Dive Lembeh Straits, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

I'm too lazy to write a complete report for my Lembeh diving trip. On top of that, when it comes to diving, we divers don't normally 'nag' too much. Instead, short descriptions on the dive sites, and most important, thousands of pictures. The dive sites I dove in for this trip were Pulau Makawidey,, Jahir 1 (day 1), Nudi Retreat, Aer Perang, Pante Parigi (day 2), Tanjung Kubur, Aer Bajo, Jahir (day 3), Magic Rock and Teluk Kambahu (day 4). This trip was handled by Pak Angel, one of the staff from Malaysian-owned dive centre, Lembehscuba. Kudos to Nazir Amin. You made my dream came true.

Water temperature was cool enough for me, i.e 26-27'C. I relied solely on my 3/2 mm wetsuit but the cool water did not prevent me from searching the most beautiful marine invertebrates in the whole world, nudibranch and seaslugs. The fertile seabed due to volcanic activities previously contributed to the high diversity of marine organisms here. At several sites, the bottom was quite eye-soaring due to trash. But I was fine with that, as long as I don't have to search for nudibranchs under the trashes.  

Besides several species of nudibranch, other organisms that are very rarely spotted in Malaysian underwater is pygmy seahorse (mostly  sighted in Celebes sea off Sabah), frogfish (also only in Sabah), banggai cardinalfish (definitely non-existing in Malaysian underwater)

Nembrotha kumbaryana

Devil scorpionfish

Pygmy seahorse. Look at its mouth. Like a barbie doll rite?

Preggy pygmy...

Chromodoris willani

Painted frogfish. Nicely camouflaged.

Seahorse. It looks down, or shy maybe :)

Chromodoris annae

Lovely creature seahorse is

Hypselodoris bullockii

Bangai cardinalfish. Only in Indonesia

Flatworm. I don't know the species name

About to mate C. annae

A pair of rhinophores , important sensory organ

Rhinopias, another stunning creature. Looks dangerous

This bizarre looking creature is rabbitfish (I hope I'm correct with this)

It looks sad

Risbescia tryonni

Porcelain crab

Pulau Tenggol, Terengganu: 1 May 2009

This is my first trip with my little friends. Why little? Because I am the oldest among all. Thank you to my colleague, Syura a.k.a Shore for inviting me to join her and pals to Terengganu. It’s nice to spend time together with new friends. The rest of the group is Ajie, Munirah, Amal, Ajie and the ‘ratu dangdut’…Ayna…hehe…sorry Ayna, jangan marahhhh
1st May
We arrived Dungun during Subuh after battling with emotion where we need to wait for couple of hours due to break down to the bus we were in. As usual, the real for me problem is, the bloody, freaking cold air-cond. But I was glad because the 2nd bus is warmer, just suit the temperature I could stand. We were dropped at the bus stop, in front of the mosque. We performed the obligatory and waited until Hazlind and the RUmbia Resort staff arrived to pick us to the resort.
Rumbia Resort is a nice place to stay. However, if anyone wishes to stay there, it’s better to have own transport as Rumbia Resort is quite far from Dungun jetty and other attractions in Terengganu. We stayed at a bungalow and it costs from RM175 to RM225. One good thing is, you can stay with 6-8 people so sharing is a wise thing to cut cost. At 7.30 am, we departed to Dungun jetty by the resort van. It took about 30 minutes to get to the jetty. We met Steve there. This was the surprise that Bryan told me. Happy to meet him for the 2nd time. there were so many people going to Tenggol and I would say, I didn’t feel comfortable with that. But the eagerness to dive, I just let the feeling flew away. I and Steve jumped-in to the boat first while my friends were on the other boat. Nice boat with 2 4-strokes engines.

Gorgonian seafan

Arrived Tenggol around 35 minutes. That was damn nearer and faster compared to the 1st time I went there. It took like around 1 hour 45 minutes with that bloody woody, slow boat.
Our 1st dive was at Tokong Laut (i think so, I didn’t get the chance to log my dive until today..hehe). Divers were me, Steve, Syed (DM) and a father and son from KL (originmust be somewhere else out of Malaysia). That kid is only like 9-10 years old and his dad had already get him involve in SCUBA diving. That’s really awesome. Well, I can say this is a nice spot and the nicest part is, we saw 2 big bumphead parrotfish. It would be much fun if I can see a group of parrotfish together. Coral formation is beautiful.As usual, my intention of diving is looking for ew and special nudibranch. Thanks to Mr. Syed for showing me one of the beautiful nudibranch. I had no idea how he managed to see that creature because its color was almost the same to the background. I saw a lot of typical nudibranch which I think I have already get bored with them. I wish to see more nudibranch as I am very much obsessed with these creatures. And there was a time where Steve were laughing at me (took out his mouthpiece and laugh!!!) because I had second buddy. There must be a little fishy attracted to me…hehe…Because I smell very much like it….huwaaaaa….

Clownfish protecting their anemone home

On the 2nd dive, I and Steve dove with other group of divers at Tanjung Gemuk. No idea why they call it ‘fat’. And itr was quite like ‘tin sardine’ on the boat. I hate this 2nd dive. We took some time to roll-back since the DM (not Syed, somebody else which I forgot his name) afraid that we might be driven away due to the opposite current. Surface current was just nice but when we descent, it was strong and drove everything to the tip of the island. I couldn’t get the chance to snap pics of a nudi when it was in my sight. There was a spot where nudibranch were a lot..they call it ‘nudibranch wall’ but because of that strong current, I didn’t manage to get ththe sweet time and explore that wall. I believe there were many types of nudibranch which I haven’t seen before. Not only disappointed, my neck started to become stiff and experience headache as well. I had no mood to observe and in the same time, felt like throwing up…Not much I can tell this place since I was hoping time passed as soon as possible.

My floating little friend

Christmas tree tubeworms

A type of coral whichexpend its polypsonly during daytime. Known as bubble coral too.

The 3rd dive was at Coral Garden. Only after SI of more than 3 hours, we manage to dive at this spot. This was due to no tanks left for us and it took couple of hours to refill those tanks.This is what will happen when there are too many divers on the island. It was almost dark. Sun was setting. Coral Garden is really a nice spot but it would be much much nicer if we dove in earlier when sun was still shining brightly. As the name indicates, it is like a garden of corals where many types of hard and soft corals are present. Again, it was too dark and I just dove around, worrying of the dark. No nudibranch, no fish but there were a big corals where colorful Christmas Tree worms were there.

Around 7.30 we returned to the shore. I rinsed all my gears and packed them. Still in my wetsuit, I took all my stuff and went to the boat. We headed back to Dungun jetty. Huhu…really tiring and very ‘hectic’. Lesson to be learnt, never ever go there during public holidays or peak season. It will be a regret. I want to go to Tenggol again and this time I want to make sure that I can see the many types of beautiful nudibranch.

Krabi

Amazing!! That's the only word I have in mind about Krabi. I have been loving many places in Thailand,especially the islands and beaches. They are serene, clean and have their own kind of atmosphere which I can't experience it in Malaysia. I don't say Malaysia islands and beaches are lousy or bad, mind that. Of course, being one facing the Andaman sea,and  the other facing South China sea, things are surely not the same. 

I visited Krabi when Thailand was celebrating Songkhran Festival, which is the celebration of New Year in 15th (or 14th April) every year. It was WET!! Really WET here and there.

These people are celebrating Songkran Festival, which falls on 15th April (and it's my birthday)

Ladies enjoy being wet and wetting people.

 A popular place in Krabi is Ao Nang beach. Well,it's not

Kids and water cannot be separated

 because the beauty of the beach, but it is strategically located very convenient as a gateway to infamous Phi Phi island. There are other things doable in Ao Nang, including rock-climbing, shopping, boat-riding, kayaking and others. Halal food can be found easily in Ao Nang area, just get a little bit out of Ao Nang centre (uphill), where a mosque (still under construction, or maybe abandoned!!) can be seen on the left. From this point onward, many small shops serving halal foods are abundant. And like other typical Thai dishes, foods served are fresh and delicious.

Uncles on the pickup full of melons...so happy there!!

Ao Nang seems to be quite alive at night, with all the bars and the night markets. As usual, I 'am eyeing for souvenirs like the fridge magnets, pario and the carved soaps. Daily trips to Phi Phi islands are sold by most tour operators by the road side. Surveying for the best price is a must here. The price for a day trip to Phi Phi Island (covering Monkey Bay, Maya Bay,Bamboo beach, Phi Phi Don, Lohsama Bay and a few others I don't remember) should be around 1200-1500 Baht per person. But again, it is possible to get cheaper than that if we keep looking around.

Lohsama Bay

Clear emerald water.

Viking cave

Viking Cave with millions of bird's nest on it's walls

Maya Beach

The nicest part is to enjoy the beauty of Phi Phi islands and the surrounding places. The boat will pass through the limestone carsts with clear, transparent, emerald water. IT IS REALLY AMAZING!! It will be nicer if swimming is allowed but it is just not possible. The Viking Cave also is nice to see but unfortunately, one cannot enter the mouth of the cave. This cave is a place where it generates income for the birds' nest harvesters. Freaking risky job to do but worth the money earned (I guess). Lunch is included in the price and it is buffet style, spaghetti, noodles, rice, soups, chickens, fish etc. Phi Phi Island is mainly inhabited by Thai Muslims, so one do not need to worry about the status of the food served. They are delicious too.