Advance Adventure Open Water & Nitrox Course

Alhamdulillah I finally completed my Advance Adventure Open Water & Nitrox courses last week, on 7th September 2013. We manage to get quite a good price for this advance course. I was suppose to take license on last May but decided to delay it till last week sebab nak teman Kak Emil. Our other diving gang dah completed last May. This time around there was only two of us, me and Kak Emil. We thought its gonna be less fun but alhamdulillah it turn out to be extra fun as uncle bring along his daughter and 3 sons. Geng bas sekolah bak kata Kak Emil.

Ni je gear yang ade. -_-

Big bag with nothing inside

Since its about to reach monsoon, we dont have much option on ferry schedule. Air pasang sekitar 7am-10am macam tu. So ferry from Mersing jetty to Pulau Tioman is around 7am-8am and return ferry is around 9am-10am from Kampung Salang, Tioman. We reached Mersing around 4.30am, after leaving KL around 11am. Take a nap at Masjid Jamek while waiting for Subuh Azan. After subuh prayer we went to jetty and its already pack there. I slept all the way from KL to Mersing (Kak Emil drove my car btw) and I sleep again at the jetty while waiting for high tide. Ngantuk sangat -_-

At around 11.30 am, we reached Kampung Salang. Alhamdulillah this time around, uncle booked the most nearest chalet to the Azmi Dive platform. If you've been to Salang before, you'll see a nice built platform in front of Azmi Dive specially made for divers. Pastu there's a yellow chalet in front of it. Itulah dia. Well the interior is just okay, only RM25/pax. Bukak pintu nampak laut. Best!

First Dive

I was totally forgot how to put on all the gear together. Ok tiru orang sebelah. Then we were given a watch that will give us info on deep, safety stop etc. Sunto. I need to buy one soon. Kalau tak u have to go to cara manual to know everything.

At 12 noon, we learned some theory on compass usage @ navigation skills. Haruslah dah setahun lalu belajar lupe kan. Ok sekarang dah ingat balik, insyaAllah will remember it forever. LOL. Then we started our 1st dive and to practic our compass lesson. Alhamdulillah tak panic. It was about a year that I did not dive. Mau tak panic? :) It was fun to be back underwater again. Such a relieve! Before ending our dive session, I was given an IQ test. This is to make sure, you're not in "hayal mode". Underwater, when you reach certain deep, you'll become hallucination mode (I guess that's the correct word to describe).

Second Dive - Shipwreck, KM Sipadan Exploration

After our Zuhur prayer, dengan tak makan we went for our second dive. Remember, we have to make everything done by today as tomorrow we need to catch up our ferry. Kejap kan? Nak buat macam mana since this month high tide kejap je. Sekali sehari je feri masuk tioman. This time around we were given a different tank. A yellow tank which means, nitrox. Lagi sedap and easier to breath when using this tank as being told by a friend.

Second dive, is to KM Sipadan. My very first shipwreck. I was so excited. KM Sipadan is a warship used during the war. Ok here is some info given by Uncle Google :

KM Sipadan - The vessel served the Royal Malaysian Navy from 1964 to 2005 before it was handed over to the MMEA in 2005.

As it was considered too old for continued service, the MMEA decided to decommission it and present it to the Marine Parks Department. KM Sipadan was placed among the coral reefs at Sawadee Wreck, which is a popular haunt for divers, 2 nautical miles from Pulau Tioman

Read more: Sinking 'Sipadan' to boost Tioman - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/sinking-sipadan-to-boost-tioman-1.67578#ixzz2eUT0ux2q

There is a rope that will lead us to the ship. I forgot that we need to make a few safety stop as it is 30 meter deep. But my super excited feeling conquer everything. I descended so fast (sebenarnya sebab follow anak uncle yang laju tak pasal). But alhamdulillah nothing bad happened. Uncle told us one of our gang suddenly became blur when she did not do the safety stop. Alhamdulillah I am okay.

Merdeka Underwater

KM Sipadan Shipwreck

  

It was not clear deep under. Maybe because its the monsoon. Visibility is very low. Tak puas mata memandang. The ship is not too big. Early this year, a diver died as he stuck inside, not able to come out from a small door that he entered. Carefull when you go diving guys. Some small doors is easier to get in but not to get out. If you know what I mean. There's a lot of Sea Urchin on the shipwreck. I try my very best not to touch it. Sengasara kalau kena. Gatal2 nanti. 

After discovering the whole ship, uncle Hussain (our instructor) take our a paper sign and took some picture of us holding it. And also a Malaysia Flag. As we going ascending, we did some safety stop based on our Sunto watch. 

Third Dive - The Sunset Dive

While waiting for our tank for our next dive, I decided to swim & explore the corals at snorkeling area. This year they set up a platform. yeay! The truth is, I cant swim. Yeah I know. Haha. So I put on safety jacket and swim to the platform. The corals along the way to the platform is so beautiful. And the fish too. The we swam back to the beach and Uncle was standing at the platform waiting for us for the next dive.

Corals at Salang beach

What the fish?

The new platform

Third dive - sunset dive. It was around 6:00 pm when we did our sunset dive. Saje bagi cool letak nama sunset dive. Padahal we were so tired swimming to the platform sebab jauh sebenarnya. So the third dive was so tak ikhlas. Pewai. And we stop for maghrib to pass by before continue our Final dive.

Final Dive - The Night Dive

At first I was so nervous about the night dive. Its night dive yaw. Night-Dark isn't it? Well it wasn't that bad. Except that it was 28 degree, sejuk untuk Malaysia weather. At night, ikan-ikan ni buta kata uncle. We were given a tourch light. Ramai jugak night dive malam tu. And guess what, 2 barracuda pass by right in front of me but i didn't realize it. I should have been studying about fish more from now on. Haha.

This is barracuda - Courtesy of google

Less than an hour, Kak Emil was lost from our sight. Rupa-rupanya dah floating. tarik-tarik kaki takmau turun. So I followed uncle ascending to the surface. Takutla dok bawah sorang-sorang. Haha. Then as i gasp the air on the surface, Kak Emil dah kayuh ke pantai. Eh habis dah? Main tipu betul. As I looked into the sky, the stars were sparkling so BE-AU-TI-FUL! Tenangnya dive malam. So romantic.Haha

Diving and feeling grateful

Alhamdulilllah I found what Im looking for. Diving was never ever in my to do list. There is a long list of mount to be conquered. That is my top list. Instead, i become a diver. I never thought of doing it seriously. Allah has been so kind to me. Despite of my silly and stupid things I did before, Allah has never stop giving me rezeki that I could never ever imagine. Such as advance diving license. Allah has a better plan and only Allah know what's best for you. Have you heard about it so many times?

Total Cost Spent :

Advance Adventure Open Water & Nitrox Course license = RM590

Island fee = RM5

Ferry Fee = RM90

Chalet = RM25/pax

Tol + Minyak (Hyundai i10) = RM55/pax of four

Thats all for now, I'm a certified advance diver now :)

See you in my next travel entry.

Comel gambar ni. Tapi kene hid rambut kakak :)

And for the record, total dive distance = 21km. Yeay!