Dive in Brunei? Seriously? Well...No Regrets!

Dive in Brunei? Seriously? Well...No Regrets!

September 17, 2014 | Adiek Sarah

When I had mentioned about traveling and diving in Brunei Darussalam, a lot of friends asked the same questions to me. What do they have in Brunei? Isn't it a boring place? Well, for me it was very simple. Never ever judged anything before you step on your foot on any new places you are planning to go. 

My friends and I booked this dive package during Malaysia International Dive Exhibition (MIDE) 2013. Something interesting about this trip, it was a WRECK DIVES! It was a promotion for diving in Brunei by Poni Divers. Only for MYR460 per person for 2 days diving (6 dives), inclusive of accommodation for 3 nights and airport transfer, together with breakfast and lunch, I found it pretty cheap! So, why not? Byda, Zack and me signed up for this package and put MYR100 for the deposit. 

Over 30 wrecks in Brunei

We chose 13 - 16 September 2014 as our travel date. Unfortunately, Byda just undergo an operation so she could not join us and had to rest for a long period. There was flight change from 7 am to 1.10 pm from Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Seri Begawan. We arrived 4.00 pm and could not proceed with the city tour. We went straight to Poni Divers located at Pantai Serasa which was about 20 minutes away from the Brunei International Airport. We went to the dive centre to keep my dive gears before they sent us to Poni Homestays, 5 minutes away from the dive centre.

Dolphin 88 Wreck and Abana Reef

Only 2 dives, could not get more due to weather not permitted. Dolphin 88 Wreck was a Malaysia ship, sank a year ago. It was still new, but quiet interesting. It was big and spacious enough for us to go through inside it. Although it was still new, the creatures that we had were also interesting. Schools of Trevally and small Baracuddas, crabs, and also a hiding Octopus! Maximum depth was 26 meters and bottom time was 44 minutes. 

Abana Reef was also not bad. Nice and beautiful reef, I would say, but the creatures and fish were not as much as you could see in Dolphin Wreck. Nudibranch was a lot, but almost the same species every time. Maximum depth was 18 meters and bottom time was 50 minutes. 

Pasar Malam Gadong

Waffi, one of the Dive Master Trainee (DMT) brought us to the city that night. Pasar Malam Gadong was a daily night market located at the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan. It was like normal night market in Malaysia, but they only sell foods. A lot of varieties to choose, but we decided to try the traditional menu of Brunei, Nasi Katok @ Ketuk. It was actually white rice with fried chicken and came with different type of Sambal. Zack chose Sambal Hijau Pedas @ Hot Green Chili. Only 1 Ringgit!! It was simple, but very nice. 

Owh, don't get confused. When they said Ringgit means the currency was actually in Brunei Dollars, not in Ringgit Malaysia. When they pronounce it in English, then they will mention it as Dollars. Waffi bought for us small and yellow durians. I forgot the name. It was small and the smell was not really strong as normal Durians.

We brought all the foods and ate it at riverside facing the water village. On the way back to the homestays, we stop for a while and took the picture of Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin.

Australian Wreck and U.S. Wreck

These two wrecks were about 30 minutes from the dive centre. Wave was quite strong and I started to have seasickness. No good. I even vomited before I managed to go down for the first dive. Too bad I ate Nasi Lemak that morning and I could feel the spiciness of the sambal in my throat. 

According to the stories, Australian Wreck was hit during World War 2. This ship was taken over by that Japanese that carried 339 people (mostly ladies) to be sold to other countries. No survivors. Some people said there was a dead white lady hung in the ship, and some spooky stories. We were lucky we never saw anything weird. The visibility was very bad, about 3 – 4 meters only. Last night was non-stop raining. Creatures? Awesome! Maximum depth was 36 meters and the bottom time was only 20 minutes. 

U.S. Wreck was almost the same. It was almost out of shape and crushed. It was a military ship, so we could still see some bullets over there. Maximum depth was 34 meters.

Bandar Seri Begawan

The interesting part about traveling was when we were meeting new friends. Our new local friends, Saiful and Aizat brought us for dinner and city tour that night. Saiful was also a diver that dive together with us on the 1st day. They brought us to try another traditional menu of Brunei called Ambuyat. It was looked like white liquid and the texture was like glue. According to Saiful, Ambuyat was a main meal during the war when the colonist seized the agricultural products. It was eaten with sambal tempoyak. 

Ambuyat

Saiful and Aizat also brought to see the biggest palace in the world, Istana Nurul Iman and we went to a beautiful mosque called Masjid Jame' 'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah. 

Masjid Jame' 'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah

Istana Nurul Iman

We left to Kuala Lumpur on the next day. Before we left, our instructor, Johnny dropped by at the homestay to help us completing the log book.

Doing the Log Book at Poni Homestays before we left

I bought some souvenirs at the airport. It was a bit expensive, so I did not buy much. It was a very pleasant stay in Brunei Darussalam. The country was clean and beautiful and the people were very friendly. Most importantly, it was out of my expectation as what other people claimed that Brunei was a boring place. Come here and experience yourself. Travelling is about exploring, no prejudice.  

Brunei International Airport

Selfie

Till then.