We had the pleasure of joining the second voyage aboard MV The Ark; one of Singapore’s Mongolian flagged dive vessels. Fortunately we were heading for Pulau Tioman and Aur; rather than the home ‘port’ of Ulaan Baatar.
The overnight sail took us to Bahara Rock for the first dive. Conditions were generally very good for so early in the season.The coral was in great shape and fish life plentiful. Although with it being full moon over the weekend, there was a little current running.
This was not evident on the second dive at the more sheltered Pulau Rengis. Some of the group were lucky enough to spot a good sized Black Tip. The rest saw a Potato Grouper that was actually larger.
The afternoon dives were at the lesser dived sites of Shark Cave and Tiger Reef. Although the resident Nurse Shark was not at Shark Cave; a decent school of Jacks and no shortage of swim throughs provided the entertainment. Tiger Reef also served up schooling fish; this time Pickhandle Barracuda. Some nesting Titan Triggerfish also created a bit of havoc.
A fine ten course BBQ brought the day to an end after a night dive around the jetty at Tioman.
A smooth sail down to Pulau Aur set up a morning dive at Pulau Lang. With current running, most of the initial part of the dive was confined to bay, where two cuttlefish transfixed the group for quite a while. On exiting the bay, a fantastic drift took us to the backside of Lang.
There was also some current still running for the last dive at Pulau Pinang, which made for a relaxing way to finish a great weekend of diving.
Liam
Additional photos may be viewed on our Facebook page here – 9 to 11 March, 2012 – MV The Ark with Liam to Tioman