Diving Trip at Pulau Aur - 20 to 22 Jun 08

We went Diving at Pulau Aur!!! Haha... Now I'm a certified Open Water Diver. We went with Wetworks Scuba, PADI training.

For those who just want to see the photos, here's the link to my flickr album.

We departed on 20th Jun 08, Friday night at about 7.30pm from Tanjong Pagar, took a minivan all the way to Mersing, Malaysia. Then waited there til 1am for the ferry to bring us to Pulau Aur, Malaysia.

All tired from the long journey.
Chew Peng and Ps William, and we're playing "Dai Dee" throughout the journey.
Hungry? Ramly Burgers are just outside, running 24/7.
And finally it's our turn to take the speedboat out to switch over into the ferry.
Irritating everyone with the camera flash isn't one of the brightest ideas.
And by the time we reached Pulau Aur, it was 4+ in the morning. And guess what, it was low tide so we had some problems with getting to the island. But as soon as we reached the rooms, instant knockout for most of us.

Something I discovered about my camera cos I couldn't sleep and was walking around and enjoying the peace and tranquility of the night, was that my camera has a preset night mode that allows up to 15 seconds of shutter speed, at ISO 100. Let me show you what it can do. (I was shocked by what what came out too.)

This is how it looks like at 5.59am.
This is what my camera took using the night mode feature at 15 secs exposure.
Of cos, I put it on the railing and used a 2 sec delay to reduce handshake, if not the shot will not turn out so nicely.

Our Dive schedule for the first day.
Retreating to our rooms.
Our accomodation at Pulau Aur.
Bridge linking us down to the main area.
Breath-taking view, clear waters, my kind of life...
See how clear the water is. This is high-tide, covering all the dead corals which we had to walk over the night before.
The main area, where we have our meals, rest and socialize.
From the canteen, looking at the open showers and the rooms.
See how much fun we are having already?
Very tribal feel.
And after breakfast, we had our pre-dive briefing.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Launching out to our dive boats, where all our equipment is on.
Poor immigrants who came on board our sampan.
Life on the sea.
Preparing our gear, checking the air, BCD, mask, snorkel, etc.
Gear up...
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. - Genesis 1:6-8
The other dive boat. Lush green scenery in the background. Feeling good already?
Map of Pulau Aur, with all the dive locations.
For our first dive, we only brought our camera casing down to test if it leaks or not. And since I was still taking my open water course, I wasn't allowed to bring it down. So the camera and casing was with the rest.

First Dive: Pulau Aur, Kador - 21st Jun 2008
Max Depth: 5m
Bottom Time: 60 mins
Pressure Group (PG): L
Air in: 190
Air out: 50
(Too excited first time underwater, so hyperventilate)
Time in: 1015hrs
Time out: 1115hrs
Avg depth: 5m
Visibility: 15m
Condition: Calm
Notes: Partial and full mask flood, Belt and BCD removal and replacement, Fin pivot.

Reward from first dive, fish bite on my knee.
Lunch time after first dive.
Our dive master, Minna, and our diving instructor William.
And schedule for second dive is out.
Our dive boat. Island Express.
For the second dive, Colin was using my camera with the other Leisure divers.

Second Dive: Pulau Aur, Lang - 21st Jun 2008
Surface interval: 3 hrs 15 mins
PG start: A
Max Depth: 10m
Bottom Time: 45 mins
PG: K
Air in: 210
Air out: 90
Time in: 1430hrs
Time out: 1515hrs
Avg depth: 6m
Visibility: 15m
Condition: Slight Current
Notes: CESA drill. We saw 3 huge Palmhead Parrotfish and Yellowtail Barracudas.

Jefferson brought bread down in a bottle to feed the fish.
Here fishy fishy...
Sea Anemone?
Golden Damsel
More Fish...
Marbled Sea Cucumber
More fish...
Worm?
Sand Lizardfish
Clams
There is certainly a very colorful world underwater.
Many fishes...
Nemo... False Clown Anemonefish.
We found Nemo....
A whole school of fish near the corals. Very colorful indeed.
Bright yellow fishes, these Golden Damsels.
So after the second dive, we had our 10min tread-water in the open sea. It felt like forever, and the current keeps pushing you away, so had to fight against it too.
Fish charts. We saw the Humphead Parrotfish.
Looks so much bigger in real than in this chart.
And then came a photo moment, when the sky turned magical.
Sarah, Vivien Loon and Aileen.
Melvin, me, Zhi Xiong, Colin, and Jefferson in front.
Viv and Minna.
Alvin and Vivien.
And then it's our third dive. More "zai" already, so now I was allowed to bring my camera with me. Muahahaha....

Third Dive: Pulau Aur, Jawa - 21 Jun 2008
Surface Interval: 2 hrs
Start PG: B
Max Depth: 14m
Bottom Time: 35 mins
Pressure Group: N
5m Safety Stop: 3 mins
Air in: 175
Air out: 80
Time in: 1715hrs
Time out: 1750hrs
Avg depth: 10m
Visibility: 10m
Condition: Rain approaching, lightning struck a tree.

Zhi Xiong, my dive buddy.
Starfish with a broken end that outgrew the rest.
Clark's Anemonefish
Open Water Divers, line up...
From left to right, me, Zhi Xiong, Hooi Kiat, Aileen, Vivien, Alvin

And this is me.
I have no idea what these are, but they look very cute. They look like underwater fungi.
Alvin. All free...
Surface. Sun was setting, boat is waiting.
On our way back, there was this lightning flash across the sky, and then this deafening thunder. The next thing we know, these 2 trees caught fire on top of this hill. Struck by lightning.
Another hill before we reach.
Then it rained so heavily that the night dive was cancelled.
The next day, we almost cancelled the first dive too due to weather.
So we went around to have a little fun while waiting.

Sara and Melvin
Drumstick brothers and the girls.
Alvin jumping on Vivien, who jumped on Aileen.
Fly....
Street Fighter, Aur Wars.
Flying kick.
Then we headed out to the dive boats, and suited up.
My wet suit is this black long sleeved suit that looks like Bruce Lee's famous yellow suit.
I'm free....
Fourth Dive: Pulau Aur, Telerum - 22 Jun 2008
Max Depth: 17m
Bottom Time: 35 mins
Pressure Group: N
Air in: 185
Air out: 60
Time in: 0815hrs
Time out: 0850hrs
Avg depth: 12m
Visibility: 15m
Condition: Slight Current.

We were supposed to go to Rayner's Rock, but the water was too choppy, so we went here instead. Heard that the leisure divers got lost so they went around in circles at the sand bed.

First thing I saw when we reached the sand bed was this colorful speck on a rock.
Then we headed for the corals, where all the life is.
Weird fish with big eyes.
Don't know what fish this is, but it seems to follow us around.
Moon Wrasse
Hooi Kiat and Aileen.
Crown of Thorns. Better stay away from this.
Colorful stuff on this coral. When a fish swam past, they all retreated into their shells.
And Zhi Xiong saw a whole school of fishes
This is what we saw.
Then we reached this huge yellow coral, where a whole school of Fusiliers were there. They even swarmed Zhi Xiong, haha...
The Moon Wrasse followed us.
My Shot of the trip.
A pair of Copperband Butterflyfish
Then we saw this sea snail, or something like that.
Lots of life in the corals.
Look carefully, many fishes.
A school of Yellowback Fusiliers followed us for a while.
Clams....
Threadfin butterflyfish
Aileen having fun.
And this marks the end of this entry.
After this, my camera went flat. Out of battery and out of memory space. Sad... And guess what, we saw so much more stuff on the last dive.

Fifth Dive: Pulau Aur, Crocodile Rock - 22 Jun 2008
Surface Interval: 1 hr 40 mins
Start PG: B
Max Depth: 13m
Bottom Time: 35 mins
Pressure Group: N
5m Safety Stop: 3 mins
Air in: 200
Air out: 110
Time in: 1030hrs
Time out: 1105hrs
Avg depth: 10m
Visibility: 15m
Condition: Drift Dive
Notes: We saw a 2m long Longnose Shark, that swam about 2m away from me. Also saw cuttlefish laying eggs.

The reason why I took so long to blog about this is because I just found a photoshop action, that will auto correct the underwater shots. Reduce the blue, and add some red, etc.
See below for before and after.

Before:
After:
And it's back to Singapore after that.

Time to sleep now, got reservist tomorrow.