Pulau Jarak-First Diving Experience, Malaysia

In Feb 2006, I finally made up my mind to get my Diving Cert. Somehow with a chance meeting with a lovely lady named Angie, I made my appointment with a Dive Master (who is now a certified PADI dive instructor) named Hanee. You can find his Friendster page here.

I had been wanting to try out diving so it was like a dream come true for me. Find it quite a surprise as its not as 'easy' as it seems to be.


I know this is suppose to be about Pulau Jarak but it was also my first diving experience. So I'll talk a bit more about that.

Aha ha...I guess, this also should be titled 'How to get your diving cert.'

Anyway, down I went to Hanee dive shop in the Plaza Berjaya to start my basic course. There, me and a young lady, Woan Mei, watch instruction videos from PADI, had a few in class sessions & finally take up the paper test.








Woan Mei & I got our result. Which we had enough marks to pass & proceed to the next training. Indoor water dive. This was when we had to put our gear & hit the water. It was really awkward at first. Getting yourself to 'float' underwater wasn't as easy as it sounds to be. But after that it was all fun so I was looking forward to the real open water dive.





And finally, off to Pulau Jarak. Where is Pulau Jarak? Its somewhere off the coast of Lumut,Perak, just some distant from its more famous cousin, Pulau Pangkor. It is actually a famous fishing spot which are haven for anglers looking for big bites.

Pulau Jarak however is not a tourist destination island. Its actually a military post with a lighthouse. Though nobody would really mentioned it is a military post. Well, let just say it as a lookout point. Read more about Pulau Jarak here.

We took a few hours ride from Kuala Lumpur and ended at a jetty in Lumut. There in the middle of the pouring rain we sped off on a speedboat to a larger diving boat named Kaleebso. It was a boat specially made for those who wanted to go for diving and fishing. When I arrived, I found it was surprisingly nice, clean & comfy. Set with sleeping bunkers, sun deck, diving deck, fishing deck, kitchen, washroom, a living room with TV and the front deck set for rest & dining. A middle sized boat with all needed facilities. Read more about Kaleebso here.



Then after all other participants arrive, Kaleebso set into the night towards Pulau Jarak. Woan Mei and I with two other girls set our things in a cabin fitted with four beds.

That night we had our briefing with my diving instructor and had our first taste of the famous Kaleebso seafood. The reason it is famous because the fishes are very very fresh and cooked by the lady of the boat who happen to have a good tongue for spicy food. Ahh...the memories of it. Fishes, prawns, crabs...set in spicy thai sauces. Fried. Steamed.

Okay, enough with the food. I'm missing Kaleebso already.

During the night while we slept, we reached Pulau Jarak. My first training started with a descent from a smaller speedboat. In which I faced my first problem. I couldn't sink. It was funny now but I was a lil bit frustrated then. With a little help and a lot of patience from the dive instructor, Aldrin, I manage to get myself underwater.

It would be too long to tell all the details here. But what I can say is I had a spanking good time with among the nicest & professional people. Aldrin was really good and took his time to deal with beginners like me. Yet he would let me have more freedom to look around the corals when I got the hang of it. Still remember that he was always reminding me to breath because I kept on holding my breath underwater.

And not forgetting the food. Ahhh... the food, the food...

One thing though, Pulau Jarak is known as a safe diving site especially for beginners. It has a wide variety of coral reefs and a astounding diversity of sea creatures. I had the pleasure to see urchins, beautiful strange slugs, eels, schools of shimmering silver fishes, nemo (aha ha...), angel fish...hope I could put up the video here. Then anybody could see the diverse underworld of Pulau Jarak diving site. Then anybody could see how awkward I was underwater.

If you want to know more about Hanee, the person who arrange my diving experience, contact him here and Kaleebso, give them a buzz at their website.

Another note, open water diving is not as easy as it seems but not that hard as anybody could do it. Though it is a more leisure type of hobby where you could basically just drift underwater, it could also be dangerous if it was underestimated. I've mentioned that my instructor keep on reminding me to breath. This is because not doing the breathing properly especially during ascending could result in death. So being properly trained and certified is a must. Don't be fooled and reckless to accept invitations to dive without being certified first.

On a lighter note, diving can be a very interesting hobby. Its not everyday you could see diverse species in their natural habitat at one particular spot at a time.

So I do encourage diving.