Day 1 - spent the entire day traveling. Didn't have a Visa so had to first fly to KL departing BKK 7:15am than KL to Medan where I got a Visa on Arrival for $25USD. Than another flight Medan to Banda Aceh. Arrived at my hotel around 5pm. Missed the ferry by about 2 hours.
Day 2 - caught the 09:30am ferry and arrived Lamba Lamba around 11:30am. Went through all the formalities smoothly. First dive was to Arus Balee, a pinnacle dive. Went down to 35m and basically circled our way back up. Had some current , more of a circling surge. Alot of nice gorgonian fans, big reef fish, alot of jacks, a turtle and a small blacktip. Wish the vis was better. At best it was 15m. At 500psi I signaled to my DM and he kept saying ok. Even when I told him 200psi he signaled ok
I know that most regulators are balanced around 110-120psi so I had some room, but at 180 I surfaced. Total bottom time 85 minutes.
Day 3 - woke up early and went for a early morning snorkel.
Morning dive was going to be a deep water checkout dive to see if I was ok to dive the deepwater wreck. We went to "The Canyon" which was another just offshore pinnacle dive, but instead of a single pinnacle this dive had at least three. We entered and went straight down. Suppose to go to 45 meters, but ended up bottoming out at 56m. As before we slowly made are way back and from 50 to 25m the vis was good and the marinelife plentiful. We saw 1 large barracuda, but that was it as far as pelagics. Even though there was loads of reef fish. At about 20m we lost vis and there was alot of surging current. All in all a very good dive. The sea was flat and as I write still flat. Total bottom time 58 minutes
Day 3 continued - Our second dive of the day was to Seulako Cave. Which basically is in between a small island and Arus Burlee. Okay dive with more of a overhang than a cave. Highlights of the dive were our young DM with very good eyes spotting some cool Ribbon Eels, some very tiny white and yellow nudibranchs and a Ornate Ghost Pipefish. I have never seen a Ornate Ghost Pipefish which is amazing he spotted it, but even more so what a an incredible little creature. :cool3:
Day 4 - the big day diving the WW II Wreck "Sophie Rickmers". We had a pretty extensive briefing. 1 DM and 1 diver wearing dual tank rigs. Another DM carrying an extra tank and 2 drop tanks at 12m. All the hype and I was ready to go. We descended quickly and at 30m my ear blocked. I ascended about 6 metrs and it cleared, but during the briefing the head DM stated that if anyone had ear block going down that was the end of the dive for them. I had to respect the briefing and my in water DM signalling me to go up. In my 20+ years of diving I have never aborted a dive. :crying2: But **** happens and so to the surface I went The reports of the dive were good, but can't report. Hopefully I will have another go at it ???
Day 5 - today we went to Batee Meuduro. This a full day trip leaving 08:30am and returning at 3:30pm. It consists of 2 dives on the same pinnacle. Having lunch/safety stop on the boat after picking lunch up from the port dock. For both dives visability was 10m. It was pretty rough on the surface 3-4ft swells so the boat was a swaying and a tossing when we entered. We descended to 47m and as like all othe L2 dives we basically circled and climbed the pinnacle up. There were some nice sponges and our DM spotted 2 big Eagle Rays which I saw and a shark which I did not. As we continued on we encountered a pretty strong current i would estimate at 5-6 knots. It was coming around and down from the reef, but it wasn't that bad as long as you just rode it out. I had buddied up with a very nice old lady named Rosemarie which is true testament of being old and able to dive and she's really a good diver, but this time for unknown reasons she was lagging behind and actually trying to fight the current instead of going with it like all the rest of my disappearing group was doing. I had no choice but stick with her and eventually she let go and we caught up. The dive was good and as we ascended we hit a plateau where we cruised for 30% of the dive. Here we had little current and alot of tropical store fish.
Deco 153ft. 61min
Dive 2 - we had heard from the group that went ahead of us on the 1st dive there was some pelagics down there to be seen. So instead of going too deep we went to 38m and hungout waiting for something to swim by and we were not disappointed. I saw a small group of dogtooth tuna, schooling trevally, a small school of barracuda and 4-5 bumphead parrotfish. First time I saw more than 1 pelagic on a dive since I've been here. We ended the dive on the same plateau as the first dive
No deco 124ft. 55min
Day 6 - from Thursday late afternoon to Friday 2pm there is no diving on Palau Weh in observance of friday Muslim prayers. So I decided to rent a motorbike and tour the island.
Day 7 - we dove Pantee Peunateung this morning. For me this was the best dive so far. We dropped in to a school of baracuda and cruising by were 2 large Yellowfin Tuna. Another great thing about this dive was it was a Wall dive not a Pinnacle. I'm told the only vertical wall dive in Palau Weh. We ascended down the wall to 46m where you reach a sand plateau. We than climbed the ladder and cruised with the current. Alot of gorgonian fans and as we ended the wall and entered a large gap in the reef we encountered a huge school of Trevallys. Really nice dive.
No deco 151ft. 61min.
Afternoon dive was to a place I had been before so decided to take the afternoon off.
Day 8 - Our first dive of the day was scheduled for Batee Tokong & Shark Plateau @ 9:30am. Unfortunately during the night a local person from Ipoh had passed away. Because of this nobody was allowed to be in the water near Ipoh. Well 99% of the dives from our place had to go through Ipoh waters to get to them. So after much scrambling our shop arranged for 2 vehicles to transport us to the other side of the island and 2 small boats to take us out to Batee Meuduro . The waters were flat, unlike a few days before. However the current below was rippin. We jumped in and were whisked away.Cruising along we saw a few big Tunas some Trevallys, but honestly it was tuff to see much as we were really moving or holding on. Towards the end as we literally climbed up the reef the current settled down and we had a nice long safety stop. During this time there was a turtle that was more curious about us tha we it. He just stayed right next to us for about 15 minutes
Non-Deco 141ft. 68min
Dive 2 - Batee Tokong & Shark Plateau. This place is billed as lots of current, sharks, barracuda and other pelagics. We dropped in to 0 current so I knew pelagics were not going to be on the menu. However it turned out to be a relaxing late afternoon dive. Down deep were a lovely assortment of gorgonian fans in all colors. Vis was not that good, but still a nice dive. Tons of Moray Eels. Counted 5 in a 1 meter area. And again just tons of tropical reef fish.
Non-Deco 110ft. 65min.
Day 9 - a sunrise dive. I love diving early in the morning. We left at 6:30 and were in the water before 7am. It was overcast so it almost was like a night dive. We were diving Batee Tokong again so I pretty much knew what to expect; a corkscrew dive whereby you hit the bottom and corkscrew your way back, up and around a pinnacle. We had zero current so there were no pelagics and pretty much nothing to report new from the dive 15 hours before.
No Deco 147ft. 61min.
Dive 2 - Back to Pantee Peunateung my favorite spot. We had a short 2 hour surface time before entering the water. I had checked my "Plan" and it said I could go to a maximum of w/o Deco to 150ft. for 4min. We dropped in and went down the wall. Bottomed out at 147ft. and than started to climb slowly up. Very little current :depressed: We did see a few big Tunas, but that was it for pelagics. A nice climb up the wall full of fans and nice hard and soft coral. As we got to about 60 ft. a Tuna of about 40kg came right towards me for a look coming within 1 meter. Cool. Because we had taken our time ascending my computer said I had a deco stop of 7min. @ 20ft. No problem. By the time we got to 40ft. I had cleared my deco. When we got to the top plateau at around 30ft. my computer had started to lose it's link with the transmitter and while it was reconnecting it suddenly flashed off and flashed back on, but instead of showing the current dive info it flashed the history from my first dive I did in the early morning. I tried scrolling the screens and finally it came back, but to my astonishment it was now showing I had to do a deco stop at 10ft. for 47min :dropmouth:
As we were nearing the end of my dive and had been down around 55min. this was not a good thing. I knew something had happened with my computer, but I decided I had to do the stop or at least try. Can't remember for sure, but i think I had 795psi at the time. I basically explained to my buddy and DM as best i could and settled in at 10ft. for a long wait. Long story short I made it 46 minutes under my own air. The last 1 minute buddy breathing off my DM's tank. I have never been close to running out of air and it's a strange feeling having to use effort to suck out those last 3 breaths. When I get home I will download a detailed look at my 2 dives I did that day and see what it spells out, but I'm 99% sure it's computer error and if so will be contacting Oceanic (VT3) to spell out my opinions.
Deco 150ft. 128min
Day 10 - leaving the island and flying out tom. so no diving today. So will recap my trip.
Rating 1 to 10
Diving
Value - 9 ( for the $$ probably been to no better place)
Overall - 7 (this number would greatly increase if there was say 10m more vis and more current. Both of which are not under the control of the owners)
Pelagics - 3 (related to current)
Reef Fish - 8
Coral - 7
Visibility - 5
Dive Facility
Equipment - 6.5
Boat - 8.5
Safety Equipment - basic first aid supplies and 02
Staff
Admin - 8
DM's - 7 (very friendly and helpful, but need a little work on briefings and once underwater need to provide more direction on where to proceed)
Rooms - 7 (would be a 9 if they had aircon) :coolingoff:
Island
Very relaxing place that really grows on you. When I first arrived I thought I would leave early, but ended up extending. It could be great and would of extended longer, but the food is really bad here probably rates a 2 on a good day and the only thing to drink is Bentang beer which for some reason gave me a headache. All in all a great place that I will be coming back to. :yelclap:
Day 2 - caught the 09:30am ferry and arrived Lamba Lamba around 11:30am. Went through all the formalities smoothly. First dive was to Arus Balee, a pinnacle dive. Went down to 35m and basically circled our way back up. Had some current , more of a circling surge. Alot of nice gorgonian fans, big reef fish, alot of jacks, a turtle and a small blacktip. Wish the vis was better. At best it was 15m. At 500psi I signaled to my DM and he kept saying ok. Even when I told him 200psi he signaled ok
I know that most regulators are balanced around 110-120psi so I had some room, but at 180 I surfaced. Total bottom time 85 minutes.Day 3 - woke up early and went for a early morning snorkel.
Morning dive was going to be a deep water checkout dive to see if I was ok to dive the deepwater wreck. We went to "The Canyon" which was another just offshore pinnacle dive, but instead of a single pinnacle this dive had at least three. We entered and went straight down. Suppose to go to 45 meters, but ended up bottoming out at 56m. As before we slowly made are way back and from 50 to 25m the vis was good and the marinelife plentiful. We saw 1 large barracuda, but that was it as far as pelagics. Even though there was loads of reef fish. At about 20m we lost vis and there was alot of surging current. All in all a very good dive. The sea was flat and as I write still flat. Total bottom time 58 minutesDay 3 continued - Our second dive of the day was to Seulako Cave. Which basically is in between a small island and Arus Burlee. Okay dive with more of a overhang than a cave. Highlights of the dive were our young DM with very good eyes spotting some cool Ribbon Eels, some very tiny white and yellow nudibranchs and a Ornate Ghost Pipefish. I have never seen a Ornate Ghost Pipefish which is amazing he spotted it, but even more so what a an incredible little creature. :cool3:
Day 4 - the big day diving the WW II Wreck "Sophie Rickmers". We had a pretty extensive briefing. 1 DM and 1 diver wearing dual tank rigs. Another DM carrying an extra tank and 2 drop tanks at 12m. All the hype and I was ready to go. We descended quickly and at 30m my ear blocked. I ascended about 6 metrs and it cleared, but during the briefing the head DM stated that if anyone had ear block going down that was the end of the dive for them. I had to respect the briefing and my in water DM signalling me to go up. In my 20+ years of diving I have never aborted a dive. :crying2: But **** happens and so to the surface I went The reports of the dive were good, but can't report. Hopefully I will have another go at it ???
Day 5 - today we went to Batee Meuduro. This a full day trip leaving 08:30am and returning at 3:30pm. It consists of 2 dives on the same pinnacle. Having lunch/safety stop on the boat after picking lunch up from the port dock. For both dives visability was 10m. It was pretty rough on the surface 3-4ft swells so the boat was a swaying and a tossing when we entered. We descended to 47m and as like all othe L2 dives we basically circled and climbed the pinnacle up. There were some nice sponges and our DM spotted 2 big Eagle Rays which I saw and a shark which I did not. As we continued on we encountered a pretty strong current i would estimate at 5-6 knots. It was coming around and down from the reef, but it wasn't that bad as long as you just rode it out. I had buddied up with a very nice old lady named Rosemarie which is true testament of being old and able to dive and she's really a good diver, but this time for unknown reasons she was lagging behind and actually trying to fight the current instead of going with it like all the rest of my disappearing group was doing. I had no choice but stick with her and eventually she let go and we caught up. The dive was good and as we ascended we hit a plateau where we cruised for 30% of the dive. Here we had little current and alot of tropical store fish.
Deco 153ft. 61min
Dive 2 - we had heard from the group that went ahead of us on the 1st dive there was some pelagics down there to be seen. So instead of going too deep we went to 38m and hungout waiting for something to swim by and we were not disappointed. I saw a small group of dogtooth tuna, schooling trevally, a small school of barracuda and 4-5 bumphead parrotfish. First time I saw more than 1 pelagic on a dive since I've been here. We ended the dive on the same plateau as the first dive
No deco 124ft. 55min
Day 6 - from Thursday late afternoon to Friday 2pm there is no diving on Palau Weh in observance of friday Muslim prayers. So I decided to rent a motorbike and tour the island.
Day 7 - we dove Pantee Peunateung this morning. For me this was the best dive so far. We dropped in to a school of baracuda and cruising by were 2 large Yellowfin Tuna. Another great thing about this dive was it was a Wall dive not a Pinnacle. I'm told the only vertical wall dive in Palau Weh. We ascended down the wall to 46m where you reach a sand plateau. We than climbed the ladder and cruised with the current. Alot of gorgonian fans and as we ended the wall and entered a large gap in the reef we encountered a huge school of Trevallys. Really nice dive.
No deco 151ft. 61min.
Afternoon dive was to a place I had been before so decided to take the afternoon off.
Day 8 - Our first dive of the day was scheduled for Batee Tokong & Shark Plateau @ 9:30am. Unfortunately during the night a local person from Ipoh had passed away. Because of this nobody was allowed to be in the water near Ipoh. Well 99% of the dives from our place had to go through Ipoh waters to get to them. So after much scrambling our shop arranged for 2 vehicles to transport us to the other side of the island and 2 small boats to take us out to Batee Meuduro . The waters were flat, unlike a few days before. However the current below was rippin. We jumped in and were whisked away.Cruising along we saw a few big Tunas some Trevallys, but honestly it was tuff to see much as we were really moving or holding on. Towards the end as we literally climbed up the reef the current settled down and we had a nice long safety stop. During this time there was a turtle that was more curious about us tha we it. He just stayed right next to us for about 15 minutes
Non-Deco 141ft. 68min
Dive 2 - Batee Tokong & Shark Plateau. This place is billed as lots of current, sharks, barracuda and other pelagics. We dropped in to 0 current so I knew pelagics were not going to be on the menu. However it turned out to be a relaxing late afternoon dive. Down deep were a lovely assortment of gorgonian fans in all colors. Vis was not that good, but still a nice dive. Tons of Moray Eels. Counted 5 in a 1 meter area. And again just tons of tropical reef fish.
Non-Deco 110ft. 65min.
Day 9 - a sunrise dive. I love diving early in the morning. We left at 6:30 and were in the water before 7am. It was overcast so it almost was like a night dive. We were diving Batee Tokong again so I pretty much knew what to expect; a corkscrew dive whereby you hit the bottom and corkscrew your way back, up and around a pinnacle. We had zero current so there were no pelagics and pretty much nothing to report new from the dive 15 hours before.
No Deco 147ft. 61min.
Dive 2 - Back to Pantee Peunateung my favorite spot. We had a short 2 hour surface time before entering the water. I had checked my "Plan" and it said I could go to a maximum of w/o Deco to 150ft. for 4min. We dropped in and went down the wall. Bottomed out at 147ft. and than started to climb slowly up. Very little current :depressed: We did see a few big Tunas, but that was it for pelagics. A nice climb up the wall full of fans and nice hard and soft coral. As we got to about 60 ft. a Tuna of about 40kg came right towards me for a look coming within 1 meter. Cool. Because we had taken our time ascending my computer said I had a deco stop of 7min. @ 20ft. No problem. By the time we got to 40ft. I had cleared my deco. When we got to the top plateau at around 30ft. my computer had started to lose it's link with the transmitter and while it was reconnecting it suddenly flashed off and flashed back on, but instead of showing the current dive info it flashed the history from my first dive I did in the early morning. I tried scrolling the screens and finally it came back, but to my astonishment it was now showing I had to do a deco stop at 10ft. for 47min :dropmouth:
As we were nearing the end of my dive and had been down around 55min. this was not a good thing. I knew something had happened with my computer, but I decided I had to do the stop or at least try. Can't remember for sure, but i think I had 795psi at the time. I basically explained to my buddy and DM as best i could and settled in at 10ft. for a long wait. Long story short I made it 46 minutes under my own air. The last 1 minute buddy breathing off my DM's tank. I have never been close to running out of air and it's a strange feeling having to use effort to suck out those last 3 breaths. When I get home I will download a detailed look at my 2 dives I did that day and see what it spells out, but I'm 99% sure it's computer error and if so will be contacting Oceanic (VT3) to spell out my opinions.
Deco 150ft. 128min
Day 10 - leaving the island and flying out tom. so no diving today. So will recap my trip.
Rating 1 to 10
Diving
Value - 9 ( for the $$ probably been to no better place)
Overall - 7 (this number would greatly increase if there was say 10m more vis and more current. Both of which are not under the control of the owners)
Pelagics - 3 (related to current)
Reef Fish - 8
Coral - 7
Visibility - 5
Dive Facility
Equipment - 6.5
Boat - 8.5
Safety Equipment - basic first aid supplies and 02
Staff
Admin - 8
DM's - 7 (very friendly and helpful, but need a little work on briefings and once underwater need to provide more direction on where to proceed)
Rooms - 7 (would be a 9 if they had aircon) :coolingoff:
Island
Very relaxing place that really grows on you. When I first arrived I thought I would leave early, but ended up extending. It could be great and would of extended longer, but the food is really bad here probably rates a 2 on a good day and the only thing to drink is Bentang beer which for some reason gave me a headache. All in all a great place that I will be coming back to. :yelclap:
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