Diving at Tioman

Early June 2008, we decided it was time to dive Tioman after hearing so much about its pristine beauty amidst the perpetual development on the island. It was our first trip (not counting our honeymoon) for the year - we had the biggest day of our lives to save up to.

The weekend holiday was perfect with comfortable beach huts fully furnished with simple beds, a small bathroom and air condition. The resort overlooked a quiet stretch of beach with hammocks scattered across and a family run restaurant to feed our hunger. The dive operator owns the piece of land with a small wooden shelter for the dive equipment.

To add to the friendly seaside atmosphere, we had a display of lights – fire to be exact. A towel twisted into a ball at the end of a metal sling is soaked in kerosene and lit on fire. Then fearless men who have been practicing and playing this with fire for many years will then swing it around their heads with gusto. The skill displays such spectacular style as the fireballs illuminate the dark skies.

Additional and useful information:

For more pictures, please visit Deb’s blogpost.

To get to Tioman, you need to take a boat via Mersing Jetty. From KL-Mersing, it’ll take you about 3-4 hours drive. For directions, please visit this site. The ferry ride from Mersing to Tioman is about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the type of boat you take.

We dived with Ocean Elements. Halimi and Muzie are the owners. Two thumbs-up for their professionalism and wacky-ness.

For leisure divers, we paid RM590 (5 dives, accommodation and food), Open Water Certification (additional RM890) and Advance Open Water (additional RM650).

We stayed in Coral Reef Holiday Resort. Located right in Tekek, right in front of the beach. Toilets need a whole lot of improvement, however, for roughing out…it’s okay.