3:00 am Saturday morning. Heidi and I are in the Waja. Celery sticks, peanut butter, and grapes in our little cooler, our clothing and personal effects stuffed into one large duffel bag, Daniel, our GPS angel is plugged in and set course for the town of Mersing to catch the 9:30 ferry to Tioman Island.

Going for four open water dives to certify scuba, Heidi to sit on the beach and catch some sun. But first the 5 hour drive. Decided to start by going under the SMART Tunnel. This is not a tunnel where you make one of those “make a wish and it will come true if you can hold your breath” type things. This is a major league tunnel….it must be over 5 miles long. But when you come out you have bypassed the entire downtown area and are right on Highway 2 heading south. Whoo Hoo…..why did it take us so long to discover this beauty???

The 240 kilometers on Hwy. 2 were pretty uneventful. . . . a modern three lane highway filled with trucks and trucks and more trucks. Seems they like to drive at 3:00 am…go figure? When you finally get off the highway, the roads became a bit narrow and very curvy, VERY CURVY. To top it off it was foggy and our windows kept fogging up, inside and out. Then the large orange juice I drank at breakfast worked its way through me and do you think we could find a bathroom? Finally found a nice palm grove I could hide behind…I know, too much information, but there are NO rest stops along this stretch of road. Instead of having to watch out for deer, raccoons, or possums…we dodges monkeys and monitor lizards…same-same but different!!!

Finally made it to Mersing and the ferryboat jetty. No where to park. Out of the blue a grizzled old guy on a scooter tells us the lots are full but to follow him. Down the road about 1/2 a mile we go to another lot. Parked, paid our 40 Ringit and loaded our stuff into the “transport car” We do believe it was held together with duct tape and chewing gum but it got us back to the ferry. Grizzled man reappeared and suggested we forgot to tip him. Wanted our car when we returned so gave him a nice RM10 tip. Grabbed our ticket with the name of the boat we were to catch scribbled on it. Three boats arrived with no visible name. We held Pink Boarding passes and we heard the word PINK at the B gate. Scrambled over the rail, got in the Pink line and were packed on board the ferry to Tioman. “Remember”, we tell ourselves, “this is Malaysia, go with the flow!!!!”

Our first views of Tioman were breathtaking. Tioman is a rather small island, about 40 kilometers long and 12 kilometers wide. With the exception of small villages hanging onto the coast, the island is pretty much dense jungle. Its claim to fame was to have some of it’s beaches filmed for the 1958 movie, South Pacific, and was named by TIME Magazine in the 70’s as one of the world’s most beautiful islands. Today it is best known for diving.
Here are some views of Tioman from the ferry –

The little village at ABC Beach (where else would educators go???) was really quaint. The village is supported by the dive industry. About 4 or 5 dive shops are sprinkled along the 1/2 mile stretch. Little stores, bars and restaurants are usually attached to small bungalow style cabins for rent. No cars what-so-ever. People walk, ride bikes or scooters. You can walk up and over the south headland, follow a trail for a mile or so and find yourself in a neighboring village. To get anywhere else, you go by boat. All along the pathways are mango trees and banana plants. The Mountain Apple tree was drooping with fruit. Our little room was just perfect for us. We have shared some nice 5 star resorts with you…this was not one of them. A simple room, two beds, a bathroom with a big bucket to flush the toilet with and a nice porch. The giant (like three inches across) spider Heidi found next to the toilet didn’t even faze her. Is she getting tough or what???

I took four open water dives on Tioman in order to complete my scuba certification. I think I was born to be underwater. To be able to stay underwater and not come up for air for up to an hour is pure heaven. All you hear are your bubbles. The rays of sunlight filter down. The reef so full of life…and you can hover and just watch. A wise looking green turtle, swam right up to me, less than 6 inches away and just looked at me…spectacular!!! It is hard to smile when you have a regulator in your mouth but you can’t help it when you watch the clown fish. I sat and watched this gorgeous Tomato Clown Fish dart in and out of this brilliant orange anemone found only in Malaysia. I dare anyone not to smile when watching clown fish. The blue spotted sting rays were everywhere. I watched one glide up this long, narrow channel in the coral, just effortless. The fish don’t seem to be frightened..they swim all around you. I think my favorite sighting was this amazing juvenile bat fish. Bizarre and beautiful. A whole new world has been opened for me. I spent almost 4 hours underwater, went down 10 meters, successfully completed all my skill tests, and now I can seek out reefs around the world. WOW. Two teachers at our school are PADI instructors and they are simply the very best. I think over 60% of our staff have been certified by them. So unselfish and just get a kick out of introducing this watery world to all of us.

The evening brought cheesy pizza, chicken wings, cold drinks, and their famous fries covered with pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. You watch the sun set and the stars appear. Good company, great food, amazing diving, more memories.