First Diving Trip Post MCO - Pulau Perhentian

At the end of 2020 we all said goodbye and good riddance to a year like no other, lockdowns and closed boarders had disrupted the travel plans of many scuba divers, kept families apart and generally wrecked havoc on the tourism sector. Moving into 2021 there was a sense of optimism that the worst was behind us and that things could only get better - how wrong we were! As we progressed into 2021 it soon became apparent that it was going to be an even more frustrating year than 2020, certainly here in Malaysia. We all watched on with envy as rich, developed nations rolled out vaccination programmes and people were allowed more & more freedom to meet and travel whilst here in Malaysia we were stuck in an ever worsening spiral of increasing cases and stricter lockdowns - only being allowed to venture out 10km from the apartment for food and essential supplies. It was clear any pans to get out and about scuba diving were not going to happen any time soon.

The empty beach at Pulau Perhentian Kecil

BuBu Resort, Long Beach Perhentian

Fast forward to October and after a delayed, yet successful vaccination programme the long awaited announcement that interstate travel would resume soon was greeted by everyone with a sense of relief. For scuba divers it was the news we had all been waiting for - we could finally travel around peninsula Malaysia and get in the water after such a long, dry period. As soon as I had heard about the announcement I went straight into trip booking mode, checking my list of postponed trips and seeing which ones we might be able to use. We finally settled on heading to the Perhentians, hoping that as it was nearing the end of the season that it wouldn’t be too busy - a few emails and phone calls later and we were all set, luckily our favourite resort and dive shop were both open and we had credit in the bank! We also decided that we would fly up to Kota Bharu to avoid the long traffic jams expected as everyone emptied out of Kuala Lumpur to “Balik Kampung” after so long. While this would mean less frustrating traffic jams, it would entail having to lug a lot of scuba gear and photography equipment via air which is no mean feat - this meant packing (relatively) lightly and having to make some choices about which lenses I would take. I finally settled on taking my 50mm macro lens and 16mm fisheye lens as essentially this trip would be practise for an upcoming trip to Sipadan and Kapalai so I wanted to get my eye in after so long out of the water.

Turtle Bay Divers, Perhentian

When the day finally arrived we woke up early, jumped in the car and drove off to KLIA2 - thankfully the queues in the airport were not too bad and we managed to board the airplane without too much difficulty. An hour later we touched down and were soon on a mini bus provided by BuBu to take us to the jetty in Kuala Besut and finally on to Perhentian by boat. The excitement levels were rising, it felt like a lifetime ago since we had done this sort of thing and to top it off, although it was October which usually heralds the arrival of the east coast monsoon the sky was blue and the water was flat. It really did feel like we were blessed! Having set off at around 4am this morning, by midday we were standing on the Island ready to check in, the sun shining down on our faces and feeling like we didn’t have a care in the world. Once checked in my travelling companions decided to head to the beach to soak up the sun whilst I decided to unpack, set up my camera and wonder down to the beach to my favourite little dive shop in all of Malaysia - Turtle Bay Divers. Regular readers of this blog will know that I always dive with these guys, I’m not paid to advertise them or anything of that ilk, its just that its a brilliantly run dive shop, reasonable prices with great staff, you really could not ask for more. I walked in and was treated like an old friend, warmly greeted by the owner Yaakub. Within a few minutes I had signed on to do a dive that afternoon at a nearby site called Batu Nisan Rock. I was sad to hear how the Pandemic had affected some of the staff, especially those from the island itself, but pleased that with good weather and travel allowed there was at least a chance to salvage something from a season that many had hoped would make up for the loss of 2020. It was also sad to see that the dive shop itself had been battered by the monsoon waves earlier this year and had lost a significant part of the decking at the front.

Later that afternoon I wondered along the beach again with my partner for our first dive in months - we set up our kit, walked a short distance to the boat and had an even shorter journey to the dive site. With some trepidation we backrolled into the water and were just so pleased to be back beneath the waves with our aquatic friends. The first thing that really stuck me was the condition of the corals, with no tourists for several months they seemed to be more vibrant in colourful than previously and this wasn’t even one of the best dive sites that Perhentian has to offer - this felt like a good omen. I felt a bit rusty using my camera, but then that was part of the point of the trip - getting in some practise before the serious stuff at Sipadan!

A diver inspects a sea anemone and its resident Clownfish

The first dive went well, although I noticed that my air consumption was somewhat higher than it had been before COVID lockdowns had interrupted diving! Still, I guess this was to be expected. After getting back to the dive shop we had to reacquaint ourselves with the chore of washing our gear before heading back to our hotel for a well deserved cold beer and evening cocktails! BuBu is one of the pricier resorts on the Island, however, I feel that it is also the best. Great food and drink options and comfortable, clean rooms with a view to die for. The beach BBQ is a great option as well. Our group enjoyed the evening, being back on an island and retired to bed before it got too late as I had to be up early for the morning dive….

Those familiar with Perhentian know that there is one dive site that stands out, The Pinnacle. It is certainly my favourite and I try never to miss visiting it when heading to Perhentian. The second day of our trip provided that opportunity, heading out on the boat I was happy to not see any other boats going that way which meant we had a good chance of having the dive site to ourselves and in turn meant there was the chance of some good wide angle shots underwater if the visibility was good. I was in so much of a hurry that as I jumped into the water and switched my camera on as I descended I noticed a problem - I had left the lens cap on my camera inside of the housing! Cursing myself underwater, I signalled to my dive buddy - luckily I was diving with Yaakub - I ascended to the boat and quickly managed to rectify the problem and jumped back in the water. To be honest, I felt a little embarrassed and flustered after this and had to breath deeply to regain my composure. Thankfully we were rewarded with clear water, minimal current and no other divers - what luck! I managed to get a few nice shots of the reef, again the corals here were even more vibrant in colourful than I had previously remembered, it just shows how resilient nature can be if given the chance to recover.

The beautiful, colourful corals of The Pinnacle, Pulau Perhentian

After the morning dive at the Pinnacle I was scheduled for two more dives, for the lunchtime dive I was rejoined by my partner who had earlier decided that a lie in after the previous days early morning was more preferable. Walking back down to Turtle Bay Divers the sky was clear and water calm, but by the time we had kitted up a storm seemed to be closing in. This dictated a change in dive site to a more sheltered bay, D’Lagoon. Whilst a reasonable site, it isn’t normally top of a divers hit list here but we were treated to several Indian Ocean Walkmen (Scorpionfish), yellow boxfish and hermit crabs. The Indian Ocean Walkmen are a favourite of mine as they always make me chuckle with the way they waddle along the sandy bottom. Again, were were diving with Yaakub, the owner of turtle bay and we were able to relax into the dive and take our time which is just perfect for me as an underwater photographer. After that dive I managed to squeeze one more in at Shark Point near the larger of the two Perhentian Islands. Ironically, as a diver you are less likely to see the Blacktop Reef Sharks that the site is named after due to their skittish nature than you are snorkelling. Still, I was hopeful we might catch a glimpse. Unfortunately they stayed away from us for this dive but I was able to play around with the settings on my camera to ensure I was honing my skills. Again, after the last dive of the day it was time to wash equipment and head back for what I felt was a well deserved cold beer!

The next day would be my last day of diving due to flying and needing to gas off some of the nitrogen I would have accumulated in my body. I was only able to fit in two dives due to the timing of our flight the next day but I didn’t mind as I was also looking forward to spending a few lazy hours on the beach with my book in the sunshine! That day we managed to dive Sugar Wreck, a transport boat around 90m long that was sunk some years ago. Due to its located half way between the mainland and the island the currents can be a little stronger and visibility isn’t always great. This time as we descended down the buoy line I was hopeful we might get lucky, but the visibility soon closed in. I was surprised to see the wreck covered in fishing nets which was something i had not seen before, evidently local fishermen fish around here due to the abundance of life that congregates around the wreck. A lot of the dive was spent cutting away nets from the sunken boat and trying to free some of the marine life caught in them. Its not to say that fishing is a bad thing, far from it, the local communities have every right t to fish here, but the nets can be a hazard to divers and other species such as bamboo sharks and turtles. I didn’t manage to come away with any usable pictures unfortunately, but I just enjoyed the dive and being in the water. The final dive of the trip was at Fisherman’s Wreck, group of three fishing boats that had been sunk and were in varying states of decay as they were wooden boats As soon as we descended we were greeted by a cuttlefish just hovering above the sandy bottom. I love this site as there is always a huge abundance of life here and the schooling fish make for some great photo opportunities with the wrecks themselves.

A diver investigates one of the three Fishermans Wrecks at Pulau Perhentian.

Sadly, after the last dive I had to start to chore of washing all my equipment, packing the camera away and getting ready to depart the next day, Still, it wasn’t all bad, I had managed to get some diving in for the first time in months, some much needed photography practise ahead of some more challenging trips coming up and also enjoy some much needed rest and recovery after the endless slog of working from home. The trip served as a great refresher and warm up ahead of our next trip to Sabah for the serious diving in and around Sipadan and Mabul. I do love Perhentian, its a great getaway destination and it was nice to feel as if we had the island to ourselves for a few days, the lack of crowds was a bit of a novelty. However, as much as we enjoyed having the place to ourselves i do hope that the 2022 season is better for the independent hotel and dive shop owners and that they can recover a little bit of what they lost in 2021.