Dive #1 Batu Kapal 24/03/2007
There is nothing like getting back in the water after an extended absence from the underwater world. Our first dive was Batu Kapal (Boat Rock), a dive site just a bit off from Shark Point near Teluk Dalam on Pulau Perhentian Besar. Since it was just a check out dive I wasn’t expecting much plus the reports of the visibility were only 4-5 meters.
Batu Kapal is basically two large boulders with a large crevice that you can swim though splitting them. We descended into the crevice and swam through it then circling the massive boulders. Fish life was not abundant but it was a euphoric feeling just to in Neptune’s Kingdom again. A clump of small rocks yielded our first interesting finds of the day, a white-eyed moray eel and a blue-spotted ray. We then swam back through the fissure in the boulders before heading across the open sand to the coral reef and the dive site known as Shark Point. On the way we found a large school of chevron barracuda numbering in the hundreds. They split us leaving us hovering as the curtains of barracudas slide past on our left and right. At Shark Point marine life and snorkelers were more abundant, especially fish but the visibility the entire dive never got more than 6 meters.
Bottom time: 52 minutes
Maximum depth: 19 meters
Dive #2 Batu Layar 24/3/2007
Our next dive was near the north end of Pulau Perhentian Besar at a site called Batu Layar (Sail Rock). Our descent was along a buoy line to a large rock about the size of a small car. My buddy quickly spotted a nudibranch around a nearby rock and at a neighbouring rock we also found a demon stinger. I didn’t have my camera so no pics of this guy but they are very cool. Demon stingers are camouflaged and don’t swim but actually crawl along sandy bottoms using their pectoral fins.
The visibility was marginally better but we saw a couple nudibranches. (What is the correct pronunciation, nudi-brank or nudi-branch?) and one turtle.
The site is hard coral with small and medium sized boulders around the edges. The coral looked fairly unhealthy, with much of the staghorn coral dead underneath but alive on the upper levels. Some table coral was half dead as well. Fish life was fairly abundant and beautiful as always. We ascended after a full circle of the site, following the buoy line to the surface.
Bottom time: 52 minutes
Maximum depth: 20 meters
Dive #3 Batu Butuk 25/03/2007
The following morning we continued our survey of sites named “batu” by heading to Batu Butuk, on the east side of Pulau Perhentian Besar. (I asked what Butuk meant, and the DM just said ‘man’ but it is a word I’ve never heard for man which makes me wonder if it isn’t a bit off-colour.)
Visibility had greatly improved, especially in the shallower waters to sometimes 11 meters but dropping to 8 or so in the depths.
I had a personal first sighting, a cobia, which at first I thought was a shark, but as he swam closer I realized it wasn’t a shark. Turns out it was a cobia, which I was then informed stays close to larger fish, such as Napolean or hump-headed wrasse or whale sharks. Next time I see a cobia I will definitely chase it!
The site is massive boulders sitting on a sandy bottom, the sandy bottom being around 20 meters. We found several nudibranches clinging to the walls the boulders formed with their jumbled masses. The smaller rocks near the bottom were home to Gorgonian fans and a few sprigs of black coral.
Bottom time: 55 minutes
Maximum depth: 20 meters
Dive #4 Terumbu Tiga 25/03/2007
This was one of my favourite dives in Perhentian last year, so I was quite excited to dive it again. At the surface, it is 3 or 4 rocks exposed only a meter or so above the surface of the water but below the surface these huge rocks for a pinnacle that are inhabited by myriad forms of marine life.
We descended down a buoyline to the sandy bottom the gigantic rocks rest on. There we found a pipefish and a couple of nudibranches. As we circled the rocks we found a boxfish but it was on our ascent to do the safety stop that we got to take in the best sight of the dive. There, munching on coral at the top of one of the boulders that doesn’t break the waters surface, was a bumphead parrotfish. These are massive creatures measuring a meter and a half and look like some Jurassic era beast with their bulbous foreheads. You could hear the crunch of coral underwater as it grazed on some hard coral formations. (Parrotfish are named so because of their beak-like mouths they use to bite off and eat coral.) Definitely an amazing sight!
Bottom time: 53 minutes
Maximum depth: 20 meters
Dive #5 Teluk K.K. 25/03/2007
This dive starts on the west side of the point where Shark Point is. We started around in the bay and then swam around the point, towards Shark Point but stopped about halfway and turned back.
This or the first dive would be the worst dive of the trip, as the visibility was only 6 meters most of the dive and there wasn’t much to see. We did have fun swimming through the large crevices in the rocks but only a few nudis and a lionfish were worth stopping and checking out.
Bottom time: 59 minutes
Maximum depth: 14 meters
Dive #6 Tokong Laut (Temple of the Sea) 26/03/2007
This is considered the premier dive site in the Perhentians and despite a RM20 fee per person for petrol (because it is so far away) it is well worth dive. Case in point, the best visibility before this dive was around 11 meters but at Tokong Laut we had 15 + meters. Plus, the richness of the marine life is just amazing. Again, it is a mass of boulders with the top ones breaking the surface of the water. Most dives you swim to the bottom and work your way to the top, meaning that your safety stop is spent exploring the cracks and fissures looking for cowrie shells or other macro life forms.
The bad part about diving Tokong Laut is that every one dives it. I’ve dove it three times so far and every time I was one of 20 divers circling the site. Easy to lose your buddy in the sameness of fins, wetsuits and masks!
The dive yielded nurse sharks, blue spotted rays, toadfish, cowrie shells, white-eyed morays, a few jacks or trevally, some puffer fish and the usual nudibranches. We couldn’t circle the site because of strong current from the north, so we just swam back and forth working our way up. As always, a great dive!
Bottom time: 51 minutes
Maximum depth: 20 meters
Dive #7 Sugar Wreck 26/03/2007
Somewhere between the mainland town of Kuala Besut and Pulau Perhentian is a wreck dive called the Sugar Wreck. My understanding is that it was a boat loaded with sugar that sunk, hence the name.
The boat settled on its side, with the bottom of the hull facing roughly north. There was a very strong current at the surface, so we deflated our BCD’s and descended immediately, regrouping at the buoy line to make sure we were together.
We descended to the sandy bottom and I found a couple of razorfish near the stern of the boat. We continued around the stern and encountered a bit of a current but that was a good thing because lots of fish were sitting in the current. Maybe it is easy for them to breathe or something but fish will often sit still in a current. I guess they are working a bit, because they don’t get swept away, so I mean sitting still to the observer. Here we found several great barracudas, some a meter in length. Also, as we peered into the distance we saw our second cobia of the weekend. I did chase him a bit but it yielded nothing.
We then swam around to the deck part of the ship which sheltered us from the current. You can enter the wreck easily. Basically the whole hold is empty and you can swim through from one door to the next. It is a huge wreck, our DM said around 30 meters in length. (Seemed bigger to me but I don’t want to be like a kid who thinks he can do a hundred million push-ups!) We saw one nurse shark hiding in the frame of the hold door as we headed toward the bow of the ship. As we swam around the bow we encountered the current again and just push forward a bit to see a toadfish (which before looking in the ID book I thought was a puffer). We then returned to swim along the masts, through the holds again and up the buoy line which is in the middle of the ship.
Honestly, previously I have detested wreck dives. You just swim around the rotting carcass of a boat and some big grouper is there inside but this dive was amazing. The boat is huge, the visibility was good, around 15 meters and the current brought in some big fish. I think I would get tired of diving it frequently but this was my first time and it was definitely worth it.
Bottom time: 54 minutes
Maximum depth: 18.5 meters
Overall impressions:
Good to be in the water again with 4 dives I would rate as 6 or better on a scale of 10. Visibility was not great. We were told it was due to rain the two days before we arrived and it didn’t rain much while we were then and seemed to be getting marginally better. Still my favourite dive sites were Terumbu Tiga and Tokong Laut, which I loved last year but Sugar Wreck and Batu Butuk were great dives as well. They will get added to my list of must-dives in the Perhentians.
