T I N G Z: August 2016

Have you ever thought about what goes on under the never ending waves in the ocean? The luscious waves, gently engulfing one another are constantly creating white swashes in the sea of blue all around. It has been my dream ever since young to dive in the ocean, into a world different from what we have always been in. And now, I’ve finally have had the opportunity to learn diving with my friends before going on exchange overseas.

We signed up with DeepBlue Scuba after looking through the different companies which offers diving lessons. Part of the reason why we chose Deep Blue was due to the online reviews, but we were glad that we made the right choice. Tucked away in a little building called MMI building along 74 South Bridge Road, we made our way there for payment after booking our diving lessons and timings for open water dives (overseas) through email.

There was 1 theory session and 1 pool session which we needed to clear before going for our open water dives, and it was relatively easy to ‘pass’ these sessions, other than the fact that we had to tread water for 10min, but as a non-treader (I don’t know how to tread water lol) I struggled for the full 10min. HAHA.

TIOMAN

We took a bus to Mersing from Singapore (through Ubi) at 6pm on Friday, which took a total of around 3h to reach Mersing jetty. However, as the tide was too low, we had to stay for 1 night in Mersing before taking the boat to Tioman the next morning. One thing to note is that the Wi-FI there is H O R R I B L E. Don’t even try to send any Whatsapp messages as the connection was actually really bad.

At 5am all of us headed to the jetty again to take the boat to Tioman, which took around 1 1/2h before reaching. We stayed in a little hut-like room in Damai Tioman Resort in Genting. 5 of us stayed in a room together as it was more convenient for us to hang out to chill and instead of having to split us up.

Heading out to our first dive was rather exciting as we were grouped together with Rescue Divers who were under training, and we got to witness how their training was conducted. We were taught how to gear up properly, what to check etc, and what to do before entering the water. The air tank, is ESPECIALLY important. It’s like carrying your LIFE in the water. In the sea, we were tested on the skills we did during the pool session which was relatively easy so we cleared the stage quickly. The tough part about diving is equalizing, as the water pressure would affect the ears, and it is mandatory to equalize frequently, or your ears will hurt.

During our second dive, we were tested on the rest of the skills so that our next few dives after could be for leisure. Really, who wouldn’t want to see fishes when you are diving if you are already in Tioman?

Between dives, we went to the front of the boat to chill and the view was breathtaking. The vast horizon made the sea look so endless, and you’ll never stop to wonder what’s below the moving waves. The sun rays, though merciless, made the sea sparkle like tiny gems floating on the water, and we could get a nice tan at the same time too. It felt so much like a short getaway from all the responsibilities in Singapore, not needing to care about anything but diving and enjoying the view underwater. I felt so free.

Wendz!

Honestly, the leisure dives were the ones which made me excited the most as we could actually swim with the fishes and observe them. I was literally mesmerized by the world below, with tons of corals and sea creatures inhabiting the sea. Seeing how these fishes interact and swim together with others made it look like I was living the mermaid dream. However, it was regretful that we didn’t really know much about the different species of sea creatures, since knowing them would definitely make my experience much better.