Redang Diving Trip - PADI Open Water (Part 3)

I woke up quite early just before 0600 hours. Once awake with the leisure dive on my mind, I realized that I had forgotten to secured my rash guard, swimming short and some of my clothes from the verandah (heavy rain last night). I quickly jumped out my bed and went out to the verandah. I took my rash guard and squeezed the access water from it, then my swimming short follows by others. Well at least, the clothes were now damp not soaking wet.

The chalet verandah is the best place to dry out for wet clothes

Frustrated by no sunrise on the day before, I just had a quick peeked from the chalet verandah to the beach and saw ... wow. The sun was rising so beautifully. I went to my room, took my camera and took some photos of the sunrise.

The sun has risen beautifully @ Redang Island

Done with the sunrise, I took a quick bath (again due to nonfunctional water heater), put on my swimming short & rash guard and called up the other 2 divers to wake up as we need to go to dive. But surprisingly, they told me that they decided not to dive as time constrains. Yes, I knew that. We need to check out at 0815 but if we start our dive at 0700, we can still surface at 0800 and proceed with our check out at 0830 max. But decision had been made, they did want to dive. As we had already made our promised with the Instructor to meet up at 0700, I went straight to the Dive Centre around 0655. Hmmm, I waited until 0715 but nobody was around at the Dive Centre and worst, the Dive Centre was closed. I called up the Instructor and told him that I was already here in front of the Dive Centre. He told me that he will be having a class at 0830, so he won't be able to dive with me. I was getting a bit upset now as promised had been made but cancellation done without early notice. I told him that I still want to dive. It was not my idea even to dive on that morning, it was theirs but after I had made my commitment, they wanted to cancelled it at the very last minute. If I knew the dive was meant to be cancelled, I won't woke up as early as 0555 hours. As I insisted on the morning dive, the instructor told me that he will try to asked another instructor whether he is free or not to dive with me. No Buddy mean No Dive. 5 minutes later, the other instructor came out from the dive centre. I told him the situation. At first, he told me that we was also scheduled to have a boat dive at 0830 but then he said "okay, let's gear up. we're going for a dive". I was happy and thanking him for his willingness to take me for the dive. He is a great instructor, mentor and friend even. I knew that his decision to dive with me was due to the fact that they had made a promised (although it was not him that make that promise) and he was trying at his level best to kept the promise. And he did. Thank you.

After we had geared up and did our buddy checking. What is a buddy check? The buddy check is a procedure carried out by Scuba Diver using the buddy system where each diver checks that the other's diving equipments is configured and functioning correctly just before the start of the dive. What to check? Well, the instructor taught us to remember the BWARF.

• BCD
• Weight
• Air
• Releases
• Final Check

In order to remember this, he gave us this sentence of easy remembrance "Bangkok Women Are Really Fun". Hahaha, what a sentence but hey ... it works !

We walked to the shore and enter the water. Although the time was 0725 hours, the water temperature was not that cold. So, I dove in Tanjung Tengah for my 4th time as for this trip.

It was a very enjoyable, relaxing and fun dive even. The instructor was really fun and guided me all the way showing various marine life including some macro. I felt more confident under the water, my buoyancy seems to be improved and at level best where I glided easily using my breath to control positive and negative buoyancy. We even glided over corals and not just finning next to the coral as previous dives. I had enjoyed this dive very much and managed to take some 'good' photographs even. My buddy, the instructor was great ! We finished our dive somewhere at 0815. I thanked him very much even. If you are looking for a great and fun diving trip, you may visit www.scubaamigo.com to check on their diving calendar and packages. Look for Instructor Tee Kok Yau.

Tanjung Tengah, Redang Island

 My Instructor, Tee Kok Yau showing me a morray eel hiding under a coral

Always looking / searching for something to show me. I really enjoyed this dive with Master Tee Kok Yau.

Freckled Goat Fish or its scientific name Upeneus Tragula

 The Crown of Thorn

Pteraeolidia Ianthina common name is Serpent Pteraeolidia.

 A video that I had made from the combo of photos & video while diving @ Tanjung Tengah

Once reached the Dive Centre, I did a quick yet a full clean-up on the scuba gears and straight away went to my chalet for check out. At that point, my other 2 room mates had already checked out. I met the resort representative and gladly she accepted my apologies for the late check out (0845). The best was she even reserved my breakfast and asked me to have my breakfast before proceeding to wait for the boat which was scheduled at 0930-1000. Ayu Mayang Resort is the best !

Done with my breakfast, I went and waited for the boat at the dive centre. We boarded the boat somewhere at 1040 The boat that took us back to Merang Jetty was not Pelangi Princess, it was a smaller boat. I think only 15 passenger can board the boat. But the speed of this boat was superb ! If we take the Pelangi Princess, it will take us around 1 hour 15 minutes ride but taking this small boat, the boat ride only took us somewhere about 30 minutes to reach our destination. Hahaha, but it was rough. Not recommendable for pregnant lady for sure as the speed + bumpiness may cause miscarriage. I can't even take a sip of my mineral water which I brought along with me.

The boat safely reached Merang Jetty somewhere at 1115am and the resort bus had already waited for us to take us all back to Kuala Terengganu. I took the opportunity to buy some T Shirt here at Merang Jetty. But as the time was too short, I can't really shop with ease. It was only a 10 minutes shopping looking for nice and suitable T Shirt before the bus started its engine. I was the last person to board the bus. Sorry ya to all other guest on the bus, it was not intentionally done as looking for a good design with an XL size was quite difficult. :)

Now, as the bus reaches Kuala Terengganu Bus Station, I was in dilemma. This was due to the fact that my ticket back to Melaka was scheduled at 2100 and the time now was 1230. I gotta wait for another 8 hours in Kuala Terengganu even. Why did I bought a bus ticket scheduled at 2100 to Melaka? I actually got no choice. If you are in Kuala Terengganu and looking for direct bus to Melaka, the schedule available are only in the morning and at night. There are non bus operator that offer a direct bus ticket to Melaka between 10am to 9pm. So, I really got no choice other than the 2100 schedule bus. The bus ticket that I bought was actually the same ticket as my 2 others colleague. I rang up a nearby hotel, the DJ Citi Point Hotel and made a reservation for 3 person. I was planning for a short stay at the hotel checking in at 2pm and checking out at 8pm. But my 2 other colleague did not to stay at the hotel instead they wanted to stay at the resort office which open up until 8pm. At first, I thought of doing that also as at least I can save my $. But I had noticed also that the resort office is also a place where 2 dogs (belongs to the owner) freely moving in/out. I do not want any trouble with the dogs especially as a Muslim, if the dog accidently touches our bag / body etc, we need to perform tanning/purify process. So said to my 2 colleague that they may stay at the resort office while I will proceed with my plan to stay at the hotel.

I checked in at DJ Citi Point somewhere around 1330 and for the first time I checked in into their Deluxe Room. I am a regular guest for this hotel. Every time I went to Kuala Terengganu to performed my official work task, I will surely stayed in this hotel. And my choice of room is the Citi Suite. But on this trip, it was the first time that I stayed in the Deluxe Room. The room was quite small but clean. The bathroom is great but the toilet flush was having a problem, the water kept on running and making a loud sound. I need to fully shut the bathroom door to minimize the sound. I did not make any complaint as I knew that I will staying in the room for just a few hours before checking out.

How did I spend my 8 hours in Kuala Terengganu? Once checked in, I called up my staff in Kuala Terengganu and had a good lunch with him. The we went to Pasar Kedai Payang and i bought a few more clothes / souvenir to bring back home. One thing that i noticed was that the T Shirt that I bought earlier in Merang Jetty was much more cheaper than the Pasar Kedai Payang. Same design, same brand being sold at RM20.00 in Merang Jetty but here in Pasar Kedai Payang the best price they gave me after bargained was RM25.00. So, if you want to buy Redang related T Shirt / Souvenir, buy it at the Merang Jetty even. After finished with buying souvenir, I went back to my hotel room, took a rest, had a good hot water shower and checked out from the hotel somewhere at 1920 hours. Right after checked out, I went straight to the bus station and had my dinner which was the Mc Value Meal @ The McDonald's :).

The bus, MARA Liner was already there at the station and I boarded the bus at 2050 hours. The bus journey started sharp at 2100 and at that time, it was raining. The bus ride was quite a thrilled as the driver did drove a little too fast in heavy rain. But there were too many stopped that being made. I reached Melaka Sentral at 0610 and took a cab back home.

Overall, the trip was a good one. New experiences and new friends met. I am back home as a Certified PADI Open Water Diver. Thank you Scuba Amigo for the great arrangement and lesson taught. And thank you to Ayu Mayang Resort & Redang Pelangi Dive Centre for the great service & experience.

When and where would be my next dive? .... Perhentian, Tioman & Payar maybe ... and Redang definitely will be re-visited as this is where I became a diver ...