Nha Trang +Hoi An 27 Nov – 03 Dec

Vietnam’s beach capital and most famous dive site is at the south-central coast, about 9 hours by bus from Saigon. My guest house was called “The Nice Hotel” and I must say it was on of the best value accommodation I stayed in on this trip. Clean, spacious room with free wifi, private bathroom including hot water, air-conditioning and heavy blankets for $10, which makes it €7.30 at the time. A moto driver at the bus stop suggested this hotel and I am usually a bit sceptical as it often turns out to be an overpriced accommodation that pays heavy commission to the driver.

The town itself is nothing special but it offers some nice beaches and a few islands off shore that are supposedly good for diving. At the beginning of the dry season visibility in the water drops down to just a few meters but you don’t always got a choice. So I booked a trip with two dives and lunch for $70. Usually you get seated in a cramped inflated rubber boat, but in low season there were only four divers and everybody had their own guide. Moreover, the vessel seemed like a retired and modified fishing boat with ample space and hence really comfy.

dive trip

Sihanoukville 13-15 November

It was $6 for the ticket to Sihanoukville and to watch how a small boy throws up several times on the seat next to me, probably motion sickness. Anyway those bus journeys are slowly annoying me as they always take ages. This one took me another 6 hours and I have to go the entire way back to PP. On the other hand it was a two-level bus and I got a seat at the window. Travelling overland I realize that Cambodia is not as lush as for example Malaysia or Bali with lots of palm and banana trees and but rather bushy.

Accommodation-wise it was “back to basic” without air-conditioning or hot water but my guest house is clean and big enough for me. Also, it is conveniently located next to the dive shop.

lots of activities at the beach

Gapang Beach, Pulau Weh, Indonesia 25-30 Sep

Travelling back to Penang was without any occurrences worth mentioning. I stayed one night there and then made my way to the airport the following morning.

At the firefly check in the lady told me Indonesian immigration would want me to show them a return ticket or an onward flight. So I hurried to the Air Asia counter to have my confirmation printed. Of course nobody asked me for that confirmation.

The flight to Banda Aceh was different from what I had experienced before. The ATR 72-500 holds about 60-70 seats, is equipped with a propeller and just two cabin crew members serving the guests.

The ascend and descend was much steeper than any commercial flight I have been on before. I tried to take a nap as soon as I boarded the aircraft and usually I am not bothered by the take off procedures but with such a skyrocketing climb I couldn’t drop off.

Procedures at the Indonesian immigration are straightforward. In June this year “Visa on Arrival” was established in Banda Aceh and so you just hand over 25 USD and get into the country without any hassles.

I took a private tuned cab with a massive sub-woofer in the trunk to get me to the ferry terminal. The ride over to Pulau Weh was nicely air-conditioned and not a bumpy one at all.

Once again a taxi drove me over to Gapang Beach where I finally arrived after a taxi to airport, flight to Banda Aceh, taxi to ferry, ferry to Pulau Weh, taxi to Gapang Beach-trip.

The dive shop was fully booked and so I had to look for accommodation someplace else. The rooms are cheaper next door but you don’t have a proper shower. So I just showered at the dive shop and saved the money.

In the evening I went for dinner with my fellow divers. Apparently there is one restaurant down the beach all the divers always go to. I had fish curry which was either amazing or I was really tired from a long trip. Anyway, it tasted great.

Diving pics of Pulau Weh, Indonesia

My dive buddy on the first beach dive had a camera and he kindly shared the pictures with me:

banded mantis shrimp

Meyer's Butterflyfish

Pulau Kecil, Perhentien Islands, Malaysia (13-18 Sep)

It was pouring cats and dogs when I bid KL good bye and got into my bus to the LCCT in order to fly to Kota Bharu on the north-eastern coast of Malaysia. As always the flight with Air Asia was delayed and I don’t know why I still bother to book their flights. Oh wait, I just paid €30 for the flight ;-) I didn’t get what the problem was but getting bored in the departure I talked to a Norwegian couple who happens to be on its way to the Perhentien Islands, too.

There was just one conveyer belt for the luggage in the arrival hall for domestic flights. Seems like Kota Bharu is not the most popular town in Malaysia. We shared a taxi to Kota Besut where our ferry departed. It was quite a bumpy ride although the sea was calm. I didn’t pay attention and so I took a seat near the bow. Of course it is going to be rough there, what a stupid mistake.

Pulau Kecil (which means small island) is about 35 minutes from the mainland by speed boat with 400 hp. You could walk around the entire island in a few hours but most of the beaches are separated and there are no paths to other beaches. Also there is no jetty, thus a small boat has to come from shore to pick up the passengers. Of course that service wasn’t free and so we were charged 2RM each for 8 minutes of work. Nice rip-off

Beach of Paulau Kecil

Tulamben, Bali (21-22 Aug)

I had a shuttle organized to drive me from Kuta to Tulamben where the famous USS Liberty is just 50m off the beach. The vessel was torpedoed in WWII and then was put on the beach to retrieve the valuable cargo. After some years a volcano erupted and pushed the ship to its current location. That is also why you got black sand on the beach which is quite a nice sight. On the first day I organized my dives for the next day and befriended some fellow divers just two doors from my bungalow and the locals. Once again I have established my dislike of cheap Oakley copies and T-shirts, the Balinese are really friendly and want to get to know you better. The receptionist’s English was surprisingly fluent and so the conversation exceeded the normal small talk.

my bungalow in Tulamben

Airlie Beach (The Whitsunday Islands) June 12 – 16

Sailing the Whitsundays is one of three must-sees in Queensland. The other two being 4WDing on Fraser and diving in Cairns.

 The Whitsundays consist of more than 70 islands

Fortunately I just got the boat I was looking for. It was a catamaran (LOA: 15m, Beam 9m) with diving on board at a standby rate saving me $150. They crammed 21 people + 4 crew on board and so there was a snug atmosphere but still quite enjoyable.

All the sheets and sails were operated with hydraulics and so there was not much we could do to help the skipper. The swell picked up and so it was quite a bumpy trip with at least half the passengers getting sick on the way to the Whitsundays.

PADI Open Water Diver (11May - 14 May)

Day 1

So finally my scuba (self contained underwater breathing aperatus) diving course started. It was a nice little group with Maria (Norway), Chantalle (Switzerland), Dave (Kiwi), Stacy (Oz), Nubia (Brazil) and Ross our great instructor also an Aussie.

I asked for the manual some days in advance so I could familiarize with the vocabulary but as it turned out Ross explained everything to us in a very understandable way. Unlike Phil (Skipper at my sailing trip) Ross doesnt have such a thick accent.

We had to watch some movies which illustrated the theoretical background of scuba diving (like buoyancy, the buddy system) and afterwards we were explained how to set up all the gear. Although I passed a CMAS certificate in 1999, I could hardly remember anything and so it was good I didnt take a refresher course but had everything taught again.

I can remember Andi telling me the most important rule of scuba diving (never dive alone) but Padi makes that "never hold your breath".

We put on our gear and went into the pool. I had some troubles equalizing during that CMAS course but after having my nose lasered last year it is now much easier. So now I can book my Fiji diving.

It felt strange again breathing under water but it is all just a matter of practice. At least I still knew how to clear my mask ;-)