In April 1993, I advanced my certification further by taking up PADI rescue
diver course. Then later that year, I took up NAUI underwater photography.
In NTU, I was the secretary for the Scuba Diving Club in 1992/3 and the chairman
in 1993/4. It was an enjoyable time for me, organising courses, producing
newsletter, organising a Southern Island Cruise, setting up a computer account
and also putting diving related books in the library. I even organised a
course where Benedict Goh, the Pyramid Game host attended back then.
Currently, I am in KPMG and had organised one diving course for the company
so far. I guess I'll be organising more in future, that is if I'm still there.
Hee hee!
Well, in my short 6 years of diving experience, I've dived a total of
135 dives and my total water hours to date is 97.30 hrs. The deepest dive
I made was 155 feet and the longest dive was 1 hr 20 mins.
I make one long trip and a few short trips every year. The short trips I
made were usually in Penisular Malaysia. Mainly, Pulau
Permanggil, Pulau Aur, Pulau
Tioman, Pulau Sibu, Pulau Tinggi
and Pulau Redang. The longer trips I've been to were
to Australia's Great Barrier Reef,
Indonesia's Manado, Sabah's
Sipadan and Phuket (1 dive only).
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Pulau
Permanggil
Pulau Permanggil is situated on the east coast of Penisular Malaysia.
It is a small island between Pulau Aur and
Pulau Tioman. The main characteristic of this island
is a big rock standing behind the main village which resembles an elephant
and hence, it is called Elephant rock. The island has a school where children
from the surrounding islands attend.
MAKO Sub-Aquatics is by far the most active agency that uses this island
for training. Very few other diving agencies goes there as this island is
not as commercialised as Pulau Aur or
Pulau Tioman. The corals on the island are relatively
undamaged as compared to the other islands. Most of the terrain is relatively
shallow and the marine life is quite abundant. The dive sites include Lanting,
Kador-Kador, Pontianak, Pak Kaley, the wall and many more. Most sites are
easy sites except for currents in some of these sites.
MAKO Sub-Aquatics Pte Ltd
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Pulau Aur
Pulau Aur is located south of Pulau Permanggil
is the furthest island from the main port of departure, Mersing which is
in northeast tip of Johore Bahru. Hence, the currents are usually quite strong
but it has some of the most interesting dive sites. Pular Aur is the main
island with three other islands surrounding her, Pulau Dayang, Pulau Lang
and Pulau Pinang (not Penang although they have the same name).
Pulau Dayang is very close to Pulau Aur, with a deep channel separating
the two islands. The current in the channel is very strong and not advisable
for beginners to dive. The corals at the coast of Dayang in between the channel
are very beautiful and relatively untouched as not many divers go there.
Other dive sites include the Pinnacle, Rainer's Rock and sites at Pulau
Pinang and Pulau Lang (no names were given as the islands are the sites itself).
The Pinnacle is a submerged reef located out in the open seas. The highest
point of the reef is about 40 feet below the surface. This is an advanced
dive site as the currents at the surface is very strong. The fish life is
abundant at the reef and pelagics like barracudas, manta rays and tiger shark
have been spotted there. Another dive site that is interesting is the Rainer's
Rock where a whale shark has been spotted. However, recently I heard that
the resident whale shark has been netted by a trawler. At Pulau Pinang, there
is a huge sea fan which is about 2 metres high. There used to be a Japanese
Zero fighter off Pulau Lang but sadly the plane had been removed.
MAKO Sub-Aquatics Pte Ltd
Friendly Waters Seasports
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Pulau Tioman
Pulau Tioman is the biggest island on the east coast of Penisular Malaysia
and the most commercialised. The dive sites are mostly located at the Coral
Islands, North of the Island. The closest village is Selang and there are
2 diving shops situated there. You can rent everything there as they are
fully equipped. Most of the sites are about 30 mins to 1 hr away, depending
on the type of the boat used. The diving shops have their own diving boats
with 200 hps outboard engines.
The dive sites include Pulau Tulai (Malang Rock & Genting Bay),
Pulau Labas, Pulau Chebeh, Pulau Sayah and Selang Bay. The fish life is average
but the dive sites are quite interesting as there are a number of swim throughs
and interesting formations. Humphead parrot fishes are seen here quite often.
Fishermen Scuba Studio Pte Ltd
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Pulau Sibu and Pulau
Tinggi
Pulau Sibu is located south of the port of mersing and is quite close
to the mainland. This island is relatively small and flat. There are not
many resorts located there which makes it an ideal place to relax. This place
is not an ideal diving spot as the visibility is bad most of the times (about
10 to 20 feet average). However, the attraction here is the that lobsters
can be found in these waters. Recently, the number of lobsters has dwindled
as the fishermen used nets to catch these lobsters by the thousands. But
still, there are areas where lobsters can still be found. However, please
do not catch those lobsters with eggs and those that are too small for
consumption.
Pulau Tinggi is just north of Pulau Sibu and there are a number of resorts
there which usually offer fishing. Some of the resorts do offer scuba diving
though the visibility in these waters are not that great either. So far,
I've only dived there once and did not find the place good for diving. However,
it is a good place for relaxation.
Aquatic Hideout Holiday & Marketing Pte Ltd
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Pulau Redang
Pulau Redang is located in the northern part of Penisular Malaysia,
off the coast of K. Trengganu. The waters surrounding this island is crystal
clear, with visility from 40 feet to about 60 feet. Great place to dive.
Some of the dive sites include Pulau Karah, Pulau Lima, Pulau Pinang (yeah,
another Pulau Pinang which is not Penang), Tanjong Katong and Mini Mount
(a submerged reef). Fish life is quite abundant and turtles can be seen quite
frequently especially at turtle bay. I would like to tell you more about
Pulau Redang but unfortunately I went there once only.
MAKO Sub-Aquatics Pte Ltd
Fishermen Scuba Studio Pte Ltd
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Australia, Great Barrier
Reef
Termed the largest living organism in the world, the Great Barrier Reef
is anything but great. The publicity about this place is too exaggerated.
Though the viz is great, usually between 60 to 100 feet viz but the corals
are not as vibrant as those around this region. Though the corals are not
as beautiful as those around this region, but the fish life is quite abundant
and they are usually quite big. Not all the dive sites are nice though. I
went there after my graduation in May 1994 and boarded Mike
Ball's Super Sport, an excellent boat. The service is superb, a first
class service. We have 3 regular meals with breaks in between every dive.
The food is excellent and there is even free flow of wine during dinner time.
The dive package I paid for was the 4 days 3 nights Cod hole. The dive
sites includes Wide Escape, Steve's Bommie (Pinnacle), Fish Market, Calm
Beds, Pixie's Wall, Challenger Bay, Pixie Pinnacle, The Abyss and Cod Hole.
The highlight of the package is the Cod Hole. The
Potato Cods (a kind of grouper) are really big, the
biggest I saw was about 6 feet long and they sure were not shy creatures.
There were altogether over 30 of them plus other kinds of groupers and snappers
as well. There were even 2 Maori Wrasse that were resident there. One of
the Maori Wrasse is about 2 metres long, the other is only about 1 metre
long only. There were also 2 Moray Eels there. The best was still the
Potato Cods, which allowed me to pet it (Make sure
you don't force the fish and let them come to you and don't use gloves. The
best is don't do it.). To view my photo of a moray eel
taken at Cod Hole, click here. There are many dive
operator that dives the Great Barrier Reef. Here are some of them, just click
onto the names.
Mike
Ball Dive Expeditions
Taka
II Dive Adventures
Deep
Sea Divers Den
Cairns
Dive Centre
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Indonesia,
Manado
Manado is located at the northern tip of Sulawesi Island of Indonesia.
This enchanting place is great for macro photography. The dives are usually
wall dives, so bounyancy control is essential. I went there in June 1995,
with my University friends. We stayed at the
Murex Dive
Resort, a tropical chalet type resort with a garden setting. Great place
for relaxation. The sad thing is there are no nice beaches at or near the
resort. However, the viz is great. The normal viz is 60 to 100 feet. Most
of the dives are done at Bunaken and surrounding islands.
Lunch is usually served on board the diving boat and snacks are served
between dives. The dive sites at Bunaken Island includes Lekuan 3, Alumbunua
& Cela Cela. Other dive sites includes Muka Gereja, Lekuan 2, Pangulingau
and Fukai Point. There are more dive sites but we did not stay there long
enough to dive all the sites. You can even go for a live-on-board which brings
you to even more dive sites at Sulawesi.
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Malaysia Sabah,
Sipadan
Sipadan
lies off the north eastern coast of Borneo. The island has a marine ecosystem
so perfect and unique that it is world renowned as arguably, one of the best
dive spots anywhere.
Pulau Sipadan
is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, though Indonesia claims that the
island belongs to Indonesia. The island rises as a pristine coral sea-mount,
2000 feet from the floor of the Sulawesi Sea. The ocean teems with a wide
range of rare marine species, some of which are totally endemic to the island.
The island's dense primary jungle remains largely unspoilt by the presence
of man, and is populated by the harmless monitor lizard and rare coconut
crab.
Green, Hawksbill and leatherback turtles, some as big as six long, are
regular inhabitants of the island, coming ashore in season to lay their eggs
on
Sipadan's
pristine beaches. Schools of barracudas and jacks frequent South Point and
Barracuba point where currents can be quite strong and unpredictable at times.
You can be sure to see at least 6-10 turtles and sharks on every dive. The
sharks are mainly white tips mostly 3 to 7 feet long.
For me, I went to
Sipadan
in July 1996 with Alex Yap, my dive buddy since NTU. Actually, we went to
Pulau Mabul,
an underwater photographer's paradise.
Pulau Mabul
is just 15 minutes boat ride away from
Sipadan
and the island holds the secrets to an underwater treasure that is barely
known. For here, lies a collection of some of the most rare and bizarre marine
creatures to be seen anywhere.
On just a single dive, one may see any number of brightly coloured and
varied Nudibranches. Sharp eyes can find a fascinating variety of the ocean's
camouflage artists such as the sleepy crocodile fish at Crocodile Avenue,
Frog fish perched on a sponge awaiting it's prey. Garden eels away on the
sand beds, while pipefish peep out from the bright landscapes of soft corals.
And there are also a wide variety of ever shy and curious moray eels. We
even saw the ever elusive stunning and colourful Mandarin Goby. At lobster's
wall, you can find big lobsters hunting for food. Some of the divers even
saw the tiny ghost pipefish. It is an experience I will not forget. You should
go there if you can, you will not regret it.
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Underwater
Photography
There are only 3 photos in this page. However, I'll try to update the photos
every month. Click here to view the photos.
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Diving Shops and
Agencies
71 Ayer Rajah Crescent #05-01/03
Ayer Rajah Industrial Park,
Singapore 139951
Tel: 774 1440 Fax: 775 6935
Friendly Waters Seasports
5 Coleman Street, #02-23
Excelsior Shopping Centre
Singapore 179805
Tel: 338 5545, 338 5548 Fax: 338 5586
112 East Coast Road
#04-21 Katong Mall
Singapore 428802
Tel: 440 9921 Fax: 440 6792
Blk 3 Everton Park #01-77
Singapore 0208
Tel: 226 2193 Fax: 225 5475
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