Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:
Français
I discover the underwater world of the Perhentian Islands, Peninsular Malaysia ...
Two plots per day
Located in Perhentian Kecil, Matahari ChaletSince July 1st, I have been diving at a reasonable rate of two dives per day.
Meeting every morning at 8:30 am at the club for the briefing, return around 11 am, lunch, new dive around 1 pm, which leads me then to the nap time, at 3 pm.
I then wallow in my hammock, suspended between the pillars of my new bungalow, and fall asleep without difficulty.
I asked to move to another "chalet" than the one I was assigned when I arrived. My new bungalow is less exposed to the eyes than the other one and far from the noisy TV of the restaurant, but unfortunately closer to the generator...
That said, I got used to the hum of the generator. And then, who says generator, says electricity, light, fan, recharging of the iPod...
The dives are nice, but not exceptional. A little below what I expected...
I meet the usual tropical fauna of clown fish, angel fish, triggerfish, balloon fish, fusiliers, barracudas, etc.. Enough to have fun, all the same!
But the visibility, which I thought was excellent, given the amazing clarity of the water along the beach, is not so extraordinary during our dives... The fault of a storm of several days, which hit before my arrival, explained my dive-master to me. The rain run-off disturbed the bottom a bit.
Babies sharks
The dive that I prefer at the moment is the one of Sugar WreckThe wreck of a cargo ship transporting sugar, where a whole friendly fauna has taken up residence.
Here is a video I found on YouTube, which gives a good idea of the atmosphere (the diver who made it was lucky enough to have a good visibility).
I dived there with Erika, the Swiss who runs the dive-shop with her husband Yves. They also do photography (see here their website, Natural Scenes).
And it is thanks to her, who spotted them, that I was able to see these baby sharks, huddled under one of the debris of the hull.
An exit in RedangThe trip to the island near the Perhentian, on a bigger boat, is planned on the 5th: it will be spectacular, I was promised...
I'll deliver photos in a future message!
