Archive for the ‘General’ Category

It was another beautiful day in Tioman, as a group of Deep Blue divers took to the waters of Pulau Jahat during the weekend of 4th July 2010.

The initial entry by the nine divers from Singapore, Phillipines and Australia into the flat crystal blue waters brewed much anticipation in all of the divers. The promise of stunning cliff faces and the Elephant rock was the dive plan. However after diving past the island, a current put those plans to rest.

The next plan was to let the current do the work and turn the dive into a drift dive to the other end of Pulau Jahat, hence drift away from the Elephant rock. Sandy bottoms dotted with massive giant mushroom corals provided the divers with many areas to explore.  One section of coral held a fish trap and a very successful fish trap it was. Upon further investigation by the divers, there was a pair of yellow box fish, numerous coral trout and wrasses and low and behold two baby nurse sharks. Alex who was leading the dive, checked the rope and noticed that this was not attached to a buoy and showed signs of algae growth, which  clearly indicated that this was a death trap to all creatures caught inside now and for the future.

The group proceeded to search for a way to release these trapped creatures. However there was no door to be found. The divers then noticed that the door was located on the bottom of the trap and proceeded to all help turn the trap over. The wire door was then released and FREEDOM! The first to lethargically swim out to freedom was the nurse shark, this was slowly followed by the other weakly fishes caught in this death trap. Upon surfacing, all the divers realized that this was a small contribution to the saving of the sharks, but nonetheless, it was two sharks. Lets hope that other lost fish traps are able to be similarly made safe or not used by fisherman at all.

A couple of box fish trapped in the cage

A variety of fish including 2 nurse sharks trapped in an abandoned fishing cage.

Deep Blue Divers to the rescue. Using dive knives, they cut open the cage's mesh frame to free the helpless sea creatures!

A freed nurse shark swims out of the cage to freedom!

Article Contributed by:
Alex Chin
PADI OWSI
Deep Blue Scuba

#1   It’s the best place to master underwater photography.

#2   You can try the dry-diving, the newest sport to hit Asia by storm.

#3   You get to see whale sharks, dugong, manta rays, etc.

(advice: get a better photographer.  we tried to tell him to take the whale shark but he was too dense)

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#4   The dive centre offers excellent spa services too.  Hair revival treatment: RM 150

#5   You get to see the resort’s resident squirrel do 50 push ups at a go

#6   Racial tension is not tolerated – all differences can be settled in a camel fight.

But most of all, you get excellent company.

- Coral Redang, 18-21 September 2009 -

Eighteen divers gathered on 9 August 2009 at 22:22 hrs on the wooden platform at Cocotino resort and proudly recited the Singapore pledge.  Although physically in Manado Indonesia, their hearts beat to the same national day classic ‘We are Singapore’ playing at the National Day Parade back home.

This was just one of many highlights over the six day trip.  Hear what some of the divers have to say:

“It’s my first dive with Deep Blue.  Got to know this great bunch of fun loving company.  Hope to have more future trips together!” – Jasmine

“It’s always so enjoyable diving with Deep Blue that makes the trip so unforgetable. Though I missed seeing many interesting creatures, it was still fun because the company is great!” – David Ng

“Lovely place, great service, wonderful sightings, AWESOME trip all in all!  Will definitely be back for the Dugong!” – Cliff and Charmaine

“Manado is my first overseas trip and I’m so glad that I came here!  Fantastic trip, seen many marine life that I never thought existed! Excellent dives, dive guides, service, organisation and of course company!  It was simply amazing!” – Sharon

“Thank you for the great memories! Great services and amazing dives! One of the best ever! I’ll be back!” – Dahui

“It is always nice to be back to Manado.  Still my favourite dive sport.  Great crew, service and company!” – Pierre

“Good dive, good comfy stay.  Good dive crew and friends.  Fantastic place with amazing marine life.  Can’t bear to miss out.  And best of all, my surprise birthday celebration!” – Jane

“Excellent service, great staff, saw dugong! Extremely well organised resort” – Adriana and Victor

“Amazing dive sites, excellent service, wonderful entertainment, comfortable resort, great company! Only at Manado!  Dugong!” – Mathias

“I asked for a refund from Ricky because I didn’t see any ‘big’ things.  Then he decided to put on his dugong suit on the last dive!  Nice coral walls and dugong!” – David Chandra

“I enjoyed this trip alot.  Cocotinos and her staff created wonderful memories – excellent service, great diving, and super friendly staff – love this place!” – Wei Tiong

“Coconinos Manado! Great resort with great dive crew and service crew.  Saw many many mini marine life and dugong! Thanks Cocotinos and definitely looking forward to the opening at Lombok!” – Jieying

“Fantastic dives here in Manado, lots of marine creatures to see and dugong was the icing on the cake!  Fantastic trip!” – Tan Zu Wei

“Amazing trip here at Manado!  Cocotinos is a real beautiful resort with great service and friendly staff.  Great dives!” – Priscilla

“Ting ting ting!  Too many things to see! Best service ever, cosy resort, and as always, excellent company!  Nothing beats being a diver!” – Kelly

A whale shark paid a surprise visit to 16 divers on board M.V. Samudera Quest yesterday (30 May 09) during a surface interval along the channel between Pulau Aur and Pulau Dayang.

The group of Deep Blue Scuba divers has just completed their first morning dive when a boat crew spotted the shadow of a whale shark approaching. Within seconds, the three-meter whale shark swam right up to the stern, close enough for the boat crew to gently stroke its head. The divers immediately ran for their cameras and started shooting the friendly and graceful creature.

Kang-Su, an avid diver and underwater photographer with more than 150 dives in less than a year, could not let the opportunity passed. He jumped right into the water without a mask, just as the whale shark turned around, and captured a perfect shot of the full body.

“We saw a whale shark in Pulau Aur,” exclaimed Maddy and David “and it is just our 6^th dive!” Both of them were relatively new divers who were on their second dive trip to get the Advanced Open Water certification.

Besides an amazing encounter with the whale shark, the group was rewarded with two challenging dives at the majestic Tigara Wreck this morning. Tigara Wreck is a rare site – even to the experienced Deep Blue dive crew on board – because it is only accessible when they charter a boat. The massive sunken cargo tanker sits solemnly on the sea bed as schools of barracudas and other rich marine life surround it.

“This beautiful site is definitely worth visiting again,” shares YP, who is planning to organize another live-on-board trip to Tigara in the near future. Meanwhile, several of the 16 divers look forward to their next dive trip to Sipadan in July.

So… anyone preg after last week? Mayb it’s too early to tell.. HEhe..

So.. where are the photos U promised mr ricky koh?

Deep Blue Scuba celebrates the festive season with amazing dives in Maldives, reports Kelly Ng

If you were planning to get away from the crazy parties for a relaxing tropical Christmas, you are in for a huge disappointment. Those with a love for challenge will find themselves slapped with many folds of craziness, unleashed within a confined 38-meters dive boat.

22 happy divers on board Southern Cross

22 eager divers were warmly greeted at Male Maldives onto the lushly furnished 10-cabin MV Southern Cross, all looking forward to checking out the clear blue waters in South Male and South Ari Atoll. They were surely treated to 17 amazing dives over the course of six days.

Male has an array of diverse dive sites that promise to please a group of divers with different profiles. And it certainly did on this trip. The coral lovers indulged in a leisurely swim in the Coral Garden where the abundance of coral fishes, eels, and anemones simply took one’s breath away. The pelagic hunters were rewarded with an intense experience of being surrounded by a school of mature white-tip, black-tip and reef sharks.

School of yellow striped fish seeked shelter in a cave

We were trailed by a friendly napoleon wrasse which was screaming for attention and affection

The divers were unanimous when it came to the highlight of the trip. It had to be snorkeling with the whale shark – for majority of the group – for the first time! The boat paced up and down the channel anxiously for two full days as the dive masters kept watch for the faint shadow of a whale shark. Just as the group grew restless, a four-meter medium sized whale shark decided it was time to strut its stuff. Most of the divers never thought they would jump (without hesitation!) from the bow of the boat three meters down into the sea!

Divers were speechless and in awe as they watched the whale shark swam gracefully away

There was no snow or mistletoe but the divers were not shortchanged of a cheery Christmas. Far from that, many would not want to spend it any way and any where else! Imagine being swept off to a private island, savouring grilled meats over a grand long table lined with rose petals and tea candles, and basking under the moon light with the fire glowing in the background… That was Christmas in Male.

Our very own kungfu divers

Diving with Deep Blue Scuba is never complete unless you have found yourself suffering from stomach and facial cramp – generally more than once hourly – after laughing your head off at a thirty-second spontaneous stand-up comedy by one of the Deep Blue crew. At other times, the group kept themselves busy and entertained by taking hundreds of photographs (sometimes after smearing half a bar of bright red lip stick onto one another), learning synchronized dance moves to 80s music, filming the Asian adaptation of R.E.C. the movie, or sneaking a huge bunch of banana into someone’s cabin. The Maldives experience was enhanced by the excellent company of hyperactive, easily-tickled and over-the-top crazy divers; certainly not a trip for the faint-hearted.

Casualties from an afternoon of Dai Di (also known as the Big 2 Card Game)

As divers we owe it to the earth (in particular the sea) to show some degree of concern over what a large proportion of the world is doing to harm our planet.

Every whaling season, fleets of Japanese and Canadian ships rake the Arctic and the Pacific  to harvest anything and everything from seals, to whales, sharks, turtles, sea cucumbers and many other living creatures that cannot defend themselves from the selfish might of man.

Ok, that’s happening far far away in icy oceans where none of us go to dive anyway, so how does it affect us divers, a small community passionate about soaking our skin in salt water and breathing compressed air?

Simple! If such acts continue, we’ll have no reason to dive anymore! The ecosystem was created so that one species was dependent on another… kill one, and another disappears. The marine ecosystem is structured in a way that one species is dependent on the other. Over hundreds of years, the number of predators and prey form a food pyramid that controlled each population. Killing seals causes explosions in fish populations and shrinkage in Killer Whales. In turn, the increase in the number of fish deplete micro organisms that bigger mammals like whales depend on… so you see.. its a vicious cycle. If this imbalance occurs in the Arctic, it will eventually spread to neighbouring ecosystems in the Pacific, then the South and eventually it’ll come home.

So how to passionate people put the foot to the pedal? They become activists!

Well, if you think that you’re an activist just because you point and yell when people eat Shark’s fins or throw plastic bags into the sea… you should see the work the Sea Shepard Conservation Society does on a yearly basis.

Lead by Captian Paul Watson, the Sea Shepard Conservation Society is all for the sea. Every year, they launch into multi-million-dollar anti-whaling operations against Japanese whailing vessels, hunting them from Tokyo all the way to the Artic, using offessive means to prevent such ships from spearing whales and carting them onboard their vessels.

They’ve been called terrorists, activitists, whale huggers amongst others… watch what they do… and ask yourself… are we really doing enough?

Go to www.seashepherd.org or watch their new series Whale Wars on YouTube

A very amateur attempt by me at dive videography with the Canon G9. Horrible white balance and ‘blair-witch’ moments which I can’t seem to cut out… it also gets abruptly cut at the end for some reason… Enjoy away! (let the music distract you from the bad videography k!)

Wow just got back from Tioman. We arrived sing at 530pm…… super early hor.

Cos we left the island at 11am. The wind is really strong i think its almost monsoon liao.

The vis is also very bad lucky this is our last weekend trip. I Think the wind and current will be even stronger next weekend.

Deep Blue Scuba has finally embraced mass media in its newest form…. Where snail mail, telegrams and the morse code has failed us, blogging makes up for it. Along with a brand-spanking new website in the pipeline and one diver, its going to be a great diving season next year =D. Three cheers for technology!

PS: I miss diving, it’s too damn cold here…