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Diving in Tenggol was a challenge, real adrenalin diving. I had read the warnings that strong currents are common off Tenggol Island and it is certainly true. What we did see a number of times is a fish that is becoming rarer and rarer, the Bumphead Wrasse. One dive expert described these fish as “the buffalo of the sea.” They once roamed in huge schools like the plains buffalo but now they have been heavily fished since they are a delicacy in Japan and China. Because they can go several hundred pounds, each fish is worth a fortune to the fisherman who usually uses small doses of cyanide to capture his prey. There are now no more schools and even pairs are sighted only occasionally in places like Tenggol. There is a lot of soft coral at Tenggol and visibility is about 15 – 20 metres. What is impressive is swimming among huge underwater boulders. My favorite fish here and in Tioman was a beautiful thing called the Blue-ringed Angelfish. Gorgeous. There were also a lot of very menacing Titan Triggerfish, one of the few really aggressive fish I have run into. They are the pit bulls of the sea. We steered carefully around their territory and, except for once, when Yanni was attacked, they left us alone with just warnings. The currents were still very strong and variable. One group of divers got carried far out to sea by one strong current and spent some scary moments in the deep blue at 30 metres. The best moment of all was seeing a large school of Dogtooth Tuna. Yanni gets very excited underwater and she began to say a prayer in Arabic when she saw them (she is Malaysian Muslim) and then she did what she often does; she sings into her respirator. She was singing to the tuna, “Come back to me, my friends. I want to know you” and the most extraordinary thing happened. The school of tuna turned and swam back to us and then in front of us wheeled and headed off on their original course once again. It was an amazing moment. On another dive we saw a big sea turtle and got caught in a scary down current which we had to swim out of. I did eight dives in all at Tenggol. We got back into port at Dungun, the port, at about one o’clock and Yanni and I headed south along the coast in my car to Mersing, Yanni was very excited at the prospect of joining her husband, Fadzil who works as a dive instructor on Tioman Island our next destination. On the way driving down the scenic coastal highway we passed through a charming town called Pekan, the former home of the royal family of Malaysia’s Pahang State. It was really a pretty and charming place, both in terms of its old-fashioned architecture and its natural setting We caught the
fast ferry to Tioman Island. Tioman is quite a large island and I have
seen only a small part of it, the kampong (village) of Salang on the northern
part of the island. I loved this place immediately. There are a number
of dive shops, restaurants, coffee bars and alcohol bars, plus a few shops.
No one is in a hurry; the sun and beauty of the place just relax you immediately.
I did two shore dives the first day and the second was amazing. We dived
on an old wooden fishing boat which was in remarkable condition and full
of fish; Batfish, Fusiliers, Glassfish, Groupers Bannerfish and even one
Grey Stingray. The other four dives were boat dives at the islands offshore
from Tioman. Yanni, my dive buddy, and I had some good sightings; a large
school of Yellowfin Barracuda and one solitary Great Barracuda, a deep
sea fish which must have been 1.5 to 2 metres long. We also saw some really
big Moray Eels.
Tioman first was noticed in the west when it was chosen as the locale for the old musical film “South Pacific.” It is the legendary “Bali Ha’i. The film certainly made Tioman famous; in fact, Time magazine subsequently proclaimed it as one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world and, in truth, Tioman is a paradise, a place of misty sunrises and golden sunsets. At twenty kilometres long and eleven wide, Tioman is the largest of the east coast islands and it affords a variety of activity rarely found elsewhere. Waters of clear aquamarine and pristine white sand beaches invite lazy days beachcombing and snorkeling. The smaller islands dotted about Tioman offer splendid scuba diving and the rugged jungle trails encourage exploration. Troupes of monkeys prowl the trees overhead and massive monitor lizards move like miniature dinosaurs through the fresh water rivers of the interior. Few other places offer such a variety of splendid, and often empty, beaches, tropical rain forests, rivers and streams. Long days on the sun-drenched beach drinking something blue with a little umbrella in it tempt many. The main activities on the island which actually demand movement are scuba diving, snorkeling and hiking. Diving and snorkeling are good almost everywhere is good given the clarity of the water. Alternatively, if you are not drawn to the water, there is a fantastic hike of about seven kilometres which crosses the waist of the island. And several shorter ones. The walks can be steep and it is advisable to carry lots of water with you. But you will be in the real jungle with enormous trees, vines, creepers, monkeys, snakes, spiders, butterflies and lizards. Me Tarzan! She Yanni! (Planet Scuba can be reached at www.planetscuba.com.my) The following are the previous articles David wrote for the magazine:
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