3 dives and lots of barfing!
Trip Start
Unknown
1
16
39
Trip End
Ongoing
Pulau Tioman, Pahang, Malaysia
Saturday, February 20, 2010
My first dive was Deep Dive. I had to jump into the water even though I still felt a bit uneasy. I wasn't sure if I could still remember what I had to do for this dive. My mind was thinking, what if I barf while I was 30 metres under and got nitrogen narcosis? Maybe then I have to make emergency ascend and got decompression sickness? Lol, I wasn't really thinking straight. I knew I would feel better as soon as I descend and I was right. I felt so much better down there cause I couldn't feel the waves anymore. Without realizing it, I was already 30 metres underwater and my instructor already asked me to do the first task. A math test! I was a bit slow to start, but I managed to solve the problem in 1 minute and 10 seconds, just 5 seconds longer than I did on the surface. Whew!
Next task I had to identify colours. Yellow, green and blue looked almost the same down here as well as at the surface but red was kinda tricky. I knew it didn't look reddish but I still guessed 'red' the first time. Wrong! Then I guessed 'purple'. Wrong again. Third guess: maroon. Yes! I was correct. Since it was a deep dive, the oxygen depleted very quickly. After about 20 minutes at the depth of 30 metres, we slowly ascend to the surface and did the safety stop. As soon as I got back on the surface, I took off my regulator, pumped air into my BCD and continued barfing. By the time I got back on the boat, my tummy was empty and I was starving!
Apparently I was not the only one throwing up. That made me feel better. We docked at Coral Island, ate our packed lunch and just taking it easy. I took this chance to lie down. There were lots of tour groups here. Then we went to a place called 'Batu Malang' for the second dive. I didn't dive here. I just waited on the boat. I wanted to snorkel but still felt queasy. After about an hour, the divers surfaced and we all went back to Salang Bay.
I did my second dive not far from Salang Bay. It was the Wreck Dive. I was excited for this one but the task was pretty complicated. I had to sketch the wreck while I was diving, measure its dimension using fin kicks as measurements as well as depth difference, and I had to look for possible hazards and interests on the wreck. The wreck was an artificial wreck. They purposely sank a boat here. By far, it was the most exciting dive I've done because they were so many fishes here! And they were in huge groups just hanging around the wreck. It was a nice shelter for them. I really enjoyed swimming through these big schools of fish! After the dive we just got out of the water from the beach and walked back to the dive shop. I was really tired, but I still had one more dive to go.
So after a couple hours of surface interval, I was again ready for my last dive: Underwater Navigation. I didn't like this that much cause I had to use the compass and navigate my way underwater without getting lost. But I was really looking forward to finish my course soon! To make stories short, I did it with minor difficulties. It was really straight forward just like using compass on land. I was lucky cause there were no currents. Made it so much easier. Dinner was at the same place as yesterday's. Ordered Kuew Tiow Kung Fu again as well as Ayam Paprik. Yum. Generally the food here was a little bit more expensive than in KL. But it was nice. I love the atmosphere in Salang. I think it is the best beach in Tioman.
Comments
My shot at diving ended in an hour but my trek along the rainforest trails is still incomplete. I must book again at Tioman hotels for another weekend.
Definitely..do it. i'm coming back there again soon i hope.