Perhentian islands

In the Perhentian Islands we mostly relaxed and snorkeled.  We arrived at our resort at around noon on a Friday and put our suitcases in our room and headed straight for the incredible crystal clear water to snorkel.. It was very large and empty, since it took 30 minutes by boat to reach the resort.  The only people that were on this beach were people staying at the resort.  My guess is that the resort maximum capacity is about 50 people, so there was plenty of beach for everyone (not everyone enjoyed the beach at the same time). 

The ride to the islands

Photos around the resort

The beach was also a coral heaven.  We could walk off the beach and be in an underwater paradise.  We snorkeled for almost three hours the first day.  Carrie and I saw 5 baby black tip sharks and one medium size young green sea turtle.  We also choose our favorite fish, mine is a fish that acts (and looks a little) like a lizard, called a lizard fish.  It has stripes and spots to blend in with the coral/sand that it lives in and has a yellow tail fin.  I like it because it stays still until something come near it and then goes and hides.  Carrie’s favorite fish was a deep purple fish that we rarely saw, but when we did it was very attractive and graceful in the water. 

The view from our porch

King size bed!

Outdoor shower still attached to the room

The next day we relaxed on the beach again (who can blame us) and snorkeled off the beach for another few hours. Then at 10 pm we got to see the baby turtles being released.  They use special red colored flashlights to protect the turtles' sensitive eyes.  It was very cool, but it was hard to see because the staff didn't want to shine red flash lights on the beach because the baby black tip sharks have learned that red light at night means that the baby turtles are being released and have an easy snack.   So we had to get real close to the sand in order to see them but what we saw was an amazing sight since they use their little flippers to crawl straight into the water and hopefully swim off and have a long life.  They know which way to go by the moonlight, which is also why red flashlights were used instead of white.  The white lights disorient and blind the baby turtles, whereas they cannot even see the red light.  The staff would occasionally shine their red lights on the path so that we could see and the baby turtles were so incredibly cute.  It is too bad we couldn't use our camera because the screen light would have disoriented the turtles.  It was an awesome experience that I will not soon forget.

At 9:00 am the next day we headed out on a boat to what the locals call coral garden.  It was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life.  There were many different types of coral and fish and other sea creatures.  We snorkeled there for about 40 minutes then headed to Perhentian Island Resort beach, where a field of sea grass was growing and the green sea turtles were grazing. We followed an old male turtle about four feet long and watched him as he went about eating the delicious sea grass.  All I can say is wow.  We then went to another area where it is know that black tip sharks hang out, but the staff said that since everybody comes to this spot to see the sharks that they tend to move. Guess where they end up hanging out?  That is right, Bubbles Dive Resort, where we are staying, so we picked a good one.  If you ever get a chance to come to Malaysia we recommend staying at the Bubbles Dive Resort. 

While on our snorkel trip we got to talking with the staff member/our guide from the resort about how she was training to be a master diver and that we have always wanted to try scuba diving. She convinced us to try out what they call a Discover Scuba Diving experience, which is the first step in becoming certified as a scuba diver.  Carrie and I decided that this was a great place to try it out and it was at a great price at a very credible scuba training sight.  We started with a 30 minute class session teaching us about the equipment that is needed to be underwater.  After that we had to answer a few questions to make sure we were paying attention.  Since the staff member was training to become a master scuba diver she was also being watched by a master diver and we were helping her on her quest.  She was really good and the master diver was right there to jump in if we needed it.  After our class we signed a waiver form and then headed to the beach with our tanks and equipment.  We had to learn some basic scuba skills just off the beach in shoulder deep water. 

The first skill we learned was to clear our mask if water got inside.  Carrie really liked this part because it helped her with snorkeling.  Second was clearing our regulators, which is the mouth piece that is connected to the air tank.  We learned the two different ways of clearing the regulators. One way is blowing out with some force just like with a snorkel and the other way is by pressing a button on the front of the regulator to force air and get the water out.  Finally we learned how to recover a dropped regulator. You find your leg with you right hand, then find your hip and finally your tank.  Then you slowing swing your arm forward with the hose with the regulator attached and place in back in your mouth and clear the water.  All the skill came very easy to me and Carrie so within 15 minutes we were headed further out and getting the right buoyancy underwater to continue deeper.  We went about 10 meters under and it was one of the most fantastic experiences I have ever had in my life.  We were able to see two scorpion fish, (our guides told us that it was rare to see one scorpion fish) and some spotted rays, a box fish and lots of other types of fish that I don’t know the names of.  We were back above the surface after about 45 minutes under. 

At lunch our master diver guide came up to us and told us that they were going to go on a boat dive in the afternoon and wanted to invite us to come with because he felt that we were naturals and it would also complete the second of five steps to becoming certified.  Carrie and I discussed if we should and decided it was a reasonable price and that we felt comfortable that we could do the boat dive with our awesome guides.  Diving off a boat is a bit different because you can’t just walk into the water; you have to get off the boat in a special way (falling backward into deep water).  We did great after a 30 minute briefing on what to expect from the boat dive.  On this trip we saw many off the same fish that I don’t know the names of, but we were also very lucky once again to see a bump head fish. This fish is a very large fish (about the same size of a full grown sea turtle) and very colorful.  They also have a large bump on their forehead because they take big bites out of the coral and have it for protection from the sharp coral edges.  We stayed under the water for about another 45 minutes at about 12 meters deep and once again Carrie and I had a great time.  When we get home we are planning on completing our certification process.  Sorry we don’t have any pictures of us doing this because it was UNDER WATER!!! OMG!!!

Goodbye Bubbles Dive Resort!

 We are headed to a new country, Cambodia.  Malaysia was great and we had a fantastic time exploring both on land and in the sea.