Tioman Island Dive Trip (Part 1)

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 This story I'm about to write happened a few months back. September 2020. 

A few months back, the government announced that the state borders are open and interstate travel is allowed. My friends and I jumped right into planning our dive trip. Many beautiful islands came up to suggestions but in the end, we went along with Tioman Island. 

The package we booked included 4 fun dives, breakfast, accommodation for 2 nights, free-flow snacks, and boat transfer to and from the island. The package costs us around RM600 excluding the lunch, dinner, and transport to the jetty. Overall it was budgeted to be not more than RM800. The name of the dive center is Ray's Dive Adventure. Link to their Instagram and Facebook. They are friendly people and I do suggest having a dive with them. 

I have never been to Tioman Island. I always imagined Tioman Island to be on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. To my surprise, Tioman Island is located on the East Coast. Yes, yes, my geographic knowledge is somewhat questionable. LOL. I've heard a lot about Tioman. I heard the water is crystal blue. I heard it was DUTY-FREE. I heard it once had an airport. Knowing all this, I was excited to visit Tioman Island. I can't wait to dive again after a long hiatus. 

A day before the dive, I started to pack my diving gear, camera equipment, extra clothes, and some essentials. I managed to pack everything into 2 bags, a dry bag, and a backpack. The next day, I took the morning bus to Kuala Lumpur where my friends planned to meet up. Once in Kuala Lumpur, I meet with my friends for lunch and chill at their rental house. The plan was to leave for the Jetty around 9pm and arrive around 5am to catch our 7am ferry to Tioman Island. The route to the jetty was 7 hours long, We listened to some music and had some chats along the way. We reached the jetty around 530am. Right away, we had our breakfast before getting on the 3-hour  ferry ride to the Island. 

The ferry ride was calm, unlike the ferry to Langkawi. I slept nearly 2 hours on the boat. Not only me but my friends too. We were all tired from the 7-hour journey by car. We eventually got off our ferry ride and contacted the dive center immediately. 'We have a Hilux waiting for you, they will help you arrive at our Dive Center informed the dive center. Yes, we have to get a 4X4 ride to our dive center located on the other side of Tioman Island (Kampung Juara). As we got down the Hilux, our dive center settled us down with accommodation dan refreshments. They told us to get ready for our first dive at around 12pm. 

Inside the ferry

Once we got ready, we headed to the dive center to meet our Divemaster for our dive briefing. As usual, we geared up, did our buddy checks, and headed on the boat. The boat was controlled by the owner of the dive center (Mr. Ray). He was a chill guy, he chatted and made jokes all the time. He dropped us off at the first dive spot and waited for us to resurface again. 

Ready for our first dive of the day

After the first dive, we were excited for more but, we have to rest for an hour before the next dive, This involved the surface interval that every diver has to do. Meanwhile, we had some snacks, and Ray took the boat to the next dive spot. 

Reaching the next dive spot, we geared up again and plunged into the ocean. The second dive was longer and more fun. It was an about hour's worth of dive and we saw so many sea creatures. After the last dive, we returned to the dive center, cleaned our scuba gears, and headed back to our room. It was around 5pm then, and we took a generous rest before showering and heading for dinner.  

Resurfacing after our last dive of the day.

We had our dinner nearby our chalet. We were quite lazy. hahaha. After dinner, we wandered around Kampung Juara. Then, we saw a map of Kampung Juara. Looking through, we saw a waterfall located on the northern part of the island. We made a plan to go to the waterfall for the next day. 

TIRED. We went to sleep charging our camera gears and phones. GOOD NIGHT. 

Here is a Vlog I made. Do watch it. 

See you all in the next one. 

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