After 2 years of diving, I finally made my maiden trip to Tioman. Not known to many and I have every intention to keep it so, I would be clocking my century dive here.
The journey to Pulau Aur or Dayang had always been the main deterrent of my dislike for the diving spots. The long coach ride followed by the long wait at Mersing and the unknown timing of when you get to go on board the boat… the list goes on. I was told Tioman would be much better as we get to spend a night in Mersing before setting off in the early morning and going on our first dive. So we will be diving along the boat ride to Tioman. That sounded great.
Well, the only problem was on my maiden trip to Tioman, we had a tide issue and we were told we had to set off in the night to Tioman which brought us back to square one. It was almost 2am when we got to the island. It had been a long night and I was only glad I wasn’t the one driving, so a very big thank you to Edwin. 🙂
We woke up to a beautiful morning. The dive boat was unusually quiet. It was the weekend of a major dive exhibition in singapore and so I guessed we know where all the divers were. I was glad to be here.
Well, I had been told not to expect too much. It was after all just Tioman. But all these in an early morning dive, I was beginning to change my mind. And the water was clear, excellent visibility. I was looking forward to the afternoon dive.
The afternoon dive was a ‘turtle dive’. One came by and took off after greeting us with a wave. And we saw another just resting until we came back and disturbed her rest. Ooops…
If there is a star in each dive, our very next celebrity will be our ‘shameless’ cuttlefish which was happily posing for us. We were just short of getting her autograph. 😉
Other than the lovely sea creatures, one thing that never fails to amaze me is the topography of the seabed. I’m not even sure if I am using the right terminology here but to me, it was like looking at underwater hills and valleys.
Hmmm the end of our first diving day was marked by this amazing swim through. Did I swim in the fishes or did they kind of rush past me? Such a pretty sight.
It was raining in the evening and it felt chilly. Dinner, a short drink and it was bed time. 2 more dives tomorrow before we head home.
I was told the previous night that it had been an amazing dive thus far so I was kind of telling myself I should not be too greedy today. Just more turtles and cuttlefish will do 😉
The sea snake was a real surprise. While the guys busied themselves and focused on taking photos, I noticed the little guy going right beneath my dive buddies. I managed to get Andy’s attention but was not able to alert Edwim. I think it was just inches away from his body as he hovered above the sand bed, all focused on taking a photo. Wasn’t sure who was more shocked when they noticed each other though.
Yes, my wish came through, this time round, a feeding turtle. She was too busy to be bothered by me.
It definitely didn’t feel like much of a holiday. The last dive came too soon and it felt that I had to prepare to start packing even before we had settled into our holiday mood. This felt really strange. I guessed I had forgotten what a weekend trip felt like.
It had been a lovely weekend and the only downside was that it was only a 2-days trip. Hopefully, I can get better rest on the first night if I ever decide to come again.
