Redang - 24-28 August 2006

The 4 days 3 nights visit to Coral Redang was simply amazing. It's my 3rd visit to Redang, but this trip was amazing because of my newfound passion - diving!

Day-1 - The boat transfer was scheduled to depart Merang Jetty at 10.30am. But we didn't make it to the jetty until 11.10am, so as you'd guess, we missed the boat. We were still fortunate that there was another boat willing to ferry our lot without charge, but we still had to wait for another car load who was also late because they got lost. Apparently they ended up at the wrong end of Terengganu. Can't even begin to imagine how that happened.

It was 12.50pm by the time we left the jetty. The 1 hour boat ride was pretty much on schedule so we got there just before 2pm. There was no way we could still make 2 shore dives on day-1 as originally planned. Since we only had time for 1 dive that afternoon, Chewy told us to check-in, get some lunch (but we already ate while waiting), rest a little and meet at the dive centre at 3.30pm.

Note: All dives & details of dives will be blogged separately. You may view them here.

After the dive, we basically washed up for dinner. We planned to have drinks for after-dinner entertainment. Andy, SY and I each brought a bottle of liquor for that purpose. We even went to the extra trouble of carrying along soda, coke and ribena as mixers. But instead of that, SY and I decided to join Joanna for mahjong at the next door resort - Redang Pelangi. Vincent and Joanna seem very well-known all over the island. They have friends everywhere, which was in a way beneficial for us. We were up till about 3am, where I lost RM128. That's more than I've ever lost in one sitting.

Day-2 began with breakfast at 8am. We were due at the dive centre at 10am. Our 2nd dive was also a shore dive so we didn't have to follow the boat's schedule. We were back around noon and had a quick lunch, a short break, and it was time for our 3rd dive - our first boat dive. There was a short break after that and we were back out at sea for our 4th dive the same afternoon. Time flies when you're having fun, and the afternoon came to an end before we wanted it to.

Dinner was as usual, but there was the added weight of having to sit for the 50 MCQ test which we had been procrastinating since the classes ended. We all got through it, although some took longer than others. With that complete, we officially graduated from diving101. The evening went on with some mild conversation over whisky and chips with Andy and Federica, and ended early as we were all pooped.

Chewy awarded us our temporary PADI Open Water Diver Certification cards during breakfast of day-3 and we were off to our first dive as graduates - dive 5. Nothing much was planned for the afternoon because our package only included 5 dives, and everyone else was too tired to accompany me out to sea again at additional cost. So we walked over to Redang Bay for a nice cold ABC during the hot weather. It wasn't fantastic, but it was perfect for the temperature.

A nice long afternoon nap followed, and when Chui Yin got back from her afternoon snorkelling trip (as well as trying out my fins), we went out to snorkel around the nearby reefs again. It was just for the heck of using up the last few shots in the u/w camera SY and I rented the same morning. Caught glimpses of 2ft black tip reef sharks... but I was snapping away with the camera without switching it on... yes I know I'm an idiot!

The evening ended at 4am with another round of mahjong with Joanna, thinking I could win back some of which I had lost 2 nights earlier. As it turned out, I actually lost twice as much that night. So total losses came to RM360. That was expensive entertainment. Oh well, we all had fun, except that now I'm so much more broke than I was originally. Hahaha. But it was still fun! :)

Other things to note for this trip:

The resort was nice, better than the other two I've visited previously. They have a swimming pool which I only swam in once, to cool down before a dive. The rooms were average, squeezing a 3rd bed in wasn't too much of a problem, and it didn't get crowded either. There were only some basics in there, i.e. toilet & shower, safe, hangers, dressing table and chairs. But they did have comfortable beds, clean sheets & towels.

Other than that, the food was actually pretty good. All meals were served buffet style and the selection was quite pleasant too. Coffee, tea & sky juice were available for beverages, but orange juice was only available during breakfast.

The crowd you get at this resort were mostly Ang Moh, so the staff were also more polite and well-mannered than most resorts you'll find in Malaysia.