The Perhentian Islands

The Perhension Islands by Samantha Croom aged 30 (June 5th till June 11th)

Hi from The Perhentian Islands! We've been staying on Pulau Besar, the larger of the two islands which make up the name. It also happens to be the posh one and is for grown ups like us. We (Em & I) went on an expedition through the jungle to find somewhere decent to stay...not easy after 12 hours of travelling on an overnight bus. Considering it's the posh island, this was actually more difficult than anticipated so we did the decent thing and went for the most expensive beach hut we could find. And very lovely it was too - except for the staff. They seem to go out of their way to be as unfriendly and unhelpful as possible. Quick example - sat down in restaurant for dinner, we ordered barbequed seafood platters, to be told that at 9.15 pm it was too late for a barbie (what?), so we had to have a re-think. Some woman with all the effervescence and charm of Myra Hindley trundles back half an hour later, only to inform us that it was now, in all probability, too late to have dinner (they officially shut at 10.30). We aint bovvered though as Andy's had a word and now we just boycott them (with the exception of using their internet & Magnum supplies).

Enough of that - the beach!! We are overlooking a little bay which is just one aspect of the beautiful coastline. A bit of a walk along the shore takes us to a gorgeous powder beach, overlooking montains and coral reef. Being that I had a bit of a diving freak out in Vietnam, I have chickened out of diving here. Andy's been several times, but he'll tell you all about that later on (jelous, me? I was until today...) Much of the coral is unfortunately dead in the first few metres, but things pick up no end a bit further on. We've seen all manner of nonsense - the marine life is unbelievable!! Better than any dive I ever did I think (and with much reduced risk of complications!). We've seen parrotfish, angelfish, cuttlefish, loads of Nemo (clownfish) and fiesty little brown ones which nibble you if you go near them. On a more terrifying note, we've encountered the Titan trigger fish - a very aggressive fish with massive teeth. They've been known to attack divers unprovoked and we even heard a tale of one ripping a human ear off. It's a good thing Andy didn't know this when he persued one on our first day here.



My first shark by Andy Masters aged 34

The diving and snorkling around the Perhension islands is easily the best I've ever done. The sheer amount and diversity of fish, the beautiful coral and the clear blue water make these islands a must visit if you're at all interested in marine life! I realise I sound like a Malaysian advert, but it really was that good and I can't wait to get to Australia to see how it compares. It was especially memorable, because I saw my first shark whilst diving and in the following days all 4 of us saw sharks when we were snorkling. The sharks in question are black tip reef sharks, quite comman in these waters and not a threat to us humans. The shark I saw was on my third dive of four and was at a site called Tiger Rock. The site was really atmospheric as it featured a collection of several towers of stone and coral rising some 20 meters from the sea bed to the surface. We descended down to the bottom and spent the next hour swimming around the rocks, gradually rising to the surface. We had been swimming for about 15 minutes maybe, when I accidently cut my finger on some coral (it can be amazingly sharp), it was only a small cut, but enough to bleed! It was strange, because underwater the colour of my blood was green. I suddenly remembered that I'd been told there was a good chance of seeing a shark and so became a little nervous, even though Josh would've been jealous of my dying from a shark attack, I really didn't want that to happen! My cut sorted itself out pretty quickly, but then, just a few minutes later I saw the dive master do the classic sign language for 'shark', by holding his hand in front of his forehead as though is was the dorsal fin of a shark. I looked into the depths and out of it swam a 2 meter long black tip reef shark, it swam towards us slowly and then turned around and went back the way it had come. It was an awe inspiring and very surreal moment for me, having been fasinated by sharks since I can remember. I'm also pleased it didn't come too near or it might have had a nibble at my finger :) It was a stunning dive, I also saw a lionfish, some cuttlefish, needlefish, lots of parrotfish and lots of schooling reef fish. Other highlights of the diving included us all seeing a Green sea turtle whilst snorkling and my personal favourite was the bumphead parrot fish (also called the humphead), a gentle giant about 3-4 long.

We all managed to do about 3-4 hours of snorkling a day, seeing sharks every time, Emma even saw one just a few meters from the beach in the shallows. Its a beach holiday none of us will ever forget!

Underwater photography courtesy of disposable kodak camera.