Tickling sea turtle - yes they have a funny bone as well
“Not everything that dives in the sea is a mermaid”-Russian
proverb
Scuba diving is considered
a leisurely sport by the most but a rather potentially dangerous sport by
others. Needless to say, it certainly is a sport that has different levels of engagement
to it. I will give a brief summary about the different depths of scuba diving
available before proceeding to my own personal experience.
Yours truly taking a break from all the sights
My dive buddy - Bradley all the way from Amsterdam
Bong cha all the way from Korea, Pulau Payar really does attract everyone and anyone
When an individual
is interested to make his name in the hall of divers, he first has to go
through what is called an open water dive program. The open water dive consists
of a number of dives required before one can just flash his dive card anywhere
in the world to be able to get access to scuba gear. It does sound inviting
does it not? I of course had to jump in on the opportunity when a friend of
mine told me his experiences diving underwater and the unknown world he could
not be found on land. For eager prospective divers, I would highly recommend to
take a diving course under PADI, NAUI, SSI or BSAC-all being recognized and
prestigious schools who have set the diving standard all over the world. There
have been numerous debates and rebutting on which is the best dive program. To
be assured, this debate would go on forever but the general consensus is that
it is not so much the program as it is the instructor who will mold you into an
ultimate diver.
I hopped on the SSI
crew and made my way to Pulau Payar Marine Park where the rest of the
prospective divers were there gearing up. The first two days were crammed pool
sessions that required you to do certain tasks that proved your water
confidence such as mask clearing and regulator (the device that provides you
the air) retrieval. After that, it is time for the open water dives consisting
of five dives in the consequent two days. Luckily, our dive master told us that
we would be doing something different today and instead of just diving off the
marine park platform, we would be taking a boat and diving off secluded islands
all over the coast.
Taking a dive speed boat to Pulau Segantang for some wreck diving
Tools of the trade
So we hooked up our
gear, checked our regulators, strapped on our oxygen tanks and latched on our
flippers before they took us on a speedboat to our first destination-Pulau
Kaca. The first dive was pretty leisurely and laidback with a few curious clown
fish, sinister moray eels and really pretty corals that lived in the sea
kingdom. As scuba divers, we always feel like unwelcomed strangers in an
unfamiliar territory, which kind of justifies the adventure of scuba diving.
The next stop was Pulau Segantang, more accustomed to wreck diving, we saw much
more marine life here such as the pancake jellyfish, sea turtle and much more.
It was pretty disappointing for me since I did not purchase an underwater camera
(something which I highly recommend for everyone to do) before setting out on
this trip. Thankfully, I got a few pictures from my dive master who took
pictures of our crew, and some from the other diving crews that were from the
other programs on the same trip.
A divemaster grabbing some sort of black eel shaped creature hiding within the corals
and supposedly communicating with it, he definitely loves marine life.
The lion fish, my favorite underwater life - very very pretty but very very deadly
Brown marble groupa acting aloof as they always do
Holding some kind of jellyfish
After the dive, we
made our way back to the Marine platform where all the snorkelers were having
lunch. We all sat back and took a breather as we looked back on the pictures of
yet another memorable adventurous day to be added into our books.
Finally completing our dives, after an exhausting expedition
Above the deck, taking in the wind, breeze, sights, sound and the beauty of life
Taking delight in the sunset on the way back while cherishing a moment together
Spectacular, simply spectacular
Information:
I will be talking more about the scuba diving pathway that I
did not in my diving trip as it would be off tangent on some parts and break
the storyline. As I mentioned earlier, one has to go through the open water
dive. In regards to SSI, the program in which I was mentored, you have to do a
minimum of five dives to get your SSI card, SSI diving certificate and they
sometimes even add in a waterproof bag and dive log book which is really a
handful of goodies for me. One then goes through the advanced diving program.
Now this is where it gets really interesting, remember what I said about scuba
diving being a leisurely sport? Well it take a different turn once you decide
to go advance as there is a whole lots of adrenaline specialties to choose
from. Basically, you have to take five more logged dives and two extra specialty
dives. You can of course opt for more specialty dives and move up the ladder so
here is the breakdown.
Open water diver-5 or more logged dives
Specialty diver-12 logged dives inclusive of 2 specialty
dives.
Advanced diver-24 logged dives inclusive of 4 specialty
dives.
Master diver-50 logged dives inclusive of 5 specialty dives.
Logged dives basically mean dives that are signed by a dive
master and put into your logbook. If you just go for a dive and return to your
home it would not count towards your course dives. So what are the specialty
dives you may ask? Well here are some of my favorites:
i) Spear fishing-using powered spear guns to hunt
fish…underwater! How cool is that?
ii) Deep sea diving-a quick story, a friend of mine went
below a hundred feet and went to explore a cave that suddenly moved…only to
realize it was a mouth of a grouper.
iii) Night diving-diving with a limited visibility, watch
out what’s behind you!
iv) Shark diving-speaks for itself
v) Underwater photography-this is a classic diver’s
favorite, get ready to have seahorses and corals as your models.
All in all, the life of a diver is indeed a fulfilled one
and personally, I have already set a goal to be an advanced diver myself. For
more information on this addictive sport you can visit these websites: -
http://langkawicoral.com/index.php
http://eastmarine.com.my/
http://ecodivers.net/
Article and Photography provided by Joshua Tan