(Sidetracking a bit)Nevertheless, the dive at Sentosa was memorable as i get to see eagle rays upclose, stroking their tummies as they swam pass. I also get to carry leopard sharks and let them rest on my thigh as i half kneeled. In addition, i get to play with Dugong. (http://www.underwaterworld.com.sg/adventures.htm) The best part is that non divers can also go there and dive. During this dive, no finning. Just lots of weight and you hop around the place. You also become one of their exhibits for the visitors of the underwater world.
Enough of that, back to this dive trip with Black Manta. Most of my friends would already have received my earlier email with photos of a whale shark. I have finally seen a whale shark!!! and it's only my 41st dive.
For this trip, I stayed on board Black Manta (name of the boat) for 4 days 3 nights, going for dives along the journey to and fro Anambas - Anambas archipelago (Indonesian: Kepulauan Anambas) is a small archipelago of Indonesia, located in the South China Sea between east and west Malaysia and Kalimantan.
Day 1 (12 th Oct 07)
Met up with the other divers at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal around 6pm. For this trip, i went alone and was all ready to make friends there. Got introduced to my room mate, Nitin and subsequently to a few other divers, Philip, David, Pearly, Christian, Gary. Subsequently, was also introduced to Vincent, the boss and his eldest daughter(junior diver). Readers, never underestimate her as she has already seen whale shark twice in her life and for this trip, we are relying on her as the lucky charm to see the whale shark once again. :)
Once i boarded the Black Manta, i was amazed by how luxurious it is. Pictures of the boat can be found on this site.(http://www.whitemanta.com/mvblackmanta.php). Stayed in Room 3. My only previous Live on Board was with "Beach Boys" which only have the basic neccessities.
Quickly, i got myself comfortable and was all ready for my first dinner on Black Manta. The boat has already started moving to our first dive destination, Acasta Reef.
The Chef is a Thai and naturally, all our meals were cooked in the Thai style manner. For all the meals on Black Manta, the food were mainly spicy, but overall, delicious and filling!!! After dinner, chatted with the divers for a while before going to sleep. Can't wait to dive!!!
Day 2 (13th Oct)
We are right in the middle of the sea and yet, the sea is so calm and peaceful. It's definitely not a photo of a swimming pool.
Dive 1 (Acasta Reef - Garsa Dua Wreck)
Max Depth: 35m ABT: 52min Vis:30m
Description of the Wreck:
GARSA DUA - Indonesian: Motor general cargo vessel: P.T. Pelayaran Samudera Garsa Line; 1969; Imabari Zosen, Imabari; 3,126; 101.63m x 16.31m x 8.61m.The Indonesian motor vessel was on route from Osaka to Lho Seumawe, Indonesia, carrying a general cargo, when she was wrecked by running aground on Acasta rock, about 120 miles east of Singapore, on April 1982.The wreck broke in two the intact stern section and the twisted broken remains of the cargo holds lays at about a 45 degree list on the side of Acasta rock at a depth of 58m, the bow section lays further away.(http://drmike.smugmug.com/gallery/1602846/1/81189739/Medium). Drawing provided from Dr Mike
The whole stern section of this large ship is laying on the side of Acasta rock.The superstructure is large and intact and completely covered in soft coral.
Stayed around the wreck for 10min before moving to the reefs nearby. Lots of marine life as we finned...
Most species lack pectoral and pelvic fins, adding to their snake-like appearance. Their eyes are rather small; morays rely on their highly developed sense of smell, lying in wait to ambush prey.
The body of the moray is patterned, camouflage also being present inside the mouth. Their jaws are wide, with a snout that protrudes forward. They possess large teeth, designed to tear flesh as opposed to holding or chewing. (wikipedia.com)
Dive 2 (Acasta Reef)
Max Depth: 30m ABT: 64min Vis:30m
Did our second dive at the same site but gave the Wreck a miss and went directly to the reef.
The marine life here is vast. We awed as schools and schools of different fishes swim past us.
In some photos, I have used photoshop to increase the "red" in underwater photos, and reducing the blue. I followed the instructions as stated on this site. Very useful. http://www.gadling.com/2005/02/11/how-to-editing-underwater-photos/
Dive3 (Kayuara Island)
Max Depth: 22.5m ABT: 41min Vis:25m
There was lesser marine life here and visibility dropped.
While diving, from far, we saw an eagle ray. It was a very magnifcient sight as the eagle ray flapped its "wings" across the waters. A pity it was quite far away and i couldn't take a photo of it. It was exactly like seeing an eagle flapping its wings in the sky.
As we continued finning, we suddenly hear "ding! ding! ding! ding! ding! ding! ding!" from another dive group pretty far away. it's the sound produced when a diver uses a steel rod to hit against his air tank. The sound produced is to gain attention from other divers - usually to alert others of exciting sightings. We started to fin harder and look around... and we saw ...
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Whale Shark!!!!! Finally i see it. First time in my life!!!. hahahahaha. I couldn't contain my excitement. In the midst of excitement, i didn't adjust my camera properly and the shots turn up underexposed. Readers may have to turn up their monitor's brightness to have a better look. I didn't want to photoshop these photos as i quite like the deep blue color of the sea...
This photo is so cool. Just got it from one of the divers. That's me and how close i was...
The whale shark was very curious and it surfaced to take a look at us...
Shots taken from the boat... As a result, all the divers grabbed their cameras and masks and went snorkelling with the whale shark.. The whale shark actually enjoyed the company of the divers and played with them!
We did our Dive 4 (nite dive) at the same site and yes, the whale shark is still around... When the divers went down, all the torchlights shone at the whale shark and the cameras flashes sparkled the darkness.. I didn't bring my camera down, hence no photos for this dive... But it was definitely spectacular to see the whale shark in a nite dive...
Day3 (14th Oct)
A beautiful morning...
Dive 5 (Dum Dum island)
Max Depth: 21.5m ABT:53min Vis:20m
More pics of Moray Eel. The reefs were badly destroyed - mainly due to fishermen bombing the place to catch fish...
Pic of a Scorpion fish below. I have other pics of scorpion fishes in my Puerto Galera trip. This one is rather pink as compared to the others i have seen in Puerto Galera. So far, my impression of scoprion fishes are very red fishes.
Dive 6 (Kenmundi island)
Max Depth: 19m ABT:59min Vis:15m
Saw a family of bumphead parrotfishes lunching...
Pictures of my dive group. Upskirt of Black Manta - haha
Dive 7 (Kenmundi Pinnacle)
Max Depth: 32m ABT:44min Vis:25m
The previous 2 dives were quite plain as the corals were destroyed and marine life was scarce. Hence, Vincent went around Kenmundi island and found us this marvellous dive site. It has beautiful fences. I would call it the Heaven's Valley cos the place is really heavenly...
Lots of small fishes swimming...
The currents are very strong and i was finning a lot. As a result,I used up my oxygen too quickly and had to cut my dive short.. As i was doing my safety stop, a turtle came along...
Dive 8 (Kenmundi island) - Night Dive
Max Depth: 16.4m ABT:46min
We dived at the coast of the island and there were many mini caves. Spotted 2 crabs in this crack.
Phillip spotted this baby lionfish on a rock. it's only 5cm....
Dive 9 (Campelena Wreck)
Max Depth: 34.7m ABT: 29min Vis: 15m
As we descend down to the wreck, we saw a marble ray ...
As it was all the way at 34.7m, there was low light and i couldn't get a good shot of the marble ray.
Pictures of divers doing their safety stops after the deep dive...
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Vincent and his crew (http://www.whitemanta.com/) for making this dive trip such a memorable one. Thank You!
Back to reality....
