Diving and Snorkeling in Pulau Perentians

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We’ve been doing a lot of scuba diving and snorkeling in Pulau Perentians between the two islands of Kecil and Besar, and while the diving is good, it’s the snorkeling that is amazing.

We went out today with this guy named Adam. Last name: Drives a White Boat with a Black Canopy. You just ask the folks at Impiani to give him a call, and he’ll come pick you up in his boat. (Cost: 38 R* per person for about three hours.) And he is awesome. Now, this is a jump in and swim experience. No life jackets, no pre-packed snackies, no little tutorial on here is the snorkel and there is the fishy. Adam just jumps in with his clothes, grabs his fins with a bite out of one (you don’t get any fins), and starts going. I was free-styling to keep up. Boating out to one spot, he saw two sea turtles and told us to jump out and follow them. So, we did. And then we went to Shark Point—which is a must. Yes, we saw sharks, to the point I’m like: Oh, there goes another. We also saw two schools of bumphead parrotfish. I had seen a picture of this fish, but I had no idea they were so huge. They are about a meter long and round as the biggest beer gut you can imagine. And to be in a school of about fourteen of them! Adam’s something of a go-getter in the water and had no qualms with chasing sharks, poking fish, and dragging us into the center of the schools.

The diving is good, too, and we did a few dives including the Sugar Ship Wreck (totally recommend). The dive shop that we tried and loved is Watercolours. One, they take you on hour dives, and two, feed you pancakes afterward while showing you pictures of what you’ve seen. Interesting tidbits: The long-fin butterfly fish mate for life and when one dies, the next one dies soon from grief. And some fish change gender through their lives such as the false-clown anemone fish (a.k.a. Nemo). In terms of what all we’re seeing, it’s great, but not excellent: three types of sharks, great barracuda, big-ol’ Malabar groupers that come out from their sea caves, fat puffer fish, lion fish, and my least favorite, the having-a-bad-day trigger fish. The coral is pretty, but not brilliant. Adam prefers the diving in Little Corn, Nicaragua and I might prefer the diving in Colombia. Still, exploring underwater a good way to see more of Malaysia.

This island has been great, and we’re sad to be leaving it tomorrow. But it has been about three weeks here…. Time to explore a city. Kota Bharu is our next destination.

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Comments

[Melissa Gresalfi]

Sounds amazing!
The pics are beautiful (OK, not the horror show ones, but the others) and it sounds like you guys are having some once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I am so excited for you!

[Stephen Fotopulos]

Paradise
Three weeks swimming with the turtles sounds about perfect, although it might be time to meet some Malaysians. I remember Kota Bharu for its night market and batik factories. We also acquired a new travel Scrabble board there, providing many more months of healthy, marital contention.

[Charlotte Pence]

Yes, we have moved on from hanging with the turtles. I'll be posting another blog soon about this, but we just went to Kota Bharu and did what you suggested. And now we're in the Cameron Highlands where there is a much sought after Scrabble board at this guest house. Adam taught a group of us to play "Grabble" last night. So much fun.

[Charlotte Pence]

Wish you were here! We are going to Singapore in a couple of days where the swine flu is keeping you out. Durn germs.