Farewell to Tioman

I could not leave Singapore after 8 years without saying goodbye to my favourite dive spot in the region, Tioman island. A weekend trip with 6 dives turned out to be all one can expect of a last diving weekend: Good friends (with special surprise of Maita who joined the trip on the day itself after her business trip was cancelled - that's a true dive addict!), an underwater photography buddy, beautiful weather, calms seas, clear visibility (means 20m - we often have 10-15m on Tioman) and no currents. Yet the sealife turned up! We had huge numbers of juvenile fish, large schools of curious batfish, multiple cleaning stations, a giant lobster on a night dive (no, I don't have a photo - Terence got one but without anyone else in the picture for size reference it's just a lobster) and my absolute favourite: A cuttlefish couple laying eggs.

Amazing, amazing. I love Tioman - and I can't really say goodbye to you yet. I promise to return. You showed off your best side on this farewell weekend and I can't help but falling in love with you all over again, you trickster of an island.

Photos below are both from the 23-25 May trip (all take on Saturday 24th) and a few from our last September photo trip with Terence. I am still very frustrated with my skills and abilities as an underwater photographer, but I'm hoping that with practise I might one day improve. A few of the nicer shots below.

Turtle on Dive Asia Housereef in Salang.

At Chebeh we first bumbed into two bumphead parrotfish, and then as we were cruising along we found cuttlefish egg - and the cuttlefish laying the eggs. I was so amazed. I have been diving for a few years now but I've never seen cuttle fish eggs - and definitely not a cuttlefish laying eggs.
The female cuttle fish was not pleased at al that a group of divers turned up just as it was in the process of laying eggs. I don't blame her - yet I still could not resist the temptation and snap a few photos of her.

A couple more of the upset female - and at the bottom right one shot of his much calmer male companion who was observing the egg-laying process and guarding the eggs.

This one is for Gemma!
Like I said the pictures I got of the eggs are rubbish - sorry, not a great photographer.
This is all I managed.
The eggs look just like little snails, don't they?

I'm fond of featherstars.
This one was nicely fully open whilst clinging on to a fan coral atMalang Rocks. 

Pretty little fishy. Pictures that you can expect from a female diver, lol.

This nudi is actually from our September trip. I think this is at Seafan canyon although I'm not sure.

Also from September 2013 trip.

No idea what species this nudi is - but I think it's pretty :)

"Ok, the end, nothing to see here"

HOW TO GET THERE

If you have never been to Tioman - but wanted to try - directions below are for those travelling from Singapore - obviously it's even easier if you are already in Malaysia.

The journey there from Singapore can be done over a weekend but you have to be prepared for sitting in a small bus for 4-5 hours and expect a very short sleep on Friday night. Yet it's well worth it! You come back feeling completely refreshed and renewed, thinking you have been away from Singapore for longer than just one weekend.

If you are diving and staying in Singapore, the best way to get there is to contact one of the Singapore based dive shops. There are also dive shops on Tioman and you could also contact a travel agent who can arrange for your bus and ferry - and do the diving with one of the many dive operators based on Tioman isand. I went with Living Seas, who organise regular trips there about once a month.  You can check the schedules on their trips page. The cost for a weekend trip with 5-6 dives is around SGD 400 and this includes the transport, diving, accommodation and most of the meals. Gear rentals and breakfast on Saturda morning are not included.

You'll first spend a couple of hours (at worst) trying to fight the Friday night traffic jam at the Malaysian border crossing - it seems that every weekend half of Singapore wants to cross over to Malaysia and the queues at immigration can be quite long. One wouldn't mind - but because the immigration officers ask you to disembark from the bus with all of your luggage, it is a little troublesome to make the crossing with your dive gear bag. Once again back on the bus and after passport control at both Singapore and Malaysian side, it's about a 2-hour drive up to Mersing on the western coast of peninsular Malaysia.

We overnighted in one of the cheap hotels in Mersing (you get about 5 hours of sleep at best!). In the morning we continued for the ferry that departed around 6am. The departure times vary daily and depend on the tide - Mersing jetty is built on a river delta that brings in silt and the boats can only enter during high tide. What a typically Malaysian arrangement - but there is no other viable option if you want to get to the islands.

Here we are at the Mersing jetty - the queueing and boarding arrangements are not the most organised and orderly ones.

You get to the island, disembark (pay attention for the calls of the village and resort names not to miss your stop), find your bags and walk over to your dive centre. We dived at Dive Asia, which is about 10-15min walk from the jetty. (You can find a general map of Tioman here at travelworld - Salang is all the way up north). Usually we have breakfast first at the Salang Chinese restaurant, then gear up and head out to the first dive. Lunch and dinner are served at the dive centre.

Dinner time!

After dinner there is time to socialise and have a couple of drinks - although the only bar in Salang village closed a few months ago. There are still plenty of tax free stores and other locations that sell beer - there is no need to starve.

It's Tiger time!

On the first day you can manage 4 dives (1 on housereef, 2 boat dives and 2 night dive) and on the second day 1-2 dives depending on the ferry schedule (both are boat dives). I have many favourite sites in this area, including Malang Rocks, Chebeh and Labas with all of their swim through underneath the rocky shores. There are other beautiful sites as well, such as Seafan canyon (you have to land rather accurately on the site to find the seafans) and Soyak island with its whip corals and curious batfish (there are also wrecks at Soyak if you are up for  a deep dive).

After the diving it's time to wash gear, pack up, have a quick lunch and head to the ferry and take thebus back to Singapore. You'll get home around 8-10pm on Sunday evening - sometimes slightly earlier if you are lucky.

Drying gear at Dive Asia, Salang.

Rooms are modest and a little old. For example, there is a huge crack on the wall behind the bed on the left hand side of this picture. They are still (mostly) clean and are fine for sleeping and showering. Don' expect luxury on Tioman!

Time to go home! Bye-bye, Tioman, see you some time once more - I hope.