Perhentian Kecil : Dive and Snorkeling Trip 18-21 April 2013

- April 23, 2013

Less number of participant never stops me from travelling especially for a dive trip. With pleasure, I brought 2 friends with me, Syira and Bai to try this new adventure and I hope they like it. Well, since this is my second trip to Perhentian, I'll try to make this entry simple but informative.

Following are my itineraries and some tips that I would like to share:

Itineraries

18th Apr 2013

10.45 pm - Depart from KL to Kuala Besut using Karak and LPT Highway

19th Apr 2013

6.00 am - Arrived at Kuala Besut Jetty, perform Subuh prayer and we were looking for parking

6.30 - 7.00 am - Wait at the jetty, have some breakfast and pay the Marine Park Entrance Fee

8.00 am - Boat departed from the jetty to Perhentian Kecil and arrived in half an hour

9.00 am - Arrived at Long Beach, straight away went to Turtle Bay Diver to check for our dive schedule and room

9.30 am - Check in at D'Rock Garden and have some rest before proceed with the next activity

Dive trip at Turtle Bay Divers are at 8.30 am, 12.30 and 3.00 pm.

11.30 pm - Syira and Bai went to snorkeling trip to 6 points which are Fish & Coral Garden, Turtle Point, Shark Point, Village (Lunch), Blue Lagoon and Turtle Beach. They finished the trip around 4.30 pm

1.30 - My dive trip supposed to be at 12.30 pm but the boat was a bit late so we started to dive at Shark Point almost 2.00 pm and get back to the beach around 3.30 pm

8.00 pm - Having our dinner at one of the restaurants in Long Beach

20th Apr 2013

8.30 am - My 2nd dive at Batu Layar. Nice and interesting dive spot

9.00 am - These 2 ladies went for snorkeling again. This time they went to Tokong Burung and Pulau Rawa

12.30 pm - My 3rd dive at Terumbu 3 (T3). This dive site is simply amazing as I went through rocks that looks like a cave

2.00 pm - As non-licensed diver, Syira and Bai would like to try to dive so they took Discover Scuba Dive (DSD). Some theories and basic dive skill were taught before the went for real dive at Batu Nisan for about 40 minutes. Initially, I planned to follow them but in the end I started to dive at deeper site at Batu Nisan and went up without meeting them at all

21st Apr 2013

7.30 am - Check out and wait for the boat

8.00 am - Depart to Kuala Besut jetty but we reached there a bit late about 9.00 am

10.00 am - Depart to KL after bought some souvenirs, had some breakfast and took the car

12.00 am - Arrived at Kuala Terengganu, dropped by at Kampung Losong for some Keropok Lekor

3.00 am - Dropped by Kemaman-Cherating just to have some Satar at the road side

Here are list of things to bring

1. Toiletries
2. Towel (some chalet prepare it some are not)
3. Slipper (ease of movement in sandy beaches)
4. mosquito repellent
5. plug extension (only one power point in the room)

Note: Most of the chalets at Long Beach are budget chalet with fan and some of it have air-conditioner. It is advisable to bring backpack and not the pull luggage so that you may carry it easily

Overall Cost

Accommodation : D Rock Garden Chalets - Deluxe Sea view Chalet (Twin Sharing) with Fan and Bathroom attached - RM70 per room per night
Extra Mattress - RM20 per night
Return Boat (K.Besut-Perhentian Kecil-K.Besut) - RM70 per person
Marine Park Fee - RM5 per person
Water Taxi - RM2 per person each time
Parking Fee - RM7 per day per car
Return Land Transportation (toll and petrol if driving) - estimate around RM200-250 per car
Meals - meals is a bit expensive but depends on what you eat. The cheapest fried rice you can get is RM8
Snorkeling - Full trip snorkeling is RM50 (6 points)
Fun Dive - RM70 per boat dive except at Pinnacle and Sugar Wreck RM80
Discover Scuba Dive (DSD) - RM200 - 1 hour theory and basic skills session + 1 hour dive at reef (Batu Nisan)