Date: 3 May 2008
My dive group
As mentioned in the previous post, we got up earlier today to dive before breakfast. 4 dives were scheduled today with the last one done before dinner so that we didn't have to contend with the weekend visitors that just arrived.
Neither did I have time for a morning shoot. So we went straight to the boat after washing up.
Rigging up the equipment
The first dive was to be a deep dive at Rayner's Rock, Dayang's best dive site. We went down to 28.6 metres. Depending on individuals, diving to such depths might cause nitrogen narcosis. So in a way to gauge our tolerance, we were briefed to respond by providing an answer to a simple math problem under that depth.Ah Liang responded to the instructor by hi-fiving when the latter showed 10 with her hands.
Nitrogen narcosis? Unfortunately we were unable to determine the cause of his stupidity creativity because antics such as these occur even on land without the influence of alcohol.
With plenty of large rocks, diving at Rayner's Rock was indeed a spectacular experience. Moving from deep to shallow water, we could experience a significant change in the water temperature, better known as a themocline. There is an abundance of marine life in huge varieties here. Spotted were titan triggerfish, yellow mask angelfish, bumphead parrotfish, barracudas, moorish idol, pufferfish, blue-ringed angelfish and moray eels just to name a few.
Unfortunately, the underwater tour was cut short because my dive buddy ran dangerously low on air.
Shameless posing on cue
The second dive was for navigation where we would perform pacing and compass use underwater. With that done, we would go on the underwater tour once again.
Spotted were nudibranches and zebra lionfishes.
A rare narcissistic moment
We did a boat dive next. Nothing extremely special, since we have been diving from a boat. The only extra thing to do was that lean back and fall entry and we were clear for the boat dive requirement. So we descended for our tour. There were plenty of things to see here at Captin's Point. Spotted were batfish, scorpionfish, undulated moray eel, lionfish, nudibranch, butterflyfish, flat tail triggerfish, pufferfish, giant clams and fusilier.
We were done with diving for the day. Desmond joked that we could go dive by ourselves since we have already completed our syllabus for advanced open water diver certification.
Good ol' Ah Liang sound asleep. So we the wicked people decided to play a trick on him...
First...
...then...
...Then he woke up...
If you are adventurous and have the energy, try climbing up the hill behind the resort for a really, really good view. But first, we had to contend with this and the pesky mosquitoes that breed here...
Dayang Waste (mis)Management Sdn Bhd
Halfway up, we paused for a look at Pulau Lang...
Pulau Lang from higher up
...I was momentarily distracted by some cashew fruits...
...And when we reached the top...
What. A. View.
Group Photo~!
A view of the establishment
Dinner on a Saturday would be an exceptionally sumptuous spread with highlights being lamb chops done to perfection.
After dinner, our instructors debriefed the group and finally signed for all our certification dives for this trip. We are now officially PADI certified "advanced open water divers".
We then chatted late into the night before turning in. The last dive of the trip would be before breakfast as well.
