Pulau Tenggol - First Dive After Lockdown!
After 4.5 months out of the water the news in the middle of June that Malaysia would ease its lockdown restrictions and allow interstate travel again was well received by everyone, especially scuba divers who have had to do without their normal dose of vitamin sea! After dreaming about where to go for that first dive after the lockdown I was now faced with the prospect of putting it into action. Pulau Tenggol on Peninsula Malaysia’s east coast seemed like a good place to re-aquaint myself with the ocean. Easy to get to from KL, coral in good condition and the chance to see whale sharks I booked a three day stay, packed my dive gear that has never been better maintained and headed off into the early morning. Driving out of KL felt a bit weird, a little like I was sneaking out of the city, but as the dawn broke that feeling soon passed and after a few hours drive I found myself at the jetty in Kuala Dungun, Terrenganu ready to catch the boat to Tenggol. The water was calm and flat, perfect conditions and in just 45 minutes we arrived at the island to be warmly greeted by the staff.
The beach at Pulau Tenggol
After arriving and finding my room I quickly prepared my dive gear and camera in anticipation of the first dive that afternoon, which would be a turtle point in the bay in front of the resort. It felt good to be able to assemble everything and also test out a few of the online lockdown purchases I had made too. A (very) short boat ride later and I found myself backrolling into the water, a serge of adrenaline ran through my body just beforehand. As we all grouped together at the from of the boat ready to descend I found myself smiling inside.
As we went down the water was warm, but the visibility wasn’t as good as it could have been, but that really didn’t bother me one iota. We got to the bottom and started to explore, although named turtle point we didn’t see any turtles this time but there were a few beautiful nudibranchs to photograph and then we swam over to a wreck and had a look around there. After around 45 minutes we surfaced, the whole group was beaming from ear to ear - just the simple act of getting back in the water was all anyone had wanted, nothing spectacular to see but no one cared.
Back to the dive centre and we changed tanks and promptly went for lunch prior to the next dive at Gua Rajawali. Again, a short boat ride out to the site and we all descended, again nothing spectacular, some nudibranchs, scorpionfish and reef fish but the main thrill was just being able to dive again - what a buzz. I had noticed on the first dive that I had used my air up at a quicker rate than normal, to be expected I suppose but this time it was better. We all got back to the surface and then resort, cleaned everything off and set gear up ready for the morning headed for a nice warm shower, then enjoyed dinner and a few cold beers basking in the remnants of sunlight before heading to bed for a long, deep sleep.
A Christmas Tree Worm
The next morning I awoke full of excitement, the first dive site was to be Tokong Timur, one of the best sites in all of peninsula Malaysia and my favourite at Tenggol. I decided to try out my wide angle wet lens for this dive, hoping that I might get to use it to photograph a whale shark, or at least try out a few close focus wide angle shots that I had previously learned about in a Bluewater University online course. The dive didn’t disappoint, although the whale shark didn’t turn up this time, the water was nice and clear, the coral healthy and there was a abundance of fish all around us. Just magical.
The second dive was at Coral Garden at the rear of the island, the guide advised me this would be a mainly macro dive, so I changed out my wide angle lens for a macro one and quickly go ready, got on the boat and we set off. The dive site didn’t disappoint, with some great nudibranchs to try and photograph and again beautiful coral. I was busy lining up a shot of a nudibranch when a chorus of tapping on tanks sounded, looking up someone made the sign for shark, this could only mean one thing - whale shark! Suddenly I realised, I had the wrong lens, I flipped the marco off and fumbled with the settings quickly and then it appeared, the first time I had seen a whale shark, it must have been 7m in length and was surrounded my remoras. I gasped at how beautiful it was - finally, after five trips to Tenggol and missing it by a matter of hours I had seen it. I almost forgot to take a photo, but got a shot off, hoping that it would come round for a second pass, but alas, it swam off into the deep to leave just memories and excitement. The boat ride back to the resort was boisterous to say the least - three boats from our resort had been at the dive site and everyone had seen it - lots of wooping and hollering as we sped back in formation.
Whale Shark at Coral Garden, Tenggol
The final dive of the day, at Tanjung Rajawali almost seemed like a formality - everyone was still buzzing after seeing the whale shark. I was secretly hoping to see it again, the photo I thought I had taken didn’t seem to have come out very well. (Post trip note - the magic of photoshop prevails and the image above is the one I took) There were some really great nudibranchs to shoot and also some beautiful christmas tree worms as well. All too soon, the dive was over and with it the end of my diving that weekend. The boat took us back and then began the arduous process and disassembling everything and washing it off to make sure no salt can damage it, especially the rings on camera housings and strobes. Once everything was clean I left it out to dry and headed back to my room for a well earned hot shower and got ready for dinner that evening.
Nudibranchs at Tanjung Rajawali
The atmosphere at dinner was electric, everyone was still on a high after seeing the whale shark, with people sharing photos and videos over a few cold beers and swapping stories. It felt great to bask in the afterglow of a fabulous weekends diving and start to look forward to my next trip in just a couple fo weeks time. I retired to bed early that evening, shattered but happy.
The next morning was bittersweet, i’d had a great time and met some wonderful people, but all good things come to an end. I packed everything up now it was dry and caught the boat back to the mainland, followed by the drive back to Kuala Lumpur. But, what a great way to start the dive season off by seeing a whale shark, it really topped off a great weekend. Cant wait for the next adventure!
I stayed at Tenggol Island Beach Resort for a 3D2N, five dive package - you can find out more details by following this link to Tenggol Island Beach Resort or find them on facebook. Dive guides Robin and Andrew know the area really well and are really experienced. Also really impressed with the turtle conservation efforts the team were making when I stayed too.
