Vitamin Sea

Pulau Lang Tengah.

A small island off the coast of Terengganu. Turqoise water, island breeze, powder-white sand, sunrays shimmering off the waters. It's a nice island alright. School holidays though, so it was buzzing quite a bit with people.

Waters were pretty rough heading to the island. We only found out a bit later (after we got to the island) that the weather forecast for that day was waves of 3-4m and "dangerous for boat and marine activities". Right. So we were all very thankful for a safe arrival.

The diving. It was nice to get back into the water. July 2009 was the last time. Too long. Too long.

It was interesting getting to know the Dive Master (DM) for this trip. One phrase to describe him: disgruntled employee. Poor dude. He's the only DM at the dive centre. So what happens when 10 or more people show up to dive? Headache lor. Not only is he the only DM at the dive centre, he's also the only one manning the whole dive centre. So check this out...who takes divers out for dives? Him. Who fills up the tanks with air? Him. Who registers divers when they come in? Him. Who takes care of all the equipment at the dive centre? Him.

No wonder he's disgruntled. We were told that boss doesn't bother to hire more people. In fact he pleaded with us to, as customers, go complain to boss.

The diving.

Generally, Lang Tengah offers diving that is not too bad. Some of the dive sites were decent.

Others were not. Barren.

Sea cucumbers are nice though. Comes in different varieties too.

My favourite site was Tanjung Telunjuk. Colonies of colourful sea fans! With orchestras of fishes swimming around the sea fans, it was awesome. I wish i could stay longer to just admire the scenery, but it was quite a deep dive and we had to go at the risk of deco. There was even a school of yellowtail barracudas! Awesome!

Speaking of barracudas, i saw one on a night dive too. When you see a barracuda at night, you need to be on high alert. Because barracudas go hunting at night.

All in all a good trip. We also had the blessing of enjoying two things (among others) to which i collectively term as the greatest shows on earth: starry nights, and sunsets.

(underwater photos courtesy of Jeff Tham)

I got tagged

I got tagged...by a scuba diver. Since it involves a favourite of mine, scuba diving, here i go... :)

Why did you become a certified scuba diver?

To get more up-close-and -personal with the marine world. And to give me an excuse to strap a macho dive knife around my leg :D

Describe your most memorable dive

Every dive's memorable, every dive's unique, and there's always something memorable to bring back from a dive.

One that stands out in particular as i write this was a night dive in Pulau Redang. It was an awesome night seeing a green turtle swim by, observing sleeping fishes and watching the behaviours of night critters. There was this comedic scene where i saw a sea urchin moving rather quickly across the sand. Way too quick for a sea urchin. A sea urchin on steroids? I took a closer look...and the urchin was actually being carried by a crab! It was actually quite cute. At the end of the dive, we surfaced to find a sky full of stars greeting us. Like wow. God is great.

Also, dives in Sipadan never fail to blow me away. It's just bustling with marine life!

And there was this drift dive over anemone garden at Redang as well....so awesome to glide over a huge colony of anemones....

I could go on and on...haha.

What's your favourite sea creature and why?

Turtles! Watching them "fly" through the water just takes my breath away. Sharks and barracudas too. Just the sight of these sleek, menacing-looking swimming machines infuses a sense of wonder. Cephalopods! Cuttlefishes in particular. The way their colours ripple, out-of-this-world. Christmas tree worms. The most beautiful worms you'll ever find :)

Did you have any fears before learning to dive? How did you overcome them?

No actually...I couldn't wait to get into the water and get diving. But i have a healthy respect for the ocean and its inhabitants. I've surfaced to a storm and it was no joke. And i have no intention of overcoming this healthy respect because it keeps me humble and careful when diving...and reminds me that the God of heaven and earth, He's Boss.