SELECTING A NO-BULLSHIT DIVE INSTRUCTOR
Our bus from Singapore arrived at Kuala Besut, where we took a ferry to the tropical Perhentian Islands in the early morning. After carefully selecting a no-bullshit instructor (Jesse from Spice Divers) we started our scuba diving-course the next day.
Funny being back in the books and study the theory. Some folks were making fun of us taking it so serious, but we thought there is no harm in knowing the safety procedures!
LIKE A FISH IN THE WATER
We passed all the tests instantly and Jesse called us his fastest learners ever. We were surprised it felt so natural being so unnaturally deep under water; amazing that we humans can get the opportunity to experience this!
As it went so smooth, we could do a quick course to add in our Advanced Open Water PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). This included deep diving, underwater navigation, wreck diving and night diving. We also dove through to some gorgeous underwater arches and caves, with giant cube fish and colourful coral.
LIFE IS A CELEBRATION
After a night dive between weird-looking fish and glowing algae we celebrated obtaining our Advanced PADI certificate by having another delicious BBQ on the beach, with our feet in the soft sand. Great to tackle both the Open Water (max 18 m or 60 ft deep) and Advanced Open Water (max 30 m or 100 ft deep) diving certificates in only six days on these bounty islands with beautiful marine life.
TIPS
We recommend;
- booking accommodation ahead (we didn’t and the hostel/hotel owners make good use of people stranded on the beach without reservation);
- using bug-spray preventively (against bed bugs);
- choosing your instructor very carefully, to make sure he/she is responsible and not intoxicated or having a hangover while being in charge of your safety (!);
- taking it serious; there’s no harm in being well-prepared to handle any situation when being 30 m (100 ft) deep under water;
- taking care of yourself and your fellow divers and enjoying this striking sensation.
