Choppy sea, less than ideal visibility, but...

At the end of it all, there were only smiles. 

Checking into a hostel for a couple of hours rest, before catching the boat to the island at 0430, due to low tide we couldn't depart as per the norm. 

And the freeze-esque air conditioner that we all underestimated, and boy did it punish us with its unresponsive control.

So after what turned out to be the worst boat ride of my holidays thus far; whereby we witness its fair share of violent expulsion of stomach contents (read:puke), we were greeted to the tranquil island of Dayang. 

And its beach.

Where accommodation came in the form of these houses, 

containing spartan rooms like these. 

So off diving we went. The sea was choppy; visibility was bad, and the marine life went hiding. It was great to be back in the water after a hiatus lasting several years. Diving on the first day was concluded with a night dive and all we saw that night was a giant hermit crab and a giant bat fish. Disappointment was an understatement for the first day, but it was duly made up for during the first dive on the second day. The corals and fish brought colours to the otherwise murky world under. Oh and did I mention that Nemo can get angry? Rofl, it can if you irritate it enough through passive means. A must to get that shot from TF. 

The last dive of the trip was a fitness test, underwater. Heh, spent 24min fighting the current flow, and I did felt really alone and awed by how small we are on this planet. The visibility was 3 metre max and we couldn't see the bottom. The group of us was merely just kicking our fins and keeping sight of the pair of fins in front of us. Looking around, I couldn't make out anything else. The environment could have overwhelmed anyone of us there and then, physically and psychologically. 

In between dives, we were served food or snacks and we spent our surface intervals talking just about anything under the sun, literally, and making new friends and dive buddies. 

As the boat pulled away from the jetty and headed back towards Mersing, 

I caught sight of a group of other divers doing their drills in the sea. 

And the island got smaller, the sad reality of us returning to the real world and our short holiday was over slowly sunk in. 

The boat ride back was a faster affair and one with lesser drama, meaning it was rather calm on the surface. Spent half the ride back exchanging war tales of that underwater; experiences and future tips that would be very useful to the mountain turtle noobs like us. Oh and the interesting issues that we've seen both underwater and on land. Particularly some of those on land, we had great interest in. Heh heh. 

Some of us came back with rope cuts and grazes, and we all felt exhausted and sleep deprived, but we came  back home with unforgettable memories that we'll no doubt bring up in future conversations. 

So when and where is the next trip already? Lol.