Diving Similan - A blast from the past ...

My last holiday of the year was a blast! The dive adventures with Similan Diving Safaris (SDS), a 4 day/4 night liveaboard on the M/V Dolphin Queen have far exceeded my expectations. It is, to date, the most professionally conducted trip I've been on. Sprinkled with surprises (God, I love surprises!), fun, laughter (loads of these from Samy Vellu & Angkasawan jokes to silly underwater antics), and easygoing folks from Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong and the six of us from Malaysia. Not to mention the ever courteous Thai captain, his family and at-your-service boat crew.

The dive trip included 11 day dives and three night dives to some of the world's best diving sites found in the Andaman Sea - Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, and world famous Richelieu Rock.

The most coveted sight which the divers all saw at Koh Bon at different times and dives were the leopard sharks. While I didn't get to say "Hi! Merry Christmas!" to the whale shark, it was very good indeed that we sighted the leopard shark, not once, but thrice. That was a real treat!

Leopard Shark, Koh Bon, Andaman Sea (Dive # 91)

Video courtesy of Peter Seow

The Malaysian team was fortunate to be the only group on SDS 15 to see the gentle giant - the Manta Ray. I've seen a few of these while I dove Manta Point, Bali in August, but one never tires of experiencing the awe of swimming in the same ocean with a glorious and majestic creation.

Manta Ray, Koh Bon, Andaman Sea (Dive #92)

Video courtesy of Peter Seow

On our way back to Khao Lak on 26 December, we had a final dive at Boonsung Wreck - what I consider as the "richest in marine life" of the trip. There were so many moray eels inhabiting the wreck - from baby ones to adult ones - the white-eyed and the honeycomb morays. There were also the rare sighting of the frogfish at the bottom of the buoy line, the ghost pipefish, the scorpion fish, lobsters, boxer and dancing shrimps, a cuttlefish couple, schools of baraccudas, trevally, and finally, the large Catostylus stingless jellyfish as we did our safety stop while hanging on to the buoy line at 5 meters.

The trip about sums up the "adventures" of 2007 for me. There were many key highlights that alluded to the ups and downs of 2007, although I am only now mentally processing these experiences in dribs and drabs. The revelations are trickling in, as are the underwater photos, I imagine!

Perhaps, the best way to share highlights of the trip are through pictures that paint a thousand words, although these are the first batch of on-the-boat and land pictures courtesy of my dive buddy Lorraine - check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23618&l=5fe0d&id=655406221

A few underwater pictures courtesy of fellow diver Vincent at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23691&l=c5262&id=655406221

Of Diving & Barracudas

Absolutely loved the Sipadan-Mabul islands - a diver's paradise, where I spent 5 days and 4 nights this past week. Being away from the polluted city life and taking in bouts of salty sea air by idyllic Mabul island did wonders for me. Life now seems fuller and brighter ... it must have been the continuous inhalation of nitrogen during my 10 dives!

Of the group of 17 divers, I knew only three of them - my dive buddy Anna, church friend Tammy, and a motoring treasure hunt acquaintance Joan.

There's so much I could write about, all of which would take weeks, perhaps months, to compile. Bits and pieces of memories are still with each of the divers.

But there were a couple of "breathtaking" moments that "made" the dive trip so much more memorable.

23 March 2007, 6 am dive @ Sipadan

The sun had yet to rise that morning. The view underwater was rather daunting. It was the dark, deep blue sea on my left and a huge coral wall (that stretched 600 meters down) on my right.

As we descended, we "bumped" into a school of giant bumphead parrot fish (pun intended!). Drifting with the mild current on our way to the famous Barracuda Point, we saw white-tip and gray reef sharks go by with occasional silhouette sightings of turtles and giant triggerfishes.

Towards the end of our 45-minute dive and hovering at 15-20 meters, divemaster Mika started banging her tank. The tank banging got louder and louder. Each diver hung onto rocks, in anticipation of the rush of "barracuda" traffic.

Photo by charleslwy88, webshot

In a matter of seconds, hundreds of silver, tornado-like barracudas whizzed by the busy ocean highway, all moving in one direction, while the strong currents swept corals, small fishes and possibly divers in the other. I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on in order not to be swept away. Others hung on for dear life. Many were breathing really hard and almost emptied their air tanks.

... which brings me to the second most memorable moment of this trip. A "breathtaking" experience for my friend Tammy, and certainly one that my dive buddy will remember for the rest of her life!

I realize that this may not be appropriate for me to blog about from a bystander's point of view, but you can certainly get the scoop from Tammy's blog :-)

The sausage launch ... -ed!

With the newness of this blog, my mind has been flipping through its filed memories, searching for the potential blog entry. The folder “Dive Hin Daeng, Andaman Seas, 20-25 October 2006” popped out … and I knew I had to post it.

When my friends and I began dive lessons back in May/June 2005, we attended hours of lectures and pool sessions before heading for the Open Water (OW) certification at Lang Tengah, off Kuala Trengganu. Unfortunately, I never did get to practice launching the safety device, commonly know as the "sausage." Divers use this to alert boatmen of their whereabouts before they surface.

Trust me, I have seen the "sausage" launched by dive instructors and dive masters every single time, and in my mind, I was convinced I could launch it easily. After all it looked so simple.

My chance to launch the sausage came sometime between my 50th and 60th dive and almost a year and a half after I got my OW license. It was during a live-on-board "Sea Moth" trip to Hin Daeng islands, Andaman Seas, at the start of the whale shark and manta ray season.

Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for YOU, my dive instructor captured on video this dive blooper.

Note to non-divers: In order to appreciate this video, read on to understand what should and should not be done while launching a "sausage":

1. Only one diver is required to launch the "sausage." Buddy divers, generally, need not assist.
2. Diver should be reasonably steady at 5 meters while doing the safety stop and not float up towards the water's surface (or float upside down, for that matter!)
3. Octopus (the yellow alternative mouthpiece/breathing apparatus) should fit nicely in the "sausage's" opening (in this case the opening seemed too small! Argghhh ... those b!%^#& Taiwan "sausages"!)
4. The weight should be sufficient to hold the string down (under no circumstance should the divemaster be tugging on the string.) In this case the string was way too long!
5. Diver need not do a ritual dance around the "sausage" before launching it. It does not enhance the performance of the "sausage."
6. When the "sausage" IS launched, diver should remain at 5 meters to complete the 3-minute safety stop and not float up with the "sausage."
7. When at the surface, the "sausage" should be fully inflated, not limp!
8. The whole action should take no more than 60 seconds. In this instance, it took a full 2 minutes and more to launch the "sausage."

Hummm ... I have been told that “laughter is the best medicine.” I hope this one does it for you, as it did the group of 20-some divers last October. As always, I became the main entertainment for the evening.

Now, you can watch the video!