PERHENTIAN RECCE & DIVE

REEF LOVER 2 RECCE

4 of us went to Terengganu to do some meeting and recce for our upcoming Reef Lover 2 (RL 2)at Perhentian Island scheduled on 20th-23rd May 2010. RL 2 is a continuation from RL 1 held in 2008 at Redang Island.

Reef Lover 1 at Redang Island Marine Park (Pulau Pinang) 2008

The agendas were as follows:

14th April

11.00pm - Departed from MMU

15th April

Arrived at Kuala Terengganu a bit late at 11.30am due to a lot of rests and stops along the way.

12.00 noon- Meeting with Jabatan Laut Wilayah Timur to get sponsor of boat. They sponsored us the boat to transfer our participants from Kuala Terengganu to Redang Island during RL1. But this time, due to lack of allocated budget they are not able to sponsor us...huhu.

The boat that Jabatan Laut sposored us during RL 1...very big boat

1.30pm - Stopped at Masjid Kristal to take bath (...hehe) and pray.

3.00pm - Headed straight to Kuala Besut. About 1 and half hour slow and steady drive.

4.30 pm - Finding the best quotation for ferry transport from Kuala Besut to Perhentian Island for 80 participants. We got RM50 per person for a return ticket. Normally, it costs RM70 per person.

- We also discussed about the cheapest accommodation and meal on the island. Wow... food is very expensive in Perhentian Island.

5.30pm - Took a speed boat to Perhentian Island. About 30-45 minutes I guess.

6.15pm - Arrived at Perhentian Besar (Big). Since, RL 2 is a collaboration program with Jabatan Taman Laut, we have to find accommodations for our participants which is near to the Perhentian Marine Park at Perhentian Besar.

Jetty of Marine Park at Perhentian Besar where we are going to do our activities for RL 2

The beach near to the Marine Park

Finding accommodation for the night. We chose D' Ayumni. RM 200 per night for a room with 2 queen-sized beds for 4 persons.

D' Ayumni resort...we stayed here for two nights

16th April

10.30 am - Went to Perhentian Kecil (Small) to meet local villagers to discuss about sport and education program. Boat transfer is RM5 per person for a single ride. So, for a return journey...it's RM10...pheww.

Perhentian Kecil (where the village is) view in the morning from Perhentian Besar

We didn't make any appointment. We just asked anybody. Lastly, we met the right people to discuss. They all were wonderful people.

1.30pm - Friday prayer at the village.

3.00pm - Discussion about rental of equipments with Seahorse Dive Centre for RL 2

3.30pm - Get ready for our first dive with Seahorse Dive Centre.

Seahorse Dive Centre at Perhentian Besar

We knew this dive centre since our divemaster at Mabul and Sipadan i.e. Nurul, is working here. Furthermore, the owner of this dive centre i.e. Nafie was my instructor for Open Water back in 2003 at Kembara Dive Centre, Perhentian Kecil. Time to test my newly-bought IST Talaria fin.

My new IST Talaria fin...tested at Perhentian Island...wonderful performance

- The dive site this time is Batu Layar. Quite interesting with a lot of blue-spotted stingrays and bamboo sharks. Also turtles and trigger fish. Abundance of variety multi-coloured fishes. Very satisfied.

17th April

8.45am - Second dive at Tokong Laut, one of the most popular dive site in Perhentian Island. After the dive, I really agreed that this is one of the best dive site. There are a lot of fishes, almost the same like Sipadan. We saw three-legged turtle called Tripod, plenty of blue-spotted stingrays and bamboo shark, trigger fish and a lot of tiny-miny creatures underwater. Unfortunately, none of us brought underwater camera to capture their photos.

Conclusion:

1. Perhentian has got a lot of wonderful dive sites. You must dive here.

2. Food at Perhentian Island is quite expensive. So, be prepared financially if you want to go there without any booking of meals.

3. Local people are very friendly if you're friendly towards them. At least, smile at them.

4. Conservation of the island and the underwater livings is very important. Do your part and if possible create activity that can raise awareness about the importance of conservation.

Some infos about the inportance of conservation at Perhentian Marine Park Jetty

TIOMAN DIVE 2010

Assalamualaikum wbt

From 8-11th March 2010, I went to Tioman Island for a dive trip. With me were Azmir and 5 students taking Open & Advance Open Water certification. We stayed at Impiana Inn, Kg Genting. There is a newly opened dive centre at Impiana Inn. The good thing about this dive centre is all its equipments are very new.

Impiana Inn, Kg. Genting, Pulau Tioman

The newly opened dive centre

The beach at Kg. Genting

I got the opportunity to assist the instructor during their first two dives. It was a very interesting experience to see people undergoing drills for their open water license and doing a lot of unexpected actions when they are panic underwater. I still remember the "hardships" that I had to undergo during my open water course back in 2003 where I just couldn't descend myself and did a lot of funny actions underwater...haha. Honestly, I really hate doing the drills but once I do the open water dive, my perspective about diving totally changed. Now, I can say that I'm addicted to diving.

The instructor in the classroom

New equipments

Preparing for dive

Getting into the water

Descending...I'm overseeing them..hehe

The drills start

Everything was OK when your instructor ask you underwater

Basically, I did about 5 dives altogether including at Renggis Island and another dive site which I didn't know the name. One of the dive was done without any divemaster...own navigation. I saw sharks, turtles, barracudas, big grouper and a lot of stingrays. But the visibility of the water was not very good this time. Maybe due to season opening after monsoon. However, I missed the opportunity to do night dive, wreck dive and deep dive with the Advanced Open Water students since I had to go back earlier to attend a TOT workshop at Pan Pacific, KLIA.

Diving at Renggis Island

Beautiful corals at Renggis Island

Some students doing Discover Scuba Diving (DSD)

One of the many stingrays at Semabal

If you're interested in diving...contact Azmir for more information (012-3420142 or e-mail xtreme.gear@yahoo.com) for PADI Scuba Diving Course Package (Course+Accommodation+Ferry+Meals+Diving equipment rental) starts from RM1400 only.

Anyway, the dive trip was very nice due to:

1. newly opened dive centre

2. new equipments. speed boat has not arrived yet...maybe in April. We used only tongkang boat for all dives this time.

3. nice place for staying at Impiana Inn.

Thank you.

GUNUNG ANGSI DAYPACK

The Underestimate went for daypack expedition at Gunung Angsi, Negeri Sembilan on 20th February 2010. Only 5 of us but with 2 cars.

8.00am: Departed from MMU Melaka
8.30am: Breakfast at R&R Ayer Keroh
9.30am: Exit at Senawang and went straight at Ulu Bendul Recreational Park
10.00am: Reached Ulu Bendul. One car parked at Ulu Bendul and the other one at Bukit Putus. Our plan is to go up via Ulu Bendul route and down via Bukit Putus route.

Park one car at Ulu Bendul

10.15am: Register at Hutan Lipur office. RM5 per person to hike Gunung Angsi.

Hutan Lipur office

10.30am: Start hiking.

Taking picture before hiking at Ulu Bendul

Early stage of hiking

At Kem Tangga Batu checkpoint

Last water point

Steep climbing begins

Rope checkpoint. Be careful here

Finally...reaching the peak

The beirut

The view at the peak

Senawang from the peak

Resting at the peak

The way down to Bukit Putus

On the way down to Bukit Putus

On the way down 2

The Uncle

Finally...we reached Bukit Putus where we park our second car

We park our second car here...Bukit Putus(old road)

The new highway without toll can be seen from Bukit Putus

Overall the hiking up took about 2hr 45 min and 1hr 30min down. The hiking requires good stamina. The early stage of the climb before the last waterpoint was easy and flat but after that it became very steep until we reach the peak.

AN EVENING AT BUKIT BROGA, SEMENYIH

After conquering Bukit Tabur in the afternoon and after having our late lunch at Tmn Melati, we were thinking of conquering Bukit Broga. On the way to Semenyih, it rained very heavily. so, we cancelled the plan. However, the weather became clear just before the Semenyih exit, so we decided to proceed. It's already 5.30pm.

Bukit Broga is situated at Semenyih. If you from Kajang Silk highway, just follow Semenyih signboard and after that just follow Broga direction. Just a few hundreds meter from Nottingham University (Malaysia Campus) you can see a palm tree car park on your left. During normal time they will charge you RM2 to park your car there.

We were lucky...no parking charge

The hiking started at the palm oil plantation. The whole hiking doesn't need much stamina except a little. We managed to reach the summit for about 30-45 minutes.

Not very far...just do it slowly...no need to rush

Pictures taken along the way:

Feels like somewhere in New Zealand or...

Resting place...I think at checkpoint 2

On top of the world

To the final checkpoint

At the top...2 peaks in one day

Conclusion:

Bukit Broga is not too heavy even for those who do not have stamina. Just do it slowly if you are not rushing.

I think we get a better view if we do it in the early morning which most of the people are doing. Moreover, it gets very hot along the way and at the top in the afternoon since there's no shade above there.

Good for morning exercise/jogging. Good for family outing as well. Nice view. But if you are travelling from a distant just to summit Bukit Broga...I think it might be a little bit not worth it. Luckily, we did it after summitting Bukit Tabur and we didn't spend much time above there since it gets dark pretty quickly.