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Deep diving, wreck diving, completing my course and a jungle trek for my tea!
Tioman Island, Malaysia
Good evening!
I am glad to be alive tonight as I sit with a beer in hand on the beach waiting for a Sunset Special Pizza to be cooked. (Big sigh of relief!)
I have just trekked over the headland to the next bay called ABC. As Panuba sits on its own there is only the hotel and dive centre and unless you eat in the hotel the is no other option. Grant had told me how it was a 20 minute walk over the hill through the jungle and that there was a great place called Sunset at the other end. 35 minutes later and dripping wet with sweat and fear I have just arrived! I'll tell you more after I have written about today...
To complete my Advanced Scuba course I had to do 3 more dives today and it was pretty tough going. We started at 9:30 after I had woken up to an ant crawling on my arm. It's a good job the little b***** did because I was fast asleep!
The first dive we did today was the deep dive and if you imagine a 25 swimming pool and add 6.5m more that's how deep I went today! Crazy!!
When we reached our depth of 31.5m it was incredible to find 2 shipwrecks!
I knew that we were going to dive at the wreck but seeing it with my own eyes was fantastic. Yesterday I wrote how I had seen thousand of fish, well today I am certain I saw millions! Along with the huge (50cm) fish were millions of little ones (10-20cm).
They were schooling and swimming in all directions....
So I just stopped writing to eat the best pizza in the world right now! Also I moved to sit near a guy on his own who I thought was French... Turns out he is and we are having a great conversation in French! I do love speaking French.. I give it my best and have a go. They seem to understand me and I understand most of what he is saying! I'll write later when I can... Bon Soir!
Hello again! Well I am pleased to report I am now back at Panuba having managed to work my way back over the jungle successfully! Back to two paragraphs ago when I was talking about my diving...
As I adjusted to 31.5m below sea level and took in the amazing sea life it felt great to be spending time in the underwater world and witness life below our planets waters, something I feel very fortunate to do. After a few skills tests, which involved remembering and repeating a sequence of numbers shown on Grants fingers, we moved off to explore the wreck. The idea being repeating the signal is to see if the narcosis was affecting me. This is something that can happen when your body is affected by the pressure it is out under when you are 30+ meters below sea level! I passed with flying colours!
The ship we were working our way around was huge! I estimate is was about 50-60m long, possibly an old ferry or large fishing boat. I will try and do some research tomorrow to find out more. I cannot describe to you the amount of fish life we saw here. One of my favourites was a spiked Lion fish! Then, as we were making our way back up from the sea bed, Grant dived into the ship itself! I had seen the gap previously and inside it was just black! I had thought that it would be cool to swim through it but didn't think it would be allowed. Anyway myself and Grants Dad, who was also on the dive, followed through the gap and into the ship. It was very dark and almost silent! Light shone through the holes in the ship and all I could think about was making sure my tank etc didn't get caught! We swam through the ship and out of a doorway that at one time would have been used to access the deck I think. We were back in the open water and I looked back to re live what I had just done! I thought of what it must have taken for ship to end up at the bottom of the sea and the sailors that were on it at the time!
The next thing I noticed on the ship was the mast. As we reached our bottom time limit of 14 minutes we made our way upwards and towards the top of the mast. I was amazed to find the ships flag still intact, although it was full of holes and covered in Algae. I slowly unraveled the flag to reveal a Malaysian flag. Just below the flag was what looked like a large Algae ball and Grant made his way to it. It was only when he pointed a few things out to me I identified it as a Scuba Diving BCD. This is the jacket you wear that your tank attaches to and helps you to breathe and float! The regulator (thing in your mouth) was still attached and the tank strap was still there. It had obviously been there a long time and I can only think that someone must have got stuck somehow and had to dump their equipment and do an emergency accent using their buddy's emergency regulator and air! It reminded me how dangerous Scuba Diving can be and how you have to have full respect and concentration for the sport! We slowly made our way to the surface after this, stopping at 5m for 5 minutes to allow our bodies to sort itself out before getting back on the boat! It was a great dive and I looked forward to the next one.
Now, the weather this morning was pretty rough and the sea was as rough as I had seen it. After learning about the underwater camera and the theory involved in taking photos of sea life we had a coffee and then got ready for dive 2 of the day. This time it was a shallower dive which meant it could be longer and I could have more time to take photos. We went on the boat to a reef on a little island about 10 mins south of Panuba. This was another excellent dive and I loved having the freedom to take pictures of the fish, turtles and coral while Grant just relaxed and let me do my thing! He really has been a great instructor and for £300 with 3 nights accommodation and 1-1 tuition with PADI certification I couldn't have asked for more!
I loved taking pictures of the clownfish and when we saw the turtles it made my day! I was able to get really close and even swam along with one for a while! Again I saw too many fish to mention but please have a look at my Facebook to see some of the pictures I took. Although it was great, after this dive I felt pretty awful! The sea was rough and the boat ride didn't do me any good. I managed to make it back and had a lie down, some food and came round a little bit. I spoke to Tara too and reading her blog and messages from her gave me the boost I needed to get ready for my final dive!
To be honest I didn't really want to do it as I was tired, drained and felt iffy but I had to complete it to get my Advanced Certificate. Grant and I had a chat through the theory of navigating underwater using a compass and the discussed the skills I would have to do on the dive.
By now the sea was calmer and we were doing this one off the end of the jetty on Panuba's very own reef. I had told Grant I wasn't too fussed about having a look at the reef after doing the skills and after navigating myself around in a square back to a point I called time on the dive. It's was only 15 minutes but I had completed what I set out to do! I thought I should quit while I was ahead, I was more than happy with the 4 dives I had done already and was ready for a lie down!
After we had packed away all the equipment I then had to do an hour and a half of theory work/exams before I finished the course. It's not difficult but you have to answer certain parts related to what you have done. I completed the course, filled in my dive log book and Grant stamped and certified my dives.
I am really pleased I have competed my Advanced Course and although I will still only dive on holidays as a hobby I am now much more confident under the water, in preparing and sorting out my equipment. It has also been a great experience, lots of fun allowed me to do things that I love!
So after I had finished at the dive centre I had a shower and sorted myself out before coming down to the reception to sort my pictures out. I left them uploading as I set off to ABC over the headland as I described before.
Now this wasn't as simple as I thought and after trekking about 100 along a dirt path no wider than 30cm in pitch black I convinced myself it was wrong and turned back. I confirmed it was the correct route with some staff and then set off once more. My heart was racing and as I turned my light off in the jungle it was absolute darkness! All I could think about was what the hell my mum would say! But, I had to get my tea somehow!
Eventually after around 15 mins I made it to ABC. I was alive, sweaty and my heart was still racing, it was more the fear of the unknown that did this but it was OK in the end. I walked the whole length of ABC and all I could think about was what this place must have been like when it was at its best, possibly 20 years ago! Now, it's naturally beautiful and the diving is incredible but to be honest the whole island could do with a facelift!
Anyway, at the end of ABC I reached Sunset bar and the chair I sat in with the beer and began to write this blog. After the pizza and chat with the French guy I polished off a Banana Split and another beer before asking the waiter/owners son for a lift back through ABC in his side cart to the jungle. He said yes and we set off with me sat in the cart, him driving the bike, his 4 year old cousin on his knee and two 7/8 year old kids holding on the back! Only on a desert island hey!
To my delight as I got to the jungle I could see Grant and his family just entering the trail. I shouted to them and together we all walked back! This made the journey much more bearable and not nearly as scary!
When we got to Panuba we said our good nights and I came and sat here to write my blog. Now it's time for bed so I can rest and get ready to explore some more of the island on my extra day here tomorrow.... I know what I'm going to do but I'm not telling you as all you will do is worry.. I'll be fine and I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Night all X
- comments
Grandma Another fantastic blog Tom .i was in that jungle with you
Martyn Great blog Tom. Love the dive pics.. Not surprised you were tired after 4 dives. It's hard work humping all that equipment about! Enjoy the beer!
FG More amazing experiences. Keep on making those memories. X