serenity in a faraway island

the sun started to set at the horizon of the sea, blended into the blue sky. we were standing at coral bay, looking at the sunset. it was beautiful...

sunset at coral bay

coral bay was located at perhentian kecil, a small island near the state of terengganu, malaysia. i went there to take my advanced diving course and ms ee had accompanied me for some fun dives. we reached on a sunday morning (15 july 2007) after 14 hours of travel by train, van and ferry. the island looked the same except for the undergoing construction of a jetty at one side of coral bay. such major change within a short span of 2 months since we last visited in may.

we headed for the dive school and were greeted by familiar faces, the boss and the diving instructors. the dive shop was not too big but cozy and nicely decorated, with paintings of fishes on the walls of the shop or being hanged up. all the paintings were done by sebastian, my diving instructor. i must say he has a talent in drawing and painting, able to capture the distinct features of the various types of fishes and paint them out. there was a boat-like long table in the centre of the shop which was used to hold oxygen tanks and equipment. the divers would check their oxygen tanks and equipment there before carrying them to the speed boat and set off for their dive. tables and chairs were also laid out at one side of the shop for the dive instructors to conduct theory lessons or for the divers to sit around to have a chat. we spent most of our time in the dive shop, sitting around, reading books and observing each day passing by. throughout the day, the dive instructors would be busy preparing the equipment for the dive trips, explaining the different dive spots to the divers and bringing them out to the sea to dive. we met a couple of japanese diving instructors, mikki and noriko as well as a couple of japanese divers, natsumi and haruna. although I could not understand japanese language, it was fascinating to hear and observe them talking to one another. their faces were always full of expressions, interested in whatever one another was talking about. it looked like a small cultural exchange when we exchanged information about ourselves and our countries.

steffen sea sports dive school

my diving instructor, sebastian

paintings on the wall by sebastian

perhentian islands painted by sebastian

fish paintings by sebastian

japanese divers

i completed my advanced diving course in 3 days. the course included knowledge learning and 5 dives, namely underwater photography, underwater navigation, night diving, wreck diving and deep diving. i was quite nervous during my first dive, underwater photography, as it was more than half a year ago since I last dived. my heart was thumbing real fast the moment i went underwater. luckily everything went smoothly, though i was rather busy controlling my breathing and buoyancy than admiring the underwater world. i became more at ease in my subsequent dives to enjoy looking at the fishes and corals.

underwater corals taken by me

it was a different experience every time i dived, even at the same dive spot as there was so much to explore and see. i saw cuttlefish hunting for food during the night diving, like watching national geographic underwater. i saw stringrays lying quietly on the sandy bottom, sea turtle seeking food and schools of yellow-tail fishes swimming in front of us. there were many other species of fishes such as puffer fish, box fish, lion fish, clown fish, trigger fish and moray eel. it always amazed me to observe them swimming around effortlessly. I wondered whether they would be amazed by us as well, having so much equipment just to swim around. = p

the island stay was peaceful and quiet where time seemed to slow down. There wasn’t much hustle and you would not see people rushing anywhere. Tourists were either leisurely strolling or sun tanning on the beach. Otherwise, they would be relaxing in the cafes or out diving in the sea. it was a great contrast compared to the lifestyle in Singapore where everyone was always in a hurry. I learnt to enjoy the slower pace of life there where nothing else seemed significant except for the present moment. One could simply relaxed and let the time pass by. Looking at the sea and hearing the sound of waves splashing onto the shore had a smoothing and calming effect to the body and mind as well. i could also see different kinds of people coming to the island for different reasons, some for work while others for holiday, just like us. they were friendly to share their experiences and cultures, opening up my insights and perspectives of things that i never thought of.

group photo

from left standing: jacky, ms ee, me, sebastian & natsumi

from left sitting: mikki, noriko & haruna

a week’s holiday soon came to an end where we had to pack our bags and return to our homeland. we were drawn back to reality once again, going through to the routines of everyday life... i truly look forward to my next diving trip…

till then…