My recent trip to SE Asia was planned around ADEX in Singapore, with first heading to Tulamben in Bali, then back to Singapore for one of Asia’s biggest Dive Shows (ADEX) then on to Romblon in the Philippines with a couple of buddies.
On the way back I had planned two nights in Singapore and decided to dive there using a dive op called “Cuddlefish Divers” on a recommendation by a friend in Singapore.
Prior to my trip I had connected with Nick, owner of Cuddlefish Divers to make arrangements and later at ADEX I met up with him briefly to confirm everything, including a guide / spotter.
Pulau Hantu literally means Ghost Island in Malay. Pulau is Island and Hantu is ghost.
Having arrived late into Singapore on a Friday night due to a delayed flight from Manila, I had to quickly prepare my gear and assemble my camera equipment prior to grabbing a few hours sleep. I was guaranteed 29C water temps so my damp 5mm wetsuit would get a chance to dry off further from my dives at Romblon in the Philippines.
Meeting time on the Saturday morning was at 07:50 and boat departure at 08:00 ish. Waze gave me a 15 min travel time from my hotel to the Marina, but this turned out to be double that by the time I ordered a “Grab”, car arrival and drive to the marina.
My friend Megan was already there and we were met by my guide / spotter Amelie from Cuddlefish.
Whilst getting my gear ready I pulled out my regulator only to find the first stage damaged and unusable, and I had left my spare back at the hotel. Somehow between packing my gear in Romblon and unpacking it on the boat this had happened
Fortunately a spare was produced and I set up the rest of my gear.
I had previously dived Pulau Hantu back in December 1996 when I was visiting friends that used to live in Jeddah when I was staying there (1992-97), and I was well aware that the visibility was poor, so my expectations were low, but muck diving frequently provides interesting surprises and of course this was the case today, although the surprise of a broken fist stage I could have lived without.
Besides Megan and myself, there were six other divers on board doing their Open Water dives along with a couple of SSI instructors.
The journey to Pulau Hantu took around 30 minutes, and a proper professional boat briefing was carried out by one of the instructors as we were leaving the marina. Once we arrived at the dock at Pulau Hantu we kitted up and exited the boat from the stern doing a giant stride entry. A quick look down before descending and I could barely see my fins, worse still, I could barely make out Amelie’s fins and they are yellow!
Two dives (68 min and 54 min) were done in near zero vis, but there's life down there and some surprising findings like the Donut Nudi, Doto greenamyeri
Quite a few other nudis were spotted, and loads of flatworms. Unfortunately no seahorses, but we did come across a small friendly cuttlefish, and there are other sites around the island that are worth exploring, so this will not be my last trip here.
On the way back I had planned two nights in Singapore and decided to dive there using a dive op called “Cuddlefish Divers” on a recommendation by a friend in Singapore.
Prior to my trip I had connected with Nick, owner of Cuddlefish Divers to make arrangements and later at ADEX I met up with him briefly to confirm everything, including a guide / spotter.
Pulau Hantu literally means Ghost Island in Malay. Pulau is Island and Hantu is ghost.
Having arrived late into Singapore on a Friday night due to a delayed flight from Manila, I had to quickly prepare my gear and assemble my camera equipment prior to grabbing a few hours sleep. I was guaranteed 29C water temps so my damp 5mm wetsuit would get a chance to dry off further from my dives at Romblon in the Philippines.
Meeting time on the Saturday morning was at 07:50 and boat departure at 08:00 ish. Waze gave me a 15 min travel time from my hotel to the Marina, but this turned out to be double that by the time I ordered a “Grab”, car arrival and drive to the marina.
My friend Megan was already there and we were met by my guide / spotter Amelie from Cuddlefish.
Whilst getting my gear ready I pulled out my regulator only to find the first stage damaged and unusable, and I had left my spare back at the hotel. Somehow between packing my gear in Romblon and unpacking it on the boat this had happened
Fortunately a spare was produced and I set up the rest of my gear.
I had previously dived Pulau Hantu back in December 1996 when I was visiting friends that used to live in Jeddah when I was staying there (1992-97), and I was well aware that the visibility was poor, so my expectations were low, but muck diving frequently provides interesting surprises and of course this was the case today, although the surprise of a broken fist stage I could have lived without.
Besides Megan and myself, there were six other divers on board doing their Open Water dives along with a couple of SSI instructors.
The journey to Pulau Hantu took around 30 minutes, and a proper professional boat briefing was carried out by one of the instructors as we were leaving the marina. Once we arrived at the dock at Pulau Hantu we kitted up and exited the boat from the stern doing a giant stride entry. A quick look down before descending and I could barely see my fins, worse still, I could barely make out Amelie’s fins and they are yellow!
Two dives (68 min and 54 min) were done in near zero vis, but there's life down there and some surprising findings like the Donut Nudi, Doto greenamyeri
Quite a few other nudis were spotted, and loads of flatworms. Unfortunately no seahorses, but we did come across a small friendly cuttlefish, and there are other sites around the island that are worth exploring, so this will not be my last trip here.
