View attachment 131146For divers on the west coast of Malaysia travelling to the East Coast for diving can be pretty tedious as it involves a fair bit of driving. Being from Ipoh, it takes me almost 7 hrs to drive to the various jetties in Terengganu. Suffice to say, it really takes it out of you especially since Im no longer as young and energetic. Im going to Perhentian in August and Redang in September but while waiting for my trips, the itch took hold and when I was invited to join a dive trip to the Sembilan Islands which are a group of 9 islands off the port of Lumut in Perak i jumped at the chance. I had never dived the Sembilan Islands but had heard a lot about them and not all of it good. Most divers related that the viz was bad and that currents were usually quite strong and that it was less about what to see but more about sucking some compressed air and also training yourself to deal with more challenging conditions.
A group of 7 of us departed Ipoh at 7.30am after having a light breakfast of Hakka Mee (I dont like eating too much before a dive for fear of sharing my breakfast with the ocean). It took us roughly an hour to get to the Lumut Yacht Club where we unloaded our gear and placed it on the boat. We were joined by 4 locals who were going spearfishing. The boat was quite small and we struggled to get geared up in the confined space and the choppy waters. It took about 30 mins to get to our first dive site Pulau Nipis. The seas were quite choppy and as everyone struggled to put everything together and do their buddy checks I proceeded to the back of the boat and entered the water first whereupon I proceeded to back paddle my way to the anchor line at the front of the boat. Surface current was quite strong and it took quite a bit of effort to get to the front. As I was getting buffeted by strong waves I was told to descend and wait which I did. After waiting for about 6 mins and no one having joined me I surfaced and discovered that there had been some excitement. The spearfishermen had long vanished into the depths but 2 newbie divers incl 1 doing his OW certification had gotten swept away and couldnt make it back to the boat. The instructor had gone after them and they were now separated from the main group. The rest of us decided to descend together and went down. Viz was not good ard 5m or so. There really wasnt much to see apart from some yellowtails and a smattering of soft and hard corals.
Our 2nd dive was much better. We dived at Pulau Layang and the conditions were much better. Viz was actually quite good ard 10-15m although there some current to contend with. THere was also lots more sealife to be seen and large schools of yellow tail. We did some drift diving and everyone agreed it had been an enjoyable dive.
Lunch: The Pulau Sembilan lunch is famous amongst local divers. The spear fishermen had a good haul although they failed to catch any top tier fish such as grouper or red snapper. There were yellow tails, parrot fish, talang fish and even a few barracuda. View attachment 131140The food was top notch, all prepared by the spearfishermen.View attachment 131141
View attachment 131142Tomyam soup with loads of fresh seafoodView attachment 131145, instant noodles to fill u up, fried yellowtail which was crispy and sweet and barracuda and talang sashimi! View attachment 131143 View attachment 131144Though im not a big sashimi fan, I have to say, the barracuda and talang sashimi were really good. Sweet and fresh. You cant get it any fresher than tht!
After lunch, we went for our final dive at Pulau Saga where there is a large table reef. Shallow diving. Only ard 17m. Viz was still good and there was hardly any current. Not much in the way of sights but a pleasant enough dive.
When we got back to the jetty, all the fish caught that day was divided up and everyone had a share of fresh fish to take home. For 3 boat dives and lunch, the cost was only RM250 which is great value considering the free fish thrown in after!
Many of you may have heard negative things about Pulau Pulau Sembilan and yes we were lucky to have such decent conditions but Id go back again just for the lunch and also to challenge myself! So do dive Sembilan when the East COast is closed! I was informed that November is the best time for diving Sembilan! See you guys then!
A group of 7 of us departed Ipoh at 7.30am after having a light breakfast of Hakka Mee (I dont like eating too much before a dive for fear of sharing my breakfast with the ocean). It took us roughly an hour to get to the Lumut Yacht Club where we unloaded our gear and placed it on the boat. We were joined by 4 locals who were going spearfishing. The boat was quite small and we struggled to get geared up in the confined space and the choppy waters. It took about 30 mins to get to our first dive site Pulau Nipis. The seas were quite choppy and as everyone struggled to put everything together and do their buddy checks I proceeded to the back of the boat and entered the water first whereupon I proceeded to back paddle my way to the anchor line at the front of the boat. Surface current was quite strong and it took quite a bit of effort to get to the front. As I was getting buffeted by strong waves I was told to descend and wait which I did. After waiting for about 6 mins and no one having joined me I surfaced and discovered that there had been some excitement. The spearfishermen had long vanished into the depths but 2 newbie divers incl 1 doing his OW certification had gotten swept away and couldnt make it back to the boat. The instructor had gone after them and they were now separated from the main group. The rest of us decided to descend together and went down. Viz was not good ard 5m or so. There really wasnt much to see apart from some yellowtails and a smattering of soft and hard corals.
Our 2nd dive was much better. We dived at Pulau Layang and the conditions were much better. Viz was actually quite good ard 10-15m although there some current to contend with. THere was also lots more sealife to be seen and large schools of yellow tail. We did some drift diving and everyone agreed it had been an enjoyable dive.
Lunch: The Pulau Sembilan lunch is famous amongst local divers. The spear fishermen had a good haul although they failed to catch any top tier fish such as grouper or red snapper. There were yellow tails, parrot fish, talang fish and even a few barracuda. View attachment 131140The food was top notch, all prepared by the spearfishermen.View attachment 131141
View attachment 131142Tomyam soup with loads of fresh seafoodView attachment 131145, instant noodles to fill u up, fried yellowtail which was crispy and sweet and barracuda and talang sashimi! View attachment 131143 View attachment 131144Though im not a big sashimi fan, I have to say, the barracuda and talang sashimi were really good. Sweet and fresh. You cant get it any fresher than tht!
After lunch, we went for our final dive at Pulau Saga where there is a large table reef. Shallow diving. Only ard 17m. Viz was still good and there was hardly any current. Not much in the way of sights but a pleasant enough dive.
When we got back to the jetty, all the fish caught that day was divided up and everyone had a share of fresh fish to take home. For 3 boat dives and lunch, the cost was only RM250 which is great value considering the free fish thrown in after!
Many of you may have heard negative things about Pulau Pulau Sembilan and yes we were lucky to have such decent conditions but Id go back again just for the lunch and also to challenge myself! So do dive Sembilan when the East COast is closed! I was informed that November is the best time for diving Sembilan! See you guys then!
