April 2009

When we plan a dive trip these days we probably want a few different criteria’s to normal people

Quiet diving sites (nothing strange there but not easy to find)

Something different to see (not easy after the best part of 1250 dives)

Luxury not important (it’s nice, but we will happily rough it for the sake of some cool diving)

An excellent dive centre. (Very professional but will let us get on with our diving)

Originally we were heading for Bali in Indonesia to dive the North of the Island but due to the weakness of the pound against the dollar and the euro (all the hotels and dive centres seemed to be priced in overseas currencies) started making this holiday a bit expensive. As we know the time of year favoured a location sheltered from the South west monsoon our eyes were drawn to the east coast of Malaysia and  after a few hours research Bali Hai Divers and the simple but adequate (not to mention dirt cheap by UK standards) accommodation at the Penuba inn our first trip of 2009 was sorted.

Planning the Trip

The invention of the internet and communication by email is a truly wonderful thing. We first planned our first trip to South Africa six or seven years ago and ever since travel agents have not profited too greatly from our travels. Planning the trip to Malaysia was probably our easiest experience so far although even after sending emails to each leg of our trip we were however slightly concerned about the internal flight from KL to Tioman but more of Berjaya Air later. The biggest logistical problem we had was how to get our dive gear, underwater cameras and both t shirts into a stringent luggage allowance imposed by the small planes that can land at Tioman’s airstrip (Airport is too grand a title for it). The answer was to dump the dive bags, purchase a couple of huge backpacker rucksacks that proved to be a godsend and saved us around 6 kilos of weight allowance enough for a pair of extra board shorts each. 

Getting there

Flights to Kuala Lumpa were with Qatar Airways via Doha, who seemed to be after our first experience with this airline pretty good when compared with the other Middle East airlines. At least they don’t seem to lose my dive gear as Emirates like to do. The only down side was a five hour delay leaving Manchester, but as we would have been sitting in Doha airport for nearly 7 hours for the connecting flight to KL it was a blessing as more than 2 hours in the airport would have been a bit grim but at least they had a Starbucks there.

Our arrival in KL after 24 hours of travelling and a couple of hours of sleep was eased by a limo taxi (black Jag very cool) for the 45 min drive into KL city centre (A little bit of luxury is allowed on holiday) to our Hotel the Royale Bintang. (Great location, Good Rooms, at around 200 – 300 RM a night depending on season). Alternatives to the taxi to get in to KL is the express train (cost around the same as the taxi) or if you have bags of time and on a tight budget take a bus to the LCC terminal and then a budget bus (12 RM ) to KL central station.

After one night in the Royale Bintang we were off to KL’s second airport Sabang for the 45 minute flight to Tioman Island on Berjaya Airs 50 seater plane. Sabang airport used to be the international airport a few years ago and is currently being refurbished and is actually quite nice. Our E ticket which we booked in the Uk and had to reconfirm 2 weeks before the date of the flight had a stringent condition that the flight had to be paid for an entire 90 MINUTES before takeoff otherwise our tickets would go on  standby.

The flight was quite cool, a bit bumpy at times and more than slightly worrying as we came into land. We circled Tioman’s rainforest covered mountain slopes and then crossed over a secluded bay and headed straight for another mountain, and continued straight for that mountain just to get your nerves tingling as you swop over the tree tops then bank hard right and by magic or luck an airstrip appears and you are on the ground

Tioman Island & the Penuba Inn Resort

Tioman Island is one of those few undeveloped unspoilt and very rare places in the world. With no “International” Airport such as Redang or Lankawi, allow Tioman a more laid back status with the visitors arriving each day being in the hundreds rather than the thousands, with these numbers most of the accommodation reflex’s this and there is a very pleasant lack (apart from one) of large hotels. We selected the Penuba inn, mainly because the dive centre was on site and due to some nice photos and reviews on various web site’s. Getting from A to B on Tioman is by boat, there are only two roads on the island one from the Airstrip to the Berjaya Resort (the hotel chain owns the airline that fly’s to the island) and one that crosses the island through the jungle.  There are some jungle paths between the bays, but they are not a quick way of getting around the island and once you enter the jungle (which covers the entire Island bar a few villages) the heat is something else. They do allow you to get close to nature with a vast variety of different birds, reptiles, mammals and insects they are a nature lovers dream but don’t forget the insect repellent as you will be bitten to death.

Penuba offered three types of rooms. Bungalows (cold water showers and Fans) Bungalows (Hot water showers, Air conditioning, Fridge) and super rooms which were constructed of brick and had all mod cons. The best thing that all the rooms here had were the most fantastic sea views, and each evening we would sit with a beer and a book enjoying the views on the balcony. We went for the middle standard which we thought was great. Very simple, the bed was comfy, good hot shower and efficient aircon. Only poor point was the toilet which had a pathetic flush but it became a standing joke (real toilet humour) As well as the on Site dive centre the hotels restaurant sat by the sea so dinner each night was accompanied by the sounds of lapping water at the Stars. 

Bali Hai Divers

The dive centre at the resort was located at the end of the pier at the Penuba Inn. There are around 20 dive sites within 30minutes (on the fast boat) as well as the excellent house reef at the end of the pier. The dive centre has 3 boats. One small with a small cover good for a few divers to the closer dive sites, An excellent and very fast speed boat for 10-12 divers and a large day boat which can also be used for short Liveaboard trips. Unfortunately while we were on Tioman the large boat had been taken to the mainland for repairs so we can’t really comment on this boat although judging by the rest of the dive centre we are sure its first class. The dive centre is very well laid out with separate shop, classroom, kit storage and compressor rooms, large wipe boards tell the guests departure times and locations for he next days diving. The Days diving was arranged depending on the experience levels of the divers but we found the diving consistently good. Full moon was out during our stay which made a couple of great dives for us but made a few of the more exposed sites only for the more advanced divers which reduced the number of times we dived them. We visited Tioman at the start of April which is the start of the dive season here and the weather was quite good but changeable. This effected the visibility underwater to less than 10m on a few dives but when conditions were favourable (generally when their was a good current running) the vis was 30m+  the average for the trip was probably in the region of 15m with a water temperature of 27-29 C. While we were diving at Bali Hai the centre was staffed by Sonja (Instructor) and Eone (DM) and assisted by Lynsey who was doing a proper divemaster internship and working like a trooper for the fun of it. They all were a credit to the dive centre, worked incredibly hard and very long hours but always had a very warm welcome for any guests who came into the dive centre at any time of the day. Eone’s Barbecue’s were first class and beers provided for sundowners on the balcony always provided a perfect end to a great days diving.

The Diving

 Ok what is Tioman good for (Diving wise). If you are into wrecks there are plenty, from advanced WWII wrecks such as the Repulse and the Prince of Wales to a large collection of purposely sunk smaller vessels in recreational limits closer in to the islands.

For us and our Cameras our favourite subjects were the Nudibranches, There were loads many new to us and we spent hours looking for new varieties. Lots of very healthy and undamaged reef systems with huge beds of staghorn and plate corals.  Very friendly turtles, and the best treat at one dive site were Sharks (almost Guaranteed).

The dive sites around Tioman are marked with buoy’s  and dive boats are not allowed to drop anchors, as with many places around the world this will not stop some boat pulling off the buoy’s and loosing the moorings, we found this at a few dive sites but Bali Hai’s boat captain always put us on the site.

Our favourite dive site here was a split decision. The obvious all round best site we dived was ‘Tiger’. We dived here on slack water but judging be the size and amount of huge sea fans here when the current runs it runs, Excellent for Nudies around the rocks with good general fish life, I am sure if you dived here in a current the fish life would be even better. Talking of fish life, this is where Rachel was bitten (quite badly as it turned out after infections and all) by the Titan trigger fish. These in nesting season are probably one of the most aggressive animals in the oceans and defend their territory at all costs. The problem for Rachel was that she didn’t see the Titan until it was too late. As a dive guide we have both had numerous nips on our fins over the years but this one ducked under Rachel’s fins and bit her just above her ankle. Her buddy at this point (and having seen the trigger fish make a bluff run at Rachel before) was well away from danger and would have taken photos had his mask not been constantly flooded due to laughter. He will of course remain nameless.      

Our second favourite site had to be Rengiss. Max depth only around 12m but a beautiful coral reef around a 100m of the Shore of Tioman Island. The normal reef fish are here along with 3 or 4 Hawksbill turtles, cuttle fish etc, etc but the thing that  make this reef so good are the black tip reef sharks, A rare site anywhere in the world these days.

Other sites that deserve a mention are Chebee Island, a rocky exposed reef with loads of Barracuda, Soyak wrecks, two purposely sank wrecks in 25-30m of water,  Batu Malang lots of cool caves and swim through’s and of course the excellent house reef at Penuba .

 Overview and recommendations

If you need a dive Holiday away from the crowds, excellent diving and probably one of the most chilled out parts of the world we have been to. There is not too much to do (apart from dive) than to chill out relax and take in the spectacular scenery of the island.  Penuba Inn was a great base, clean but basic and very good value for money. Bali Hai Divers were the model professional dive centre and cannot recommend them too highly. Would we go back? Yes (there still more diving to do here). One of Malaysia’s best kept secrets, go and visit but don’t tell too many people as it would be a shame to spoil.

http://www.balihaidivers.net/

Robbie RRM DIVERS April 2009