Heading to Tioman Island

[Lucky Man]

I have heard horror stories about Sand Flies in Honduras but have never experienced them; we have mosquitoes the size small aircraft in Northern Canada that can almost carry away small children, but no Sand Flies.
It sounds like we will have to stock up on the Deet and the Afterbite.
Thanks again for all your great advice. When I get back I will post a trip report.

 

[jh_MacLeod]

I have heard horror stories about Sand Flies in Honduras but have never experienced them; we have mosquitoes the size small aircraft in Northern Canada that can almost carry away small children, but no Sand Flies.
It sounds like we will have to stock up on the Deet and the Afterbite.
Thanks again for all your great advice. When I get back I will post a trip report.

There will also be mosquitoes, but they shouldn't give you much trouble. They're not particularly big or agressive and you'll only have to deal with them around sundown and at night. Deet of course works for the mosquitoes, as does the Skin-so-soft, but I haven't seen either have much effect on the sand flies. When pressed for something that will help with them, the only thing mentioned by the locals was a massage oil with a very strong smell. I suspect, however, that it is primarily the oil that impedes them. They are so small that if they land on heavily-oiled skin, I think their wings would get stuck :-^). I have heard some Australians say that a Dettol and baby oil mixture will help, so that is what I plan on trying this year when I go there.

The real problem for me is that none of these creams or oils are very compatible with scuba diving. I'm most vulnerable when sitting around or hanging out between the morning and afternoon dives. The last thing I want on my skin, hands, wet suit, and gear is something sticky. That's why I've primarily resorted to covering up in spite of the heat. I was particularly proud of myself last fall, when after 2 whole weeks there, I only had a couple of minor bites. My last day I was sitting around the dive shop after all the dives were finished, drinking a beer. I had on a long sleeve shirt and long pants. About an hour later I realized I had gotten a bad bite on my forearm (obviously the little sucker had gone up my sleeve) and two bites on my lower back (I didn't have my shirt tail tucked in). So, good luck; maybe you won't have any problems.

 

[Lucky Man]

Thanks jh
I was reading a travel report that was posted from a couple English travellers that were on Tioman last year at Salang, they were saying that they had to limit their luggage to 10kg does anybody know if you can purchase extra kgs for a full dive bag, if so how much?

 

[cudaboy]

I assume you are flying in to the island by Berjaya Air, if you check out the website, there is an option to select the "flexi class" flight with 20 kg baggage allowance with additional 3 to 5kg hand carry luggage. With normal class, you get 10 kg baggage allowance, with the same hand carry wieght allowance.

 

[jh_MacLeod]

Thanks jh
I was reading a travel report that was posted from a couple English travellers that were on Tioman last year at Salang, they were saying that they had to limit their luggage to 10kg does anybody know if you can purchase extra kgs for a full dive bag, if so how much?

Yeah, if you're on Berjay Air, what Cudaboy said. I've never flown with them, but judging from the way their small planes have to make a sharp turn during take-offs and landings, I would guess they have to be careful with weight if the plane is nearly full of people .

When I go to Pulau Tioman, I always use the ferry from Mersing. When I fly around Asia on my own dime, I try to use Air Asia. You have to pay extra to check bags, but they have some fairly flexible and affordable plans. For example, you can get 15, 20, 25, or 30 kg of checked baggage for 20 to 50 Ringit when prebooked. They also offer an excess baggage charge of 50 ringit for up to 15 kg. of scuba gear (sports equipment) at the checkin counter. My gear weighs approximately 21 kg total, so I typically hand-carry the regs and other valuable stuff and the rest (now under 20 kg) flies for 30 Ringit.

 

[Lucky Man]

Thanks Guys
My wife wants to get certified when we are on the island and will be renting gear anyway, I was thinking of just bringing the basics " reg set, mask". Is the gear there worth renting or is it better to tough it out and bring your own? Also I was thinking of using Tioman diving centre when we are there, what are your thoughts?

 

[cudaboy]

I dive regularly with Tioman Dive Centre, they do have properly serviced equipment and the people are friendly and professional. Its just a short ride from Berjaya or you can walk for about 10 minutes or so from Berjaya. The other dive centres are located nearby too. Most dive centres on Tioman have websites which you can check out before you make your decision. My dive gear alone weighs about 15kgs, so if im flying Berjaya Air, i will check in about 10kgs and hand carry the rest with my clothes, sometimes we pay for the extra weight, sometimes we dont have too.

 

[MarkWebster]

The dive shop at Berjaya resort is pretty good. They do trips in the morning and afternoon to the island/reef about 100m from the shop. You can see reef sharks, cuttle fish and sea turtles here. Really great site.

They also do daily trip (min 4 people) of 2 dives out to the further away sites. Tiger reef is really good. It is more expensive here than the other dive shops, but do everything for you (assemble + clean your equipment).

 

[traveldelight]

6 times a year!! Wow, you must be a really huge fan of Tioman Island.. Have you tried diving at the other islands in Malaysia? They're really beautiful and and very ideal for a less commercialized alternative to Tioman Island. There's Sibu Island, Redang Island, Dayang Island and Aur Island.

For divers staying in Singapore, there isn't anywhere worth diving at in Singapore, but transport from Singapore to these Malaysia Islands is really convenient with door-to-door vehicle service readily available and ferry tickets for purchase online. You can go

 

[dorkito]

Here we are on a 4 year old thread, but FWIW I was just there and cannot imagine describing it as commercialized.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD