Borneo [Malaysia and Indonesia] - July 2009
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text:
Français Excellent choice, the Perhentian, for a gentle "return to fins". Shallow dives, generally without too much current. And lots of nice little creatures to see.
Some underwater photos
Nothing new for me, who is a bit of a "spoiled child", as far as diving is concerned... But these peaceful underwater strolls allowed me to get back my hand on the camera, while waiting for Sipadan.
A sea serpent on the boat!
Two "funny" incidents came to spice up our outings yesterday. On the program two superb wrecks, Fish Heaven, reputed to be "secret", and Sugar Wreck, more known.
When we arrived at the first site, a "tricot-striped" snake came up from the depths, while Anke, the center's manager Watercolors had gone into the water to hook our end to the buoy, submerged.
Not intimidated at all, the creature approached the boat, undulating on the surface, to get a better look at us. Then, all of a sudden, the snake slipped into the engine, for a little inspection. He stayed there for a while, sticking out his little head from time to time.
We all rushed to the back of the boat, overexcited, a little afraid that he might get bold and decide to come aboard. But no, he ended up going back in the water. And so did we.
Police Control at Fish Heaven
I did not know this wreck, nicknamed Fish Heaven. A simple barge turned upside down, but it is spectacular. Literally covered with fish, in such dense schools, that it takes a moment before you can distinguish what's underneath.
We then thought we were going to go directly to the second site... But we didn't count on the zealous sea cops, who appeared in their big black boat marked POLIS, siren screaming, waving us to stop.
I regret not having been able to take any close-up pictures, but the guys were not too engaging and made me put my camera away (while they did not hesitate to shoot our boat and the girls in swimsuits in it, from all angles).
There were about ten of them in there, all dressed in black, including their life jackets, which made them look like Robocop. Papers please...
Only thing is, our boat did not have its papers (new boat or almost, paperwork in progress). Result: we had to go back to the diving center under good escort, disembark and re-embark in two smaller motor boats. This little forced round trip took us a good part of the afternoon...
Mike, the Malaysian responsible for Watercolors with Anke came to talk, in his nice orange life jacket, and he even got away without a fine, because he and the chief of police had the same initials... Sic!
The main thing is that we were able to dive into Sugar Wreck anyway.
Sugar Wreck
The view was rotten, unfortunately, when we went down. But Sugar Wreck, whatever the conditions, remains a dive full of atmosphere.
Atmosphere a little fanomatic, in mashed peas where arise strange shadows ...
In spite of the "snow" that scatters the pictures, I managed to shoot some bugs. Star balloon fish, flying scorpion fish.
At the end of the dive, when we are at the landing, in the blue, the batfish flutter around our small group, for a final salute.
How good it is to be underwater again!
🙂
