Diving In Bidong Island (Part 2)

 Let's continue my story. If you haven't read my previous post, be sure to read it too. 

The whole class at Bidong Island (that's me at the front in red).

One week before taking off to Pulau Bidong, we had to undergo a small practice dive in the pool. So, our instructors booked the Kuala Terengganu Aquatic Center for the whole day. This will be the first time to gear up in scuba gear and have my first dive. At 8am that day, I took my new mask and wetsuit to the swimming pool, located 30 minutes from my university. When I reached, I saw a few of my friends anxiously waiting to dive and my instructors and divemasters preparing our equipment. We had to set up our gear and get in the water. A few basic lessons were done in the pool, including regulator recovery, mask clearance, and buoyancy control. The day was a success; we could all complete the exercise in flying colours. Next, we were preparing for our lessons in Bidong Island. We were called upon a briefing, and my instructor Mr Borhan briefed us about the 4-day stay in Pulau Bidong. There will be 2 instructors and 8 dive masters, so the 28 of us had to be divided into 2 groups. Each group will have 1 instructor, 4 divemasters, and 14 students. This will make our dive more organized and safe.

Preparing our equipment at the aquatic centre

Friday

The whole class was told to group up at Dapo Pata (Uptown Kontena). Dapo Pata is actually a spot to eat and chill. It is just by the beach, which serves to dock small fishing boats. This is where I mention another perk of being a UMT student. WE HAD OUR OWN BOAT. This means we don't have any time limit on the boat. It's like having our own transport and not depending on GRAB, hahaha. After an hour of waiting, the boat arrived, and we went on the boat. We had to bring our diving gear, food, and oxygen tanks. To boat had to make several trips to and back from Bidong Island. 

Waiting for our boat at Dapo Pata

We reached Pulau Bidong around 12pm. We were excited about lunch, but we were instructed to go on our first dive. We are assigned dive buddies. One girl will be paired with one guy. This will make it safe to dive. So, once on the island, we immediately prepared our diving gear, geared up, and did our buddy checks for our first dive. Buddy check is done by taking turns helping your buddy where their equipment is and checking their gear. The first dive was a shore dive. Shore dive is when you enter the water from the shore. It was rather casual; we did the same exercise we did in the pool a few days back. Once out of the water, we were so hungry. Lunch was really a treat for us. 

Then we had some time to rest, chill and chat with our instructor and divemasters. They gave tips on the dive and joked around for a while. Then around 2pm, we were asked to gear up again. It was a shore dive again because we are not ready for a boat dive, where you have to 'back roll' from the boat. This time, a few more lessons were done. We just had to dive at a depth of  3 - 8 meters for these first two dives. This is for safety reasons because it is safe to surface in an emergency. 

At shore after our last dive of the day.

Done with the last dive of the day, we were given room to sleep and put our stuff. We had our shower in an open bathroom. Then it was 7pm, it was dinner time. We had our dinner, enjoying a beautiful sunset. After dinner was made, we had night classes. We were taught about the theory of diving. The theory was about dive time, surface interval, and decompression which was quite complicated. But, not to worry so much because there is a dive computer which calculates everything automatically for you. After classes were over, we had our good night's sleep. We were briefed about tomorrow's dive. We will have 3 dives tomorrow. 

Enjoying a mesmerizing sunset with my friends

Saturday
The wake-up time is 7am. Breakfast was prepared. Our instructors, Mr Borhan and Mr Ismadi and our divemasters were seen up earlier than all of us. They had already taken their breakfast, and they were starting to prepare our oxygen tanks. Today is a big day for all of us because today is the day we are going to a real dive. We will be diving up to 15meters, although our limit is 18meters. 

Having our breakfast at the research centre.

It was shore dive again. After performing our buddy checks, we went in the water, put our fins on, and started to back paddle towards a marker. The marker has a rope that descends into the sea. We had to use that rope to guide our descent at a slow rate. Once on the sea bed, we were in a depth of 10meters. It was a little scary, as you know how deep you are. But, confidence is key. We did the same exercise again, and we also managed to do a few new ones. After one hour of being in the water, one of my friends (Roy) had low oxygen in his tank. This means it's time for all of us to ascend to the surface. We paddled ourselves back to shore and took our break. We had some snacks awaiting our next dive.

Divemaster guiding us throughout the dive

At 10am, we were told to gear up for the second dive of the day. At this point, most of us are good at diving. Our scuba diving skills were up to par. But we're not nearly as good as our instructors and divemasters. It was an enjoyable dive. We descent into the blue without a rope. We did new exercises, and the remaining time, we were brought on a fun dive experience. We went around the sea bed looking at the beautiful marine creatures. A few minutes of fun diving later, the instructor asked for everyone's tank pressure. Again, Roy had the lowest tank pressure. This means we have to go to the surface again. We also did a 3-minute safety stop at a depth of 5meters to release the gasses built up in our bodies. After resurfacing, we paddled our way back to shore. It was 12pm, and we had our lunch. 

Resurfacing after our dive

GEAR UPPPPP!!! It was 2pm. We geared up did our buddy checks. This time the instructors had a surprise for us. IT'S A BOAT DIVE. We were so excited for this because we could finally 'back roll' into the sea like a pro. The tip when you back roll is to hold your mask and regulator firmly. This is to avoid the mask and regulator from flying away from your face when you hit the water. Trust me. The instructors watched us as we back rolled into the sea. All went well for me; I did it like a pro (kidding). Then, we descended into the blue slowly, following our dive master's guidance. 

Once underwater, we had our lessons again. The scuba lessons mainly prepare us for an emergency. Safety is always first because it is not the nature of a person to breathe underwater. Nevertheless, those safety lessons are pretty challenging. We must be calm at all times. After our lessons, we carried on a fun dive. We went through some giant ref reefs under the jetty. Slowly we came back to shore. Once back, it was tea time. We had our tea and snacks and went to shower. 

After our last dive of the day

Next came dinner, and we are dinner enjoying the mesmerizing sunset from the island. Once done with dinner, we had our night classes again, but it was a test this time. We were given papers containing questions. Fortunately, we were allowed to discuss and refer to some books. That was the first time I had fun completing a test. Once done with the test, we had free time to wander around the island. It was 11pm, by the way, and we had to wake up at 7am again tomorrow. After a small night stroll, we went to bed, sleeping like a baby. 

Theory classes at night

I will continue writing in the next part. This is getting long.