After returning from 4 days on Mata Ikan, I was up at 5am on Wednesday to catch the mini bus to Mersing with my four guests. Karen also woke early to drive me to the meeting spot at River Valley. We got through Singapore fast due to no traffic.
The immigration officer in Malaysia was a little perplexed as to why I just left Tioman yesterday on the Mata Ikan and now was heading back via bus/ferry. I tried to explain, but I was sure she thought I was a cigarette smuggler or something…hahaha. It was all ok and I went through eventually.
We arrived at Mesing to find the coffee shop shut, damn I thought, no time for coffee at home and no coffee at Mersing. We boarded the 10am ferry bound for Tioman. Everyone caught some nap time whilst I was writing my previous trip report and still needed that coffee.
We arrived at Tioman and proceeded to check into the hotel and prepare for the first two dives of the SDI Open Water Course. My students were Devyani and Tanvi and both 10 years old
The first two dives where off Salang beach and both girls completed the skills without any problems. The reef is shallow with a few fish, but most of the good stuff is at the end of the jetty at 8-10m. There we saw loads of bait fish, barracuda and a massive school of fusiliers.
Thursday morning we dived Labas and Fan Canyon. The girls wanted to see a turtle, unfortunately the turtle did not want to see us. The girls were excited to see so many nemo and large bat fish at both sites. The sea slugs were not a big hit though. We had two nice fun dives and completed all the final skills in between dives whilst the boat was moored at a nearby beach.
Congratulations to two more SDI Junior Open Water Divers – Devyani and Tanvi