(...When we left our hero, he was hurtling south along the road to the port town of Kuala Besut in Malaysia, loudly singing Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Eagles and Stevie Winwood with a madman cabdriver - dodging goats and Muslim Prayergoers along the way...)
The fast ferry to the Perhentian Islands was exactly as advertised - fast! 2x200Hp Yamahas attached to a 35' boat can really move. Made the crossing in about 30 minutes and as we approached the pair of islands around noon, I realized I was in for a treat. They are a pair of islands, named Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Little,) and Pulau Perhentian Besar (Big,) set half a Km apart about 19Km off the East Coast of Malaysia, in the South China Sea. They are gorgeous - green hills, rocky cliffs separating dazzling white sandy beaches, and just bits of progress showing here and there. After dropping some folks off at Big, we crossed the channel to Little's Long Beach - where the fun crowd (ie not honeymooners or families,) is supposed to hang out. After carting my bags through the minimal surf, I looked up to find Spice Divers right in front of me, and made my way across the sugar sand and up the steps onto their big shady deck. The first personn I met was a Canadian DM candidate named Bree, who coolly appraised my backpack and asked me if I needed a room or a dive.
Easy answer: "Can I get on an afternoon dive?"
Bree helpfully replied, "Boat leaves in 10."
I dumped my shit in the office, threw on a pair of trunks in the compressor room and waded out to the open boat for a dive on Sugar Wreck. What is there to say? Vis was mediocre, but that was the only possible complaint as the water was warm, my 3 Danish buddies a bunch of laughs, and the wreck and its tenants were awesome. Lionfish, puffers, big schools of jacks and razorfish (my new fave,) swam all over the the real wreck. Razorfish are small fish that are always oriented head-down and swim around that way using their pectoral fins. A school looks almost like turtle grass, swaying in the water.
Once back on land, I checked out a couple of guesthouses (or as they call them "Chalets," don't be fooled, they were at the low end of basic,) and wound up at Chempaka for 30 Ringgit ($8) a night.
Gappy wood floors and walls, mosquito net, no electricity, and a slimy communal bathroom/shower across the lawn - but it was the nicest one I saw, and it quickly grew on me. Right after I moved in, I opened my back shutter to find myself eye-to-eye with what looked like a Komodo dragon! Nope, just a 5' monitor lizard that roams the area glaring at anyone who crosses its path. I'll tell you this - I sure made good use of my flashlight heading to the bathroom late at night!
The three Danes, who were winding up an 8 month tour, invited me to dinner and showed me around. It was not a big tour - just about 600m of gently curving beach with simple guesthouses, open-air restaurants, and some snorkelling and dive shops sprinkled among the palm trees at the edge of the sand.
The next day, I did three dives, the best was just me and Bree having a good long, slow wander along a beautiful reef, finding turtles and blue-spotted rays in the rocks and coral. It turns out Bree arrived here in April for three days, took her Open Water Class, got hooked and has never left. I bet that story sure sounds familiar to some of us... Considering she is from chilly Alberta, I guess it's not that surprising.
Late that afternoon, I was hanging around on Spice Divers huge deck, having some of their tea and cookies, when I noticed a raucous beach volleyball game going on right out front. I did my usual stand on the sidelines looking hopeful routine, and was soon invited in. It felt like my kind of group - laughing, good-natured trash-talking in 5 languages, diving for hopeless balls and a big cheering section - I had found the Perhentian Volleyball Society! Next thing I know I'm invited out to dinner, then drinks, then it's 4AM and I'm diving in 4 hours!!! Made the dives of course, and all the following days were more of the same - some moved on, but new people always arrived to replace them, most stayed an extra day or two and I wound up extending my stay twice, I was having so much fun. It was about 25 or so Germans, Dutch, English, Norwegians, Italians, Irish, Spanish and me - the lone American. (Honestly, other than Shan who has lived in Koh Tao for 7 years, I don't think I've met another US citizen since Bangkok! I didn't realize that until I met this group on Little and one of them mentioned they hadn't seen many in Malaysia... I wonder if I'm just lucky?) My best memory was at Palm Tree Bar, late one night - an Orangutan and Coke in my hand, (don't ask!) dancing up a storm to Bob Marley with a real rainstorm pouring down outside. I was trying not to think about the laundry that had been almost dry on my porch railing when Pop! the power went out, and no one missed a beat, "Could this be love...? And be lo-ove." We replaced the music with our own, and the power was out so long, it finally devolved to TV theme songs, Happy Days and The Flintstones among them. But the party never even slowed until long after the electricity came back with a cheer.
One day, as I was at lunch, dawdling over a book and a curry at a place called Tummy Rumbles, perched above the beach on the side of a hill - I heard a growing roar and looked up as two Malaysian fighter planes buzzed the beach! They made at least 6 passes during their mini-airshow, one low enough that I was looking down at it as it buffetted the taller palm trees. Turns out a group of Malaysian pilots had taken their leave there 2 weeks previously and had such a great time, they come back every couple of days to check things out again! I know how they feel!
Perhentian Kecil has such a warm, welcoming vibe, and is such a beautiful little island with a perfect balance of wild green jungle, wild life, great diving, a tiny settlement on the edge of the water and cool visitors, it definitely is right at the top of my list of favorite places so far.
Eventually though, the reality of my schedule (in tatters now,) forced me to ignore some pleas of "Just one more day..." and get on the morning ferry to connect to a mini-bus headed to my next stop. Time to play Indiana Jones, and explore the 135 millionn year old rainforest named Taman Negara...
Tune in next time and see what happens...
Cheers!
Clement
Easy answer: "Can I get on an afternoon dive?"
Bree helpfully replied, "Boat leaves in 10."
I dumped my shit in the office, threw on a pair of trunks in the compressor room and waded out to the open boat for a dive on Sugar Wreck. What is there to say? Vis was mediocre, but that was the only possible complaint as the water was warm, my 3 Danish buddies a bunch of laughs, and the wreck and its tenants were awesome. Lionfish, puffers, big schools of jacks and razorfish (my new fave,) swam all over the the real wreck. Razorfish are small fish that are always oriented head-down and swim around that way using their pectoral fins. A school looks almost like turtle grass, swaying in the water.
Once back on land, I checked out a couple of guesthouses (or as they call them "Chalets," don't be fooled, they were at the low end of basic,) and wound up at Chempaka for 30 Ringgit ($8) a night.
Gappy wood floors and walls, mosquito net, no electricity, and a slimy communal bathroom/shower across the lawn - but it was the nicest one I saw, and it quickly grew on me. Right after I moved in, I opened my back shutter to find myself eye-to-eye with what looked like a Komodo dragon! Nope, just a 5' monitor lizard that roams the area glaring at anyone who crosses its path. I'll tell you this - I sure made good use of my flashlight heading to the bathroom late at night!
The three Danes, who were winding up an 8 month tour, invited me to dinner and showed me around. It was not a big tour - just about 600m of gently curving beach with simple guesthouses, open-air restaurants, and some snorkelling and dive shops sprinkled among the palm trees at the edge of the sand.
The next day, I did three dives, the best was just me and Bree having a good long, slow wander along a beautiful reef, finding turtles and blue-spotted rays in the rocks and coral. It turns out Bree arrived here in April for three days, took her Open Water Class, got hooked and has never left. I bet that story sure sounds familiar to some of us... Considering she is from chilly Alberta, I guess it's not that surprising.
Late that afternoon, I was hanging around on Spice Divers huge deck, having some of their tea and cookies, when I noticed a raucous beach volleyball game going on right out front. I did my usual stand on the sidelines looking hopeful routine, and was soon invited in. It felt like my kind of group - laughing, good-natured trash-talking in 5 languages, diving for hopeless balls and a big cheering section - I had found the Perhentian Volleyball Society! Next thing I know I'm invited out to dinner, then drinks, then it's 4AM and I'm diving in 4 hours!!! Made the dives of course, and all the following days were more of the same - some moved on, but new people always arrived to replace them, most stayed an extra day or two and I wound up extending my stay twice, I was having so much fun. It was about 25 or so Germans, Dutch, English, Norwegians, Italians, Irish, Spanish and me - the lone American. (Honestly, other than Shan who has lived in Koh Tao for 7 years, I don't think I've met another US citizen since Bangkok! I didn't realize that until I met this group on Little and one of them mentioned they hadn't seen many in Malaysia... I wonder if I'm just lucky?) My best memory was at Palm Tree Bar, late one night - an Orangutan and Coke in my hand, (don't ask!) dancing up a storm to Bob Marley with a real rainstorm pouring down outside. I was trying not to think about the laundry that had been almost dry on my porch railing when Pop! the power went out, and no one missed a beat, "Could this be love...? And be lo-ove." We replaced the music with our own, and the power was out so long, it finally devolved to TV theme songs, Happy Days and The Flintstones among them. But the party never even slowed until long after the electricity came back with a cheer.
One day, as I was at lunch, dawdling over a book and a curry at a place called Tummy Rumbles, perched above the beach on the side of a hill - I heard a growing roar and looked up as two Malaysian fighter planes buzzed the beach! They made at least 6 passes during their mini-airshow, one low enough that I was looking down at it as it buffetted the taller palm trees. Turns out a group of Malaysian pilots had taken their leave there 2 weeks previously and had such a great time, they come back every couple of days to check things out again! I know how they feel!
Perhentian Kecil has such a warm, welcoming vibe, and is such a beautiful little island with a perfect balance of wild green jungle, wild life, great diving, a tiny settlement on the edge of the water and cool visitors, it definitely is right at the top of my list of favorite places so far.
Eventually though, the reality of my schedule (in tatters now,) forced me to ignore some pleas of "Just one more day..." and get on the morning ferry to connect to a mini-bus headed to my next stop. Time to play Indiana Jones, and explore the 135 millionn year old rainforest named Taman Negara...
Tune in next time and see what happens...
Cheers!
Clement
