I suppose one of the highlights of the trip is the Renggis Island snorkelling trip. The package includes all the snorkelling gear and the short boat trip over to the island and it costs RM40 a person, and is supposedly for 1 hour. Initially we wanted to take up the longer package (3 hours) that brings us to Coral Island, but that required advanced booking and a minimum number of people so we passed it up. On hindsight it was a choice well made.
To the sea
I love this picture.
Clear water baybeh!
The strong sun and clear water. Beautiful.
I bought a Dicapac to use with my Canon Powershot A710IS. The DicaPac and be submerged for up to 50m.
Coral formation
Sarah did some courses on Marine Biology and commented that some of the corals look bleached. Maybe the water is too warm. There is an interesting mix of warm and cold water in the region that makes swimming really fun and bizarre at the same time.
Coral polyps
Young coral. Looks rather phallic if you asked me.
School of fish
I am not a big fan of fish, and for quite a while when I was snorkelling, I had the morbid fear of a one of these tiny creatures jumping into my breathing tube and choking me to death. Or swimming into my lifevest. Or my ear. You get the drift.
Me - in a lifevest
I had the bad habit of breathing out my nose and fogging up my snorkelling mask. And the fins gave me a very bad blister. And the lifevest was nothing but cumbersome.
So the very friendly snorkelling guide told me to remove the lifevest. The moment the vest came off…
Free wirry!
I felt as free as, well, free wirry. There is just something immensely enjoyable about dolphin-kicking against the current and riding the waves. I felt like I was water soluble – in the sense the sea and I became one. It’s hard to explain but let’s just say it unleashed the killer whale in me more.
I think our guide, Mr. Rahman was impressed with my swimming and he decided to change into his diving/snorkelling gear and come join me, and made me swim all the way around Renggis Island.
Mr. Rahman
He taught me to dive, yes, dive underwater. It’s a mildly sobering experience to inform me my lungs don’t quite hold enough air for me to go even 3 metres under. Water pressure is a scary thing. Well, that aside, he showed me things I would otherwise not have spotted. Like this round starfish.
Nemo
And Nemo. And yes this picture is damn clear and nice. Rahman even stuck his hand into the sea anemone (!!!) to catch a Nemo to show me.
Stingray
And a stingray which I really won’t have spotted. Seriously, even after he pointed it out I still couldn’t see it. So he went to stir (!!!) the ray which then swam a little and I yelped into my breathing tube when I saw it. And at the right side of the picture you can see two sea urchins. Sea urchins are plentiful in those waters, but they tend to hide among rocks (except perhaps these two camera un-shy ones). As long as you stay afloat and not attempt to stand on anything you should be ok. Rahman said some Japanese tourists see sea urchins and feel like eating them. Seriously.
I have many more underwater pictures (I just randomly fired off my camera so that at least I get SOME good shots), and I am certainly very pleased with my camera’s performance. Oh yes, all these were taken with an “Underwater” SCN mode. One wonders why my camera even has that mode to begin with, but that’s not really important.
All in all I think my strong swimming background has made this virgin snorkelling experience enjoyable. Being stuck in the lifevest is really cumbersome and I don’t think anyone who cannot swim in the sea without a lifevest can fully enjoy snorkelling. Not that it will be a total booboo to snorkel with a lifevest, it’s just, well, a pity. But that said don’t go taking off your lifevest – I will not be responsible if you drown or get swept into the South China Sea. If your guide gives the green light, go ahead. Else I would suggest having at least 15 years swimming experience and at least some sort of seawater experience. :D
If you are staying at Berjaya Tioman, go to the Marine Centre and look for Rahman. He gave me a namecard with his cell number and apparently he can help organize daytrips and tours. He’s from Tekek Village and he knows people. So if you badly want to contact him, his cell number is 019-7494164. Else just look for him at the Marine Centre and talk to him personally.
