dive on wards.
We did not have booking for accommodation because we did not want to sign up any snorkeling/diving package prior to arrival.
TBD was very nice.
They allowed us to put our luggage there so that we can go to look for our accommodation.
Please do not be surprise about it. It is their way of doing things there.
Most of the hotels there do not take room booking unless you sign up packages from them.
There are a few nice hotels around but it would all depends on your budget and what you are looking for.
Fan room? Air-cond room? Hot water shower? 24hour electricity supply? willing to hike a bit?
These are the things that you need to consider before making your payment.
After walking under the scotching hot sun for almost an hour,
we decided to grab the rooms from the Shari-La resort, Coral Bay.
It is a 15mins jungle hiking from the Long Beach (where TBD was located)
but they got the best deal.
RM240/room for triple, 24hour electricity with breakfast provided.
We started our fun dives on the second day,
time was scheduled at 9am but we did not know we need to be there by 830am.
So yeah, we were late!
But TBD again, they stressed that we are to enjoy and relax here,
so they immediately rescheduled us to the next session which is on 11am with an on-call dive master,
Emel from Denmark.
my gear =D
Joe & Emel walking back to TBD
Emel & us after our last dive
Cheerful Fizzy & us
Gus & Wei
*Gus is Wei's open water course instructor*
Some random pictures took when we were waiting for our next dive
We did 4 dives altogether.
Batu Layar:
suitable for beginners like us, very easy dive site,
enable you to get comfortable again with your gears and buoyancy.
Saw the first black tip reef shark there,
it was very very close to me as i was at the most right.
It swam around us for 2 rounds and left. It was very very nice!!
Shark Point:
Yes, it's called the Shark Point, expected to have a lot of sharks around but lady luck wasn't on our side.
The visibility was kinda bad, no shark found.
*Frown*
Pinnacles:
Oh, this is a very beautiful dive site. I strongly recommend this!
and yes, even if you are still a beginner like me.
You will be amazed by the schools of fishes.
Barracuda, Angel fish, Banners, Bumpheads, Bamboo Shark, sea snake, morays, eels, groupers, and etc.
T3:
If you like to swim through rocks and tunnels, this is one of the dive site that you will enjoy.
T3 is very rocky.
The visibility was very bad, strong currents,
and it was cold down there unlike other dive sites which were warmer.
But they have the most beautiful nudybranches, and we finally got to see the turtles!
Gosh, turtles are beautiful.
This trip was really a rejuvenating one.
Breathing underwater enable me to temporarily clear my tangled thoughts
and it is addictive.
I am already planning my next diving trip already.
Rasa sayang,
felt love at Pulau Perhentian by the sea & the sun.
