What happened to the vis?

[jiveturkey]

I just got back from a trip to the Perhentians and Redang Islands in Malaysia. I was on Redang 2 years ago and had great conditions. Excellent vis and lots of marine life. This time, all but 2 dives were write-offs as far as visibility. Some of my dives had vis as poor as 4-5m. What's going on?

The dm said there was a typhoon in the philippines and then she said someting about mars being the closest it's been to earth in 60,000 years. I don't know about all of that but the vis was suckier than a sucky suck suck. She said they have been experiencing conditions like this for several weeks now and they are all very disappointed there.

I headed to the Perhentians where the vis turned out to be better but there were still some dives where it was quite bad. Strange condidions. I wonder if this is affecting dives in Tioman, Ko Tao or even further away.

 

[drbill]

As a former astronomy teacher ("from the tidepools to the stars"), I can say with 99% certainty that Mars has absolutely no effect on visibility (except in the waters of Mars if they exist).

Dr. Bill

 

[frogfish]

Was in Tioman this week-end and although the viz was not great it was more or less normal for this time of the season (5 to 9m). The skipper from our boat told us that it had been much worse over the last few weeks due to windy/rainy conditions.

 

[crazed_dolphin]

Is it the rainy season?

 

[jiveturkey]

crazed_dolphin once bubbled...
Is it the rainy season?

No, it's the dry season but they had bad weather for a few weeks before I got there. I was lucky weather wise. Lots of sun and almost no rain.

 

[neve]

Was in Tioman three weeks ago and the viz truly, royally sucked as well. If I'd wanted such viz I would have been better off diving in Singapore :upset:

Viz ranged between 1-7m, and it terrified one of my buddies who was on her first leisure trip, fresh out of open water.

The dive centre owner said that June-July are indeed typhoon season, but the worst usually occur only in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. Although other parts of SE Asia are spared, the winds are still stronger than usual and they often come with rain... voila! You have a regular tropical thunderstorm.

My advise, head somewhere futher south like Bali/Lombok - conditions are perfect right now til end of October. My friend dived Padang Bai last weekend and saw a mola-mola ;-0

 

[sinners]

Was anyone in Aur last week?
How was the Vis?

I am going there this weekend, hope the vis will be great [figures crossed]

 

[alc16]

jiveturkey

Can u suggest any dive operators in the Perhentians and Redang Islands ?

TIA

Alan

 

[sinners]

For Redang, I would recommend Redang Kalong, ask for Sharon.
They are really good. The website is listed below.

http://www.redangkalong.com/

Cheers!
Alrick

 

[jiveturkey]

alc16 once bubbled...
jiveturkey

Can u suggest any dive operators in the Perhentians and Redang Islands ?

TIA

Alan

Certainly. For Redang try: http://www.coralredang.com.my/ They have a great boat and experienced staff. They have lots of space and are very accommodating.

For the Perhentians, try http://www.turtlebaydivers.com/
This is more backpacker style so the boats aren't quite as good. However, the staff and very friendly and a lot of fun. I don't know what the bigger resorts have but if you're looking for something on Long Beach, this is the best one by far.

By the way, at between these 2 shops, 5 of the dives I did, I had my own dm and 4 more there was only myself and another diver. Only a couple times did I have to dive with any number of divers.

On my last dive in the perhentians, we saw sharks and 4 absolutely huge jenkins whiptail rays. OMG, you're going to love it.