7 skies or Pulau Aur?

[Liang]

Hi Mudguppy,

I have been to Anambas 3 times. For long weekend, They usually have trips to Oil Rig and Seven Skies Wreck. I believe you are going with Friendly Waters. The boat is quite ok with VCD as entertainment all the way.

Oil Rig:

1) I have seen 2 Whale sharks during one trip
2) You will definitely see school of barracudas (the school can be bigger than those in Sipadan), school of Bigeye Tevalis, turtles, beautiful UW garden form by the rig.

Seven Skies Wreck

1) I saw 4 Huge Mantas during my last trip

Mantas are quite common in Seven Skies, but visibility usually low when there are Mantas (due to Planktons in the water). When the vis is good, it is a fantastic dive as well.

Warning:

Seven Skies Wreck is not for amateurs becoz

1) It is 40 - 50m deep. Decom dive is usually necessary to really see the wreck.
2) You have to know what you're doing and have to really plan your dive.
3) Make sure your buddy is a pretty experience diver as well.
4) Current can be really strong, 3 knots!!!

Cheers
Liang

PS: End of season for Koh Similan in Thailand.

 

[mudguppy]

Well folks....first, thanks for all the great info for both these dive sites!
Heres the scoop on the dives:

I just got back from the overland trip to Pulau Aur and I am still in Singapore as I write. (so if you know of any good day dives in the close proximity, let me know...I'm here 8 more days!)

The 7 Skies trip was cancelled due to lack of people, so they gave me a discounted rate for the Pulau Aur trip. Not alot of other dives I knew about so took that one. An instructor with Living seas went with me as a buddy and gave me instruction on currents etc, boat diving and wreck diving (fee involved for instructions on specialties and certs). (still need to dive a wreck this next weekend).

They had planned on 50+ people and ended up with 20 some divers. Actually, I am happy with how it all worked out.
I am thinking hard for reasons to dive in Idaho again
It was a great trip for me. challenging enough for me since it's the first time in the ocean. Great vis and so much to see! I learned alot. Maybe next time I'll be more ready for the 7 Skies by the time I get out here again.

The Pinnacles 2 had a 1 knot current. Great situations for first time learning experiences.
Must say the instructor I dove with was GREAT! Took good care of me and taught me alot.

Maybe not as great of wildlife as what the 7 skies would have been, but saw shark, barracuda, an awsome jellyfish and swam around with a turtle. I need to get a marine life book so I can make a note of what I did see, since I don't have a clue on most of it.

For the not really advanced, I would recommend it....others may need more of a challenge. Very beautiful, relaxing area tho.
I had a great time.

Thanks again for all the help and education on the sites before I came out....helped me know what to do when I got here.

Eat, Sleep, Dive...Eat, Sleep, Dive...

Mudguppy

 

[divedivedive!]

Glad you had fun, mudguppy. Aur is a really nice place to dive, especially as you say if you're not a hardcore experienced type. Nice atmosphere to the resort, good food, and those afternoon donuts...

Hope you did Rainer's Rock, it's the highlight amongst the sites there. And just wondering, was your instructor Gideon? He's an amazingly patient guy, definitely one of the best open water instructors here in Singapore, IMHO.

 

[Natasha]

Mudguppy:
Thanks for the trip report. Were you able to take any pictures you can share?

 

[mudguppy]

Love those donuts!

We did Rainer's Rock on Sun. morning. I believe that was where we swam thru and under some large rocks. Without the shelter of the rock was some fun current. Very fun dive.

As a matter of fact, Gideon was my instructor....and was VERY patient with all of my pre-trip e-mails.

Ate my first Malaysian dinner with chopsticks in Mersing....and with some good instruction I didn't even go home hungry!

I only took my video camera with me on the trip. The 35 mm I brought with me was a little cumbersome, so I didn't want to take both the 35 mm and the video camera, so oppted to take just the video(tried to pack light).
I was able to have a fellow diver get a picture of me and my roomie on top the boat on the way back. He had a digital camera and offered to e-mail it to my brothers computer here. I haven't gotten it yet. I was so nervous about the diving, I didn't rent an underwater camera, so all I have is the videos that I did. I don't know if one can get stills off of a video tape, tho.

I'm doing Tioman Island this next weekend. I'd like to rent a camera for at least one of those dives now that I am more comfortable. Hopefully I will have some kind of picture to post!

I am quite enjoying my stay here. Singapore/Malaysia is a lovely area....forests of palm trees.

The forecast today back home in Idaho......Snow.
I think I'll extend my stay by 6 months ... hee, hee


:tree: Mudguppy

 

[neve]

Hi mudguppy,

I'm glad you had a good time in Aur. I did when I went there last month. Gideon is simply the best!

To get the most of diving in Singapore, why not try diving the shark and dugong (sea cow) tanks at Underwater World, Sentosa? I did that just last weekend, and I must say it was an experience of a lifetime! Huge sharks and all kinds of fishes! And of course the highlight is Gracie the dugong. She is such a gentle and friendly creature, I was reluctant to leave her after she ate out of my hand!

I also fed the eagle rays in the shark tank. It was an exhilarating experience. The diving (if you can call it diving) was a shallow 5m dive, no fins so it was almost like moonwalking. But getting so close and touching rays, nurse sharks, and getting so close to other types of sharks and fishes is not an everyday experience!

I may be wrong, but I heard there is only one other place in the world where you can do this kind of diving, and it's in the Underwater World Sunshine Coast, QLD Australia. I've been there but I didn't dive then.

For more info, visit Underwater World and look under "Events"

Email me if you want to see some underwater pictures! Not very good pics (my first attempt at UW photography), but it'll give you an idea of what kind of things you'll see there.

Cheers!

 

[mudguppy]

Hey,

I checked out that website. That looks awsome!
I have to see if I can work it in while I'm here.

Thanks for sharing

:tree: Mudguppy

 

[landlocked]

Originally posted by mudguppy
The forecast today back home in Idaho......Snow.
I think I'll extend my stay by 6 months ... hee, hee

Mudguppy

Yup! It snowed 4 inches last night along with 30 mph winds. Major winter blizzard. Should be all melted by this evening. (BTW, I think I saved most of your plants with a little middle of the blizzard repair to the greenhouse.)

 

[divedivedive!]

Mudguppy -

Gideon's the sort of instructor who'll stay in the pool well beyond midnight if he has to to make sure his open water students get their skills right... and he's good fun when he's drunk too, heh heh.

You went to Tioman? I was actually there over the past weekend. Which shop did you dive with, and which resort did you stay in? Quite possibly we were in the same area.

As for the Underwater World dive, the only problem with it is that its pretty short and you can't wear fins while in the tank, which feels kinda odd. Then there's the whole issue about the place being owned by one of the largest shark fin promoters in Singapore...

 

[mudguppy]

Hey!

I dove with Julian who runs the Tioman Dive Centre.
We stayed at the Persona Lodge right behind his shop.
Did one afternoon dive on fri. , 4 on sat. (with his dive master) and one sun. morn. before we took off. No one else was diving on sat, so was just the divemaster, boat driver and myself.

Didn't do the shark tank thing at Sentosa. Was more money than I wanted to put out for what it was.

Worst part about the trip was having to leave and come back to cooler Idaho
;-0

mudguppy