The GS-Diving Group met at SAF Yacht Club on Friday at 6pm and boarded the Sunreef 62 Luxury Yacht. Once on-board, a few glasses of wine and beer were consumed by the adults and the children enjoyed their beverages. The group consisted of Anne, Alison, Christine, Laurent, Craig Roberts and family. Glenn was the GS-Diving Dive Leader on this trip.
By 6.30pm we were all aboard and were heading out to the Changi Departure Check Point. A lovely dinner was served up by Matt, the Australian Chef, and after dinner was spent up on the fly bridge enjoying the breeze, chatting and sipping our drinks. The Singapore Customs Boat came in fairly quickly and we were on our way proper by 8.30pm.
Saturday morning dawned gorgeous!
No wind, absolutely flat, not a ripple on the water.
We set up the kit and by 9.30 am we were in for our first dive.
Dive 1: Palau Renggis. Excellent viz. Down on sand to get everyone sorted out. Moved along reef line. Saw the big Black Tip 4-5 times as he circled around. Saw the turtle very briefly in the distance. Some good fun on the running machine and jungle gym as normal with some video being taken of the young boys trying to run. We surfaced and decided to snorkel over to the yacht. Saw another 5 black tips cruising around in the shallows. Viz at least 30 metres. First in, so no other groups. Pristine diving.
Then it was off to Malaysian Customs and to pick up some more dive tanks. During this time we enjoyed a light lunch and relaxed in the incredible day.
Dive 2: Palau Tulai. Coral Gardens. Milky water but still nice. Humongous moray, really one of the biggest I have ever seen. Tried lots of photos but no really good ones came out. Blue spotted rays everywhere. Nice dive. Spent some time teaching Anne to deploy her SMB. Overall she did a great job. After completing the dive we motored over to Labas for our 3rd dive of the day.
Dive 3: Palau Labas. Viz great but light was poor but still good. Through the boulders to the other side then back. Current kicked in major so SMB up and safety stop. Boat found us quickly and Leigh did a great job picking us up. After a great dinner, we travelled overnight to Sibu.
Dive 4: Palau Sibu. Down anchor line and along sand to reef. Quite nice with 2 big puffer, Blue Spotted Rays etc. Anne did great job with SMB. Surfaced and swam back to the boat in dead flat calm sea.
The kids enjoyed snorkeling and splashing around like kids do.
Upped anchor and set off for the sail home to Singapore. About 1 hour into the trip we got thrashed by a huge thunderstorm. Lightning striking all around. The catamaran handled the rough weather with panache! After the storm, Leigh and Glenn got the sails up and we were soon trundling along at 9.5 knots! A first for the Luxury Yacht from Malaysia to Singapore!
Lovely sail back for a few hours before turning the corner to Singapore, so sails furled and we motored the rest of the way. We all certainly did miss the presence and speed of the sails. Singapore Customs was pretty quick greeting us at the Check Point and we were back to SAF Yacht Club at 10.45 pm. A great weekend with great food and companionship.
Thanks to Glenn Wright, for the Trip Report and use of your GoPro photos. Additional photos can be found on Facebook – please click here