September 2016

The last time I dive was back in May, before fasting month. I wanted to dive at least twice a year or once every six months since it will keep my skills in check. I have always heard rave review on Tenggol Island as a diver's paradise. Particularly because it hosts the ever beautiful whale shark from August to October.

Since I am going with the parents, I decided to have a dive day trip instead of overnighting at the island. The island is small, unlike the famous Redang or Perhentian. My parents will be bored, stuck on the island for 3 days if we choose to overnight there. I searched and came across TenggolScuba101. A mouthful indeed.

They are the only dive centre that offers day trip from the Dungeon jetty. A day trip will consists of 3 dives and lunch at the island. I contacted them and set a date somewhere in August. They also have their own guesthouse at the jetty - so convenient. The cost:

RM480 per person for day dive trip: 3 dives and lunch
RM150 per night for the accommodation at the guesthouse

I must say the price seems a bit high compared to other places, but TS101 had their own catamaran, dive shop, guesthouse. A week before my trip, the management call saying they had to cancel the trip because there is a malfunction on their boat. I was disappointed, but I chose a September date instead. We made amendments to move my reservation to another date.

We push off from our house in KL and arrived at Dungun around 7 pm and went straight to the TS101 HQ located at the Dungun jetty. Arriving, we checked in and the receptionist said he could not find my reservation. He found my name on the list but there is no room left. Gosh, it was getting late and he made dozens of phone call to rectify the room situation. He suggested that we stayed at a nearby homestead since our room was occupied. I was tired and I don't want to argue.

We went to the nearby homestead by the beach. Arriving there, we settled for a room. It appears that the homestead owner and the dive shop admin did not speak on the terms. Everything was misalign, and we had to sort it out ourselves. We went to bed and I hope that the dive would be better.

After having breakfast at the dive centre, we had briefing. Wow, the crowd. There is this own private diving club organising dive trips. It seems I am few of the divers who did not belong to any club. There are 24 divers I guess. We head off to the island and for first timer, they took us to a shallow depth dive called Turtle Point. This was a check dive session. We saw 2 huge turtles swimming next to us, there is not mush coral and the visibility gets really poor towards the end.

Drift Diving

Turtle in Turtle Point

Our second site dive is called Tokong Timur. This was one of the spot to see whale shark. The visibility was perfect. It was crystal clear and there were plenty of marine life! This was my favourite dive site. The species in Tenggol is very diverse and the corals looks super healthy. Saw some nudis, sting rays, box fish and yellowtail.

Horace, my supporting dive buddy from USA

Blue Spot Sting Ray

Parrot fish

Yellowtails

Tokong Timur is surrounded by an island with a lighthouse. The current is strong here, so we did a drift dive towards the end of the dive. I can say, this current is really strong. I was moving so fast. This is the first time I enjoy drift dive after the incidental one I had in Redang last year. We we hopeful, but unfortunately there is no whale shark here.

I had severe sea sickness after the 2nd dive. After having lunch and chilling out, we headed off to the third site called Rajawali - another famous spot for whale shark. There was strong surface surge and the water was super cold. I wear a rash guard which is sufficient all these time and I started to shiver at the end of the dive. The visibility was okay, but there were not many fishes as in Tokong Timur, and no whale shark sightings. I surface up, thank god my dive guide was very attentive, sit in the boat trying to make the nausea go away. I slept all the way back to the jetty.

3 out of 6 cameras blocking my way

Yellowtail school

Busy day in Tokong Timur

I would dive again in Tenggol because it is beautiful and undisturbed. It has plenty to offer. However, I will stay in the resort and take the resort dive guide next time. TS101 was great - the owner and even my dive master was superb. For a diver or two, the crowd might be overwhelming. The dive club has 16 people and they just do whatever they want - they don't care who is the guide since they are good enough to dive without one (some of them are master diver). Well, not good for us, the private divers who need our guide because safety is important to me.

With 24 people aboard, there is lack of space underwater (funny right?). I got finned in my face 3 times. People are hogging over every single sea creature with their advanced cameras and did not give a chance to other divers to see it. I just don't like it. Maybe, this type of outing is not for me. I believe diving should be calm, exciting activity and never, ever I hogged a nudi or a turtle to get my shot and block other diver. The beauty of underwater world should be shared among all, not taken away for and instaworthy shot for your followers.

Aside from that, yeah Tenggol is beautiful. If you are a diver, please consider going here. The amount of marine life you see here is astonishing.