When backpackers plan to scuba dive in south east asia, couple of places comes to their mind instantly one is Koa Tao and other is Perhientien Islands. Firstly the pristine clear waters and then of course it’s very cheap compared to other resort Islands. I was quick to select Perhientien Islands because of its proximity to Singapore. Got a cheaper deal from Johor Bahru, hence took a bus until Johor Bahru then flew to Kota Bahru. An hour long bus from airport brought me to the jetty Kula besut. I was confused whether to do a Dive course or just chill on the island for next few days. Thanks to Eli (Dive Instructor) whom i met on the way to Kula Besut gave me confidence to go ahead with my dive course.

After a long journey by road and air, finally I’m here on a boat riding to Kecil the smallest of two Perheintien Islands. Kecil is a backpacker friendly island and the bigger Island Besar is little resorty.  It was holiday season hence all the rooms in Kecil were booked. Thanks to a shopkeeper on the Long beach who gave me a rented tent to sleep. I was not the only one to pitch the tent but there were quite a few. Shortly tagged along with few travelers in the nearby tents and started exploring the island together. As the Sun started setting, the color of water changed to slight orangish and  all of us were at the beach relaxing and enjoying the views after a session of Frisbee. Then came Dinner time, it was a fresh barbeque fish dinner right at the beach and the waves were deafening.

 

Next morning i decided to do my Dive course and went to the Dive shop called spice Divers where Eli was an instructor. Initially was little reluctant to do the course as i was bid scared but soon people in the Dive shop were sharing their experiences underwater and that persuaded to go ahead with the course. After all the formalities, i was asked to listen to a recorded lecture for about 4-5 hours.  Then, the instructors thought me basics of diving and briefed me what all i should do soon after i get into the water.  Finally towards end of the day i was given with my diving Kit and we went for the first dive. Although i didn’t enjoy it much because it was my first dive and was bit scared as well.

Second dive, i still remember i was asked to swim for few metres. But poor I, got the target wrong and swam about 700-800 metres extra and just before i could reach the boat i got completely exhausted. Waved my hands for help and the instructor was there in no time. As expected i was given a round of scolding before i was taken back to the boat to get my breath back. After sometime we started with the dive but it didn’t last for more than few mins. Post afternoon did a wreck dive and it was amazing to see the wreck for first time in my life. A dream come true! The Wreck was surrounded by so many marine species and saw a horse faced fish, pipet fish, lion fish and many more. And with that i had lot of interesting stories to tell my friends once i get back to the tent.

Following days dive was even more amazing as we went to the Temple of sea dive site. It’s few Kilometres from the shore and an amazing place to dive middle of nowhere. A mountain like projection in middle of the sea was a treat to watch. The dive was to go around this mountain. Still i had lot of techniques correction required and Eli was strict to make sure i got everything right before we started with the dive. We saw titan trigger, sting rays, eerls, puffer fish, porcupine fish, etc. With that dive I became a certified Open water Diver

Perhientien became my favourite place and came here once again to do my advance dive course and with the same instructor Eli. This time things were different though, i have already completed about 12 dives and i was very keen to dive. I was more relaxed and wanted to explore different things underwater. I enjoyed the exquisite waters of Perhientiens, on one of the days visibility was more than 30-40 metres.  I was able to see lot of species underwater like cat shark, bamboo shark, black reef shark, turtles, etc. Although we missed a whale shark sighting by a whisker

Night dive was something i cannot forget in my lifetime. When we went underwater for a moment we switched off our torch light and could see hundreds of shrimps glittering around us. Saw an eerl swimming completely in open, sting rays, etc. Although i had done lot of day dives but night dive was something to die for. After finishing the dive we came up and were floating on the sea, could see the clear night sky with lot of glittering stars and jackets carefully held us afloat on the surface.