Redang
30 Mar-3 Apr'06
Reef balls on the seabed near Tanjung Mak Cantik.
My first dive trip of 2006 season was also a good opportunity to warm-up for my scheduled dive trip to Kapalai/Sipadan in May. We managed 7 dives over our 4D/3N stay which included a chance to check out the Reefballs which had been laid around Mak Cantik. We had fine weather throughout, though some days were unbearably hot.
30 Mar
It was 10pm when I arrived at Golden Mile Complex
to catch the Five Stars Tour coach to KT, or more specifically, to Merang jetty.
It was my first time travelling with them, having made all my other
trips to the Malaysian east coast islands onboard Transnasional coaches.
At S$78 for a round trip (including fuel surcharge), it cost about 40%
more than Transnasional but as with everything else, you get what you
pay for: later departure time at 10:30pm, a smooth ride through the less
congested Second Link instead of the Causeway, direct drop-off and pick-up at
KT Shahbandar jetty and Merang jetty, a more comfortable 26-seater VIP coach and an efficient schedule
with minimal waiting time. The coach arrives daily at KT Shahbandar jetty around 7:30am
and at Merang jetty an hour later, just in time for the morning boats
that depart around 9-10am. The coach then waits to pick up passengers from the first boats out of Redang that arrive at Merang
between 8:30-10am. It then picks up more passengers from KT Shahbandar
jetty and arrives back in Singapore around 8:30-9:30pm. It's ideal for those
who prefer to get back to Singapore on the same day instead of spending
the day in KT waiting to catch the overnight coach. Other than Five Stars, Enjoy Holiday Tours also run
direct coach services between Singapore Golden Mile Complex and Shahbandar/Merang
jetty at comparable prices.
Accompanying me on this coach trip was my friend Timothy Chia who was taking his PADI Advance Diver at Laguna Dive Centre. Seng Hock, one of my regular dive buddies with whom I drove up to KT in April last year, had left earlier in the day with his family, driving up to KT. We would rendezvous at Redang the next day.
Leaving on time at 10:30pm, the coach made its way to the North South Highway via the Second Link where getting through immigration was a breeze compared to the more crowded Causeway. It was a smooth ride and after a rest stop at Yong Peng, I settled down for the night and actually managed a decent 4-5 hours of sleep on the comfortable coach.
31 Mar
I awoke just as the coach pulled up at Shahbandar
jetty in KT around 7:30am to let some passengers off. I had never
actually visited Shahbandar jetty and was surprised to see that it was
only about 100-150 metres down the road from Tanjung coach station,
right in front of the general post office.
About an hour later, we arrived at Merang jetty and caught the 9:30am Laguna Resort boat to Redang. As the boat passed Teluk Kalong, I focused my attention on Redang campsite & chalets, part of which was torn down just 1-2 days ago by the authorities who claimed that certain portions were built illegally on government land. It didn't look as bad - many of the buildings were still standing. [While writing this trip report, I learnt the campsite was torn down completely on 4 April].
Reefball - symbol of conservation efforts at Redang?
Baby civet cat, Laguna's standard rooms, 3 cowries and risbecia nudibranch.
Upon arrival at Laguna's jetty, we immediately went to the dive centre where we met Liu, my Rescue instructor and many other familiar faces except Jimmy and Hitomi who were away on leave and would only return after we had left Redang. Other than Jimmy, Hitomi and Chin Heng (better known as 'Ah Boy') had also become resident full-fledged dive instructors. Other than the usual squirrels, a new furry friend was also present at the dive centre, a cute and cuddly baby civet cat that was rescued by one of Laguna's boatman. It's mother had died in an accident and the villager decided to raise the infant by hand.
Checking into Laguna's standard room by their dive centre, I was pleasantly surprised that it had a TV, hot water shower and in-room safe especially when I had expected a 'no-frills' room. Compared to the deluxe rooms, it was about 25-30% smaller with 3 beds instead of 4, ceramic-tiled flooring, a less luxurious bathroom, no balcony and no fridge. A normal sized wardrobe, 2 chairs, bedside table, ceiling fan and split aircon unit completed the furnishings. Clean and comfortable, its proximity to the dive centre made it suitable for divers and I would certainly choose to stay in the standard rooms over the deluxe rooms if I'm at Laguna for dive trips again. The downside was having to walk further to the dining hall and Pasir Panjang beach but its location away from the main beach meant more privacy and quiet.
The other pleasant surprise was seeing a full-strength DIGI signal on my mobile phone. Gone were the days having to hunt for 'hot-spots' to make and receive calls and SMS, or having to switch to my roaming Singtel line just to scan for any weak signals from the local mobile service operators. I was told that the transmission tower at Teluk Bakau was now fully operational, providing good coverage to DIGI, Maxis and Celcom subscribers on Pasir Panjang and Teluk Kalong. Well, gone also were the days when one could take refuge on Redang without being contacted by their bosses...
Walking over to Pasir Panjang, a Reefball was on display between the More More Tea gift shop and the reception building. Inscribed on a plaque below it were the names of sponsors who had helped to finance the purchase of Reefballs, about 70 of which were laid in mid-March in a sandy bottom area near Mak Cantik. It would be interesting to visit the artificial reef on one of my dives over the next few days.
Our first dives in the afternoon were shallow affairs at Pulau Paku Kecil and Mak Cantik with maximum depths of about 18 metres. At Paku Kecil, it was interesting to see 3 large cowrie shells lying next to each other and a pair of risbecia nudibranch engaged in a snail-speed chase, one after the other. At Mak Cantik, the usual schools of yellow-tail barracudas, damsels and other reef fish greeted us as we circled the beautiful submerged reef. What was less common was a chance encounter with a single large spiny lobster tucked away in a crevice, waving its long antenna at us as if to check us out.
1 Apr
Going for an early breakfast, I couldn't resist the
nasi dagang - a local Terengganu dish comprising tuna fish curry served
with fragrant rice and pickled vegetables. I would usually make it a
point not to eat spicy food before dives and was rudely reminded of the
reason later on.
Seng Hock at the artificial reef made up of reefballs, juvenile fishes taking refuge in the reefball, ghost anemone shrimp.
The morning dive was at Tanjung Tokong. The dive wasn't very interesting save for a large moray we encountered. At the decompression stop, the surf was quite strong which got me a little queasy after awhile. Back on the boat, the nasi dagang breakfast which had been churning inside me finally found its way outside in the dive boat's toilet. Feeling much better after that, I joined the second morning dive at the artificial reef near Mak Cantik to see the Reefballs.
As we descended, it was interesting to see the hemispherical balls dotting the sandy bottom. Deployed only about 2 weeks earlier, they were already home to schools of tiny juvenile fishes darting in and out of the numerous openings in the walls of the Reefballs, which offered them protection from predators. On the surface of the Reefballs, tiny algae had started to grow. It will take a much longer time before we know if the Reefballs are successful in attracting coral larvae (planula) to settle and develop into coral colonies. In the sandy bottom around the Reefballs, we found a lone anemone with numerous tiny and well-camouflaged translucent shrimps hidden among its branches, a well-hidden spiny devilfish and a large cowrie. Not far away from the Reefballs lay a small submerged reef with the usual marine denizens.
Back on the boat, I felt a little sick again and once more ended up emptying what was left of breakfast. After 90-plus dives without much incident, I had scored 2-out-of-2 in one morning alone. It's either a sign of a weak stomach, getting old or simply a breakfast that didn't agree with diving. I think I"ll go with the latter... and remember not to have nasi dagang again before a dive! Back on land, I decided to skip lunch and the afternoon dive and just rested.
The new Desagreen resort under construction, large map puffer and sea urchin at night.
Waking up later in the evening and feeling much better, I went for a walk around Pasir Panjang and was glad to see no sign of the unsightly jetty in front of Redang Bay near Tanjung Tengah. All the other resorts were open for business as usual except Ayu Mayang which was still closed and looked like it was undergoing some renovation. Construction at Desagreen resort located between Holiday and Coral was still in progress with many of the seaview facing chalets nearing completion.
After an early dinner, we went for a night dive at Mak Cantik where we encountered a large, solitary great barracuda, a big map pufferfish sleeping on the sandy bottom and a variety of shellfish, urchins and crustaceans actively feeding on the reef. During the dive, some of us witnessed a large fish head, it's body cleanly cut off and nowhere to be seen, sinking to the seabed with blood still oozing out of its freshly decapitated head. It was probably a little alarming to those who never saw the predator but could only guess that it must have been quite large to have devoured that fish. For those of us who had seen the large barracuda a few times in the course of the dive, it was the prime suspect as it was probably the only predator we had encountered that was big enough (it was at least 4 feet long) and with teeth sharp enough to have cleanly separated the fish's body from its head.
2 Apr
With yesterday's nasi dagang episode still fresh in my
mind, I wondered whether I should tuck in to the delicious looking roti
canai (or 'roti prata' as it is called in Singapore) with its spicy
curry sauce at breakfast. After deliberating for awhile, I decided I
would go for it to see if the same thing happened - if it did, then I
would have to be more diligent in watching what I eat before dives.
Our morning dive at Chek Isa went smoothly and I didn't experience any uneasy feeling in my stomach (so perhaps it was the nasi dagang after all!). What I did experience was an adrenalin kick when a pair of adult black-tip sharks decided to check me out at close range. This particular dive at Chek Isa was unusual as I encountered the five-footer adult sharks at least 4 times during the dive, usually one at a time. On one occasion, I wandered over to 2 other divers who were looking at something in the distance. Swimming over and in front of them, I didn't see anything and turned to face them to ask what they were looking at. Before they could answer, I turned around and saw a pair of black-tips swimming towards me barely 10 feet away. My first thought was to capture a photo but they were gone by the time I turned on my camera. Missing a close-up opportunity, I went after one of them and almost mentally wished it to come back. It did. And this time it came even closer than the first time, giving me a chance to take a photo of it as it swam past barely 5 feet away. What a wonderful experience to be so close to these majestic, beautiful creatures!
Close encounter with black-tip shark, minor oil spill at Chagar Hutang and meeting Khairil for the first time.
Returning from our dive, we went over to Chagar Hutang where SEATRU (Sea Turtle Research Unit) was located together with Prof.Chan Eng Heng from KUSTEM who heads the SEATRU program. We had been told earlier in the day that the protected turtle-nesting beach in the north of the island had encountered a minor oil pollution. We accompanied Prof.Chan, a Star newspaper reporter and photographer and some Laguna staff and workers to take a first-hand look at the minor oil pollution at the beach and to assist in its clean up. An American volunteer worker at SEATRU who had arrived a day earlier at Chagar Hutang reported seeing the black coagulated pieces of oil washed up on the beach. We could see sargassum weed washed up on shore stained black by the oil, while small black clumps of coagulated oil dotted the tide lines. Under Prof.Chan's directives, the workers were split into two groups to comb the beach and pick up the coagulated oil pieces, which felt like soft clay or plasticine. We had to don gloves as the oil stains were difficult to wash off. From what I understood, it seemed this happened once in a while when passing ships sometimes discharge oil into the sea as part of their engine oil cleaning and maintenance. They usually do that in international waters but in this case, a ship might have done that illegally within Malaysian waters sufficiently close to the islands, and the currents happened to wash them onshore at the northern side of Redang.
After spending about an hour assisting in the cleanup in the hot sun, we left Prof.Chan and some workers (among them villagers from the local village) at Chagar Hutang and returned to the resort. Fortunately, the pollution was minor and not as bad as we had initially thought, not the sort that would make headline news nor threaten the survival of local wildlife or marine life, although it might have caused some problems for turtle hatchlings making their way to the sea. In this case, it was more of a nuisance as it would stick to shoes or bare feet and was hard to come off. Even on this small scale, the effort to clean up the beach required many volunteers working for hours under the hot sun. It's a sombre reminder that everyone must play their part for conservation efforts to succeed. Years of conservation can easily be threatened and set back many years by just one single careless action.
Terumbu Kili coral garden, lionfish and blue-spotted ray.
Returning to the resort, I found Khairil Anwar, dive instructor at Wisana Redang and a regular contributor to the Forum page, waiting for me at the dive centre, together with John, the boatman from Wisana who had fetched me to their resort last year for a visit. It was good to finally meet Khairil face to face. As we searched for a place to have lunch, we found Laguna's Food Court, Redang Beach's Kopitiam and Summerpoint were all closed. Relying on Khairil's familiarity with Redang, we eventually ended up having lunch at Redang Bay's food outlets which comprised a cooked-food shop serving Western and local fare and a local-styled coffee shop. We just ordered our food downstairs and proceeded to the upstairs dining area which offered a view overlooking northern Pasir Panjang beach. The quality of food was quite good by local standards and we had a nice chat over lunch exchanging information and tips.
For our last dive of the trip, we visited Terumbu Kili in the afternoon. One of the best dive sites in Redang, with beautiful pristine coral gardens and an abundance of marine life, it was also home to resident hawksbill turtles that graze on the soft sponges and corals. We encountered lionfish, puffers, rays, nudibranchs and of course, hawksbill turtles. Just as Timothy and I were about to ascend after our decompression stop, I glanced down and noticed a hawksbill feeding below us. Eager for one last photo opportunity, we both went down to see it. As if to bid us farewell, this very friendly Hawksbill turtle gladly posed for the camera unperturbed by our presence. It didn't make any effort to move away and allowed us to stay right next to it, even allowing us to stroke its shell. Certainly one of the more memorable experiences!
Our dive group at Redang 2006: ST, May, Nicole, Timothy, 'Ah Boy', me and James.
3 Apr
We got up early for breakfast and to pack before leaving on the 9am boat.
As expected, we arrived at Merang jetty to find the Five
Star Tours coach already waiting there for us. It was really convenient to be
able to just hop on and return to Singapore. The coach stopped to pick
up more passengers at Shahbandar jetty in KT and at 1 or 2 resorts at
Cherating along the way. We got down for lunch in Dungun town and for
dinner at Yong Peng before arriving back in Singapore around 9:30pm.
A-OK from Tim Chia, licensed to dive at night!
This first experience with Five Stars has been a good one. It is one of the most convenient ways to get to Merang jetty or Shahbandar jetty from Singapore due to the direct drop-off and pick-up at the jetties, saving a lot of time and hassle of having to switch to other land transfers in KT. You pay a little more for that convenience but I think it's worth it. Those interested should also check out other similar coach services that head directly to Shahbandar/Merang jetties.
As for my friend Timothy, he completed his PADI Advanced Diver course with flying colours. One more to add to my growing list of dive buddies! :)
