10 Ways a Diver Can Protect the Underwater Environment

1. Dive carefully to protect fragile aquatic ecosystems.

2. Be aware of your body and equipment placement when diving.

3. Keep your dive skills sharp by continuing education.

4. Consider how your interactions affect aquatic life.

5. Understand and respect underwater life.

6. Be an ecotourist.

7. Respect underwater cultural heritage.

8. Report environmental disturbances or destruction.

9. Be a role model for other divers and nondivers when interacting with the environment.

10. Get involved in local environmental issues and activities.

As divers, we ought to be aware and conscious as we dive, taking care of what's left of the underwater world.

Lang Tengah, April 2008

In April, I spent a weekend at Lang Tengah diving but unfortunately visibility was not good. I expected to visit the sites I went to last year in July but I only managed to go to Karang Nibong Laut on the 1st day, and visibility was less than 2 meters, with moderate current. The dives weren't as good as those done in July last year even though I was just a OWD with less than 10 dives then.

Tom and his gang were also there for the weekend, and Joyce tested out her new set of Sherwood gear and a Sunnto Mosquito!

Here's one shot that I took, but I can't remember where. It could have been a shore dive, where Jon and I took our tanks and went out alone. Nothing much at the shore but at least visibility was better than other sites.

We did a total of 5 dives over the 1st two days. We couldn't do any dives on the 3rd day as we had to fly back to KL. As we had a couple of hours till the flight at 6:00 PM, we spent the afternoon at KT town where we had lunch at one of the Chinese restaurants there. We had an awesome Chinese lunch - 3 dishes and 1 soup with heaps of Chinese tea!

PADI Open Water Diver

For those who have been thinking of taking up diving, think no further and take your first breathe underwater today. With PADI's Open Water Diver course, get yourself certified to dive independently with a buddy up to 18M.

Start the journey of a lifetime with the PADI Open Water Diver course. It will change you forever. Find out all about PADI Open Water Diver course at: http://www.padi.com/padi/en/kd/openwater.aspx

We have courses running every month throughout the local dive season in Malaysia. If you're based in KL/PJ, e-mail me at info.scubaworld@gmail.com for further information and our next intake.

Sipadan, Mabul & Kapalai

7th - 11th November 2007

Sipadan was indeed awesome! I came back on Sunday night, and whilst my body might be here in KL but I feel like my mind's still there. Perhaps my mind and soul will remain there for some time now until I gather them all back together in KL!

It has been a mere 3 days and I'm already planning another trip to dive at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai again next year.

I stayed at a brandnew homestay at Mabul Island called Mabul Island Backpackers. They began operations in early November 2007. Being the first guest there, I had the privilege to choose the room I wanted, to be the first to use the toaster, the first to make a cup of coffee there, and also the first to use the bathrooms there.

Mabul Island Backpackers, for RM50 per person per night, offers basic homestay facilities with 3 meals a day, free-flow of non-alcoholic and non-carbonated drinks, and electricity from approximately 5pm daily (available on request if required day-time). Carbonated drinks are of course available at a minimal price of RM2.40 per can from the counter. Meals provided are simple local Malaysian cooking which includes steamed rice and at least 3 dishes for each meal, not forgetting the cut fruits after dinner each night. The homestay offers a perfect view of Sipadan right from the washing area. The dining area (depicted below) is equipped with the necessary and is accessible 24 hours a day, with a beautiful view of the ocean, Sipadan Island, Semporna, and Seaventures at one end. For those into stargazing, bring your own mat and enjoy the stars as night falls right in front of the washing area.

In the afternoon when you are not diving and do not have anything on your agenda for the day, there are hammocks for you to rest on while reading or simply enjoying the cool breeze that you get throughout the day at the dining area. Future plans include a dive centre operated by Big John right in front of the homestay, improved showers for divers and a proper washing area for dive equipments. Besides that, airconds would also be installed for the rooms facing Sipadan.

Rooms are, at this point in time, reasonably equipped. The rooms are suitable for twin-sharing as there are only two single beds in one room. Hooks are available for you to hang up your clothes and towels, and the rest you can place on the floor as there is ample space for you to place your gear bag. Only thing missing from the rooms are shelves or small cabinets where you can place smaller items. That, amongst other smaller details, have been brought to the owners' attention they have noted our suggestions for improvements.

Overall, I find Mabul Island Backpackers a reasonably-priced and comfortable homestay. The owners of the homestay and the staff were all very helpful and friendly. The dives there were also superb. My buddy and I did 14 dives in total over the 5D4N trip, including 1 night dive at Mabul Island itself, which was spectacular as there were at least something for us to photograph at every spot, not to mention the variety of moray eels that were available. The dives, of course, I would talk about in my next post. Given a chance, I would choose to stay there again when I dive at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai in the future. For reservations of rooms at Mabul Island Backpackers, please contact John Lim at 019-5884 060.

This proves that they were indeed...yummy!!

Henry cleaned the sang har meen!

We had this and 'sang har meen' for lunch today at Soo Kee, Jalan Imbi. All I can say is shown or rather proven in picture above! Highly recommended if you haven't tried this before.

They are open for lunch too so you might want to consider going there during lunch. Henry, Alfred and I went there, had a great meal, and got back in less than an hour.

;-)

For all Malaysians who studied in the University of Western Australia at one point or another, please join the family UWAGA_Malaysia group at Yahoo! Groups, a free, easy-to-use service. Yahoo! Groups makes it easy to send and receive group messages, coordinate events, share photos and files, and more.

For more information or further instructions on how to get added, please feel free to leave a comment here.

For those who have missed Johanna and Jih Ying's wedding, log on to http://jihying.com/johanna/album.asp and check their wedding album out. Very prettily done! This is definitely also for those who have enjoyed their wedding and would like to check yourselves out in the pictures taken on the wedding day! Enjoy!