Wow! Finally i did it! never thought i would actually went through all the process to get the PADI license!...we all did it - Byot, AyuDcs, Ieta n Me... We spent 4 days n 3 nights at Panuba Inn Resort, Tioman (23/05/09 - 26/05/09)...it was our 2nd time here in Panuba...the resort was not that "classy" but what we loved about the place was the peaceful environment (the only resort on that stretch), the food and of course the dive centre which is located very near to the resort.
So, we made our arrangement and we were so excited to start the course... Open Water Diving Course cost us RM950 (all-in including book, test, equipments, wet suit etc)...actually, we can go for diving even without PADI license...they call it scuba diving...the difference would be the depth u are allowed to go which is less than Open Water divers and the person must be accompanied by the divemaster. The accomodation at Panuba Inn Resort cost us about RM400++ (including meals) for 4d2n.
It all started with "angan2 kosong"...we loved beaches so much that we went to islands every year at least once...we enjoyed snorkeling, swimming etc but at one point of time, we thought that we sort of had enough of snorkeling...that was when we had decided to go for diving...we knew the course was quite costly but early of this year (2009), we determined to do it anyway and started checking out the best package we could get...and since we were planning for a few months ahead, slowly, we have started saving our money to pay for the course.
And the time came...apart from 4 of us, there were another 9 friends joining our trip and took the snorkeling package - Radi, Ecah, Ina (adik Ecah), Nanie & Syahril (the only couple in our trip), Faiz, Hairul, Am & Saleh. Ecah, Ina, Radi, Byot & me went to Kuantan on Thursday after work and spending the nite at Ayu's...we spent our nite by watching Open Water Diving video which was part of the course but only Ayu n Byot survived the nite...it took hours to finish it...Ecah n me totally passed out in the middle...hehehe...actually, we were given the book and video earlier so that we could concentrate more on the skills while we were in island...but...the book was damn thick and the video was tooooooooooo long...so, we didnt finished them...we had to make a move early in the morning about 6.00am to catch 10.00am boat at Mersing Jetty...
Sebelum tiba ke Mersing, sempat lagi singgah umah ayu kat Rompin...we had our breakfast there...dan kembali meneruskan perjalanan...jumpa Hairul & the Gang kat Mersing...ngam2 je timing....sampai2, park keta ape sumer, terus naik bot...xde nk kena tggu2 sbb bot yg tggu kitorg...hahaha...Ayu, Nanie & Sharil x dapat seat...diorg kena duduk atas - open air...Byot plak mabuk (mujur aku telan ubat mabuk)...naik je bot, tido...hehehe...
sampai2 jek, checked in, lunch dan terus ke Bali Hai Dive Centre utk start the course...giler la....that was when we met our beautiful Germany dive instructor - Ms Sonja Konrad...i bet the fish and corals love her so much...hehehe...sepanjang petang tuh tgk video jek...ade la dalam 5 jam non-stop....huhuhu....ngantuk2 kitorg...tu pun siap skip2...forwardkan bagi cepat hbs...aku siap blh balik bilik, tido jap sbb ngantuk...hahaha...hbs je tgk video tuh, terus salin baju join the rest of the gang mandi manda kat laut... malam xde activiti...free an easy...so, melepak2 je la kitorg main kad, gitar, tgk org memancing etc...the dive team was supposed to continue study...but...mana ade mood...so, kitorg wat la jugak sket2 kuiz2 setakat yg termampu...hehehe
2nd day morning, after breakfast, the dive team continue with theories n quizzes...kitorg dah x sabar nak masuk dalam air nih...hehehe...then, later in the afternoon, Sonja kata kitorg akan praktis skil dalam air plak.....excited giler masing2! 1st, kitorg di ajar ttg setiap equiments - functions, assemble, disassemble etc...then, when we were asked to lift up the equipments...OMG!!! it was sooooooo damn heavy!!! x pernah seumur hidup aku mengangkat benda berat camtuh...i think the oxygen tank+bcd+all others x kurang 10kg...rasanyer lebih lagi....15kg maybe at least....then, for us to stay down in the water kena pakai weight belt lagi of which it weighs about 3-5kg and maybe more depends on the person...so, in total, ade la macam pikul kambing sekor kot...hehehe...the worst part was...kitorg kena carry that things from the dive centre to the beach! siap naik tangga turun tangga...nak menangis rasa...macam buruh paksa...once we reached the water, lega giler...
so, we started practicing the skills among other things is how to take off the mask and put it back, how to clear the mask in the water, how to give oxygen to your buddy, the signs and all sort of "how to"...some of us having difficulties staying in the water...but Sonja was very patient despite she had to spend more time to build our confidence in the water... after that session, imagine we had to drag ourselves carrying those heavy equipments all wet back to the dive centre...climbing back all the stairs and walked back...memang giler penat! but we all had fun!
the next day, we did our theories revision and continue to practice our skills...this time, we went further to the jetty where it was deeper (still had to carry the equipments ourselves!)...from the jetty, we had to swim to the buoy where we would practice our skills again...then, after lunch, we were divided into two groups...i was paired up with Byot as buddies and Ayu with Ieta...we did our training separately...the whole day in the water was fun...didnt realize how fast the time flew...
then, came day 4...our last day where we had to pass the writing test (lucky it was MCQs) and more dives.....hari yg akan menentukan either we pass or fail...huhuhu...Ayu n Ieta continuing diving at the Jetty under Sonja's supervision whilst Byot and me had the chance to boat dive under Barry Smith's supervision...they took Byot n me to dive spots around the island...it was COOL!!! we really felt like a pro diver! hehehe...and lucky for us this time, we didint have to carry those heavy equipments ourselves...hehehe the experience was priceless! dapat tgk ikan2 yg x pernah tgk sebelum ni....a lot of nemos...big fish...corals...and of course the turtle! we kinda nervous when we went for a second dive coz it was raining heavily...we could felt the strong current deep in the water.....we had to hide behind rocks/corals to practice our skills...otherwise, we couldnt stay still...but the underwater was just amazing!....and oh! i lost Barry's compass...oopsss sorry Barry!
When we got back to the island, it was quite late...it was lunch time already and w
e still had not take our test yet...and we need to pack our things also...we were supposed to take 2-2.30pm boat...so, we were rushing...eating while answering the test, marked and discussed the answers with Sonja...i had to ask Radi to pack everything for me and checked out...thanks Radi! So, luckily we all passed the test! hehehe....and lucky for us also the boat was late...so, we are proud of ourselevs that we have gone through all the moduls, carry those weights etc..it was part of challenging ourselves also, pushing ourselves to the limits...and the success was sweet...we are now certified PADI divers...YAHOOOOOOO!!! I DID IT!! WE ALL DID IT!!
So, we made our arrangement and we were so excited to start the course... Open Water Diving Course cost us RM950 (all-in including book, test, equipments, wet suit etc)...actually, we can go for diving even without PADI license...they call it scuba diving...the difference would be the depth u are allowed to go which is less than Open Water divers and the person must be accompanied by the divemaster. The accomodation at Panuba Inn Resort cost us about RM400++ (including meals) for 4d2n.
It all started with "angan2 kosong"...we loved beaches so much that we went to islands every year at least once...we enjoyed snorkeling, swimming etc but at one point of time, we thought that we sort of had enough of snorkeling...that was when we had decided to go for diving...we knew the course was quite costly but early of this year (2009), we determined to do it anyway and started checking out the best package we could get...and since we were planning for a few months ahead, slowly, we have started saving our money to pay for the course.
And the time came...apart from 4 of us, there were another 9 friends joining our trip and took the snorkeling package - Radi, Ecah, Ina (adik Ecah), Nanie & Syahril (the only couple in our trip), Faiz, Hairul, Am & Saleh. Ecah, Ina, Radi, Byot & me went to Kuantan on Thursday after work and spending the nite at Ayu's...we spent our nite by watching Open Water Diving video which was part of the course but only Ayu n Byot survived the nite...it took hours to finish it...Ecah n me totally passed out in the middle...hehehe...actually, we were given the book and video earlier so that we could concentrate more on the skills while we were in island...but...the book was damn thick and the video was tooooooooooo long...so, we didnt finished them...we had to make a move early in the morning about 6.00am to catch 10.00am boat at Mersing Jetty... 
Sebelum tiba ke Mersing, sempat lagi singgah umah ayu kat Rompin...we had our breakfast there...dan kembali meneruskan perjalanan...jumpa Hairul & the Gang kat Mersing...ngam2 je timing....sampai2, park keta ape sumer, terus naik bot...xde nk kena tggu2 sbb bot yg tggu kitorg...hahaha...Ayu, Nanie & Sharil x dapat seat...diorg kena duduk atas - open air...Byot plak mabuk (mujur aku telan ubat mabuk)...naik je bot, tido...hehehe...
sampai2 jek, checked in, lunch dan terus ke Bali Hai Dive Centre utk start the course...giler la....that was when we met our beautiful Germany dive instructor - Ms Sonja Konrad...i bet the fish and corals love her so much...hehehe...sepanjang petang tuh tgk video jek...ade la dalam 5 jam non-stop....huhuhu....ngantuk2 kitorg...tu pun siap skip2...forwardkan bagi cepat hbs...aku siap blh balik bilik, tido jap sbb ngantuk...hahaha...hbs je tgk video tuh, terus salin baju join the rest of the gang mandi manda kat laut... malam xde activiti...free an easy...so, melepak2 je la kitorg main kad, gitar, tgk org memancing etc...the dive team was supposed to continue study...but...mana ade mood...so, kitorg wat la jugak sket2 kuiz2 setakat yg termampu...hehehe
2nd day morning, after breakfast, the dive team continue with theories n quizzes...kitorg dah x sabar nak masuk dalam air nih...hehehe...then, later in the afternoon, Sonja kata kitorg akan praktis skil dalam air plak.....excited giler masing2! 1st, kitorg di ajar ttg setiap equiments - functions, assemble, disassemble etc...then, when we were asked to lift up the equipments...OMG!!! it was sooooooo damn heavy!!! x pernah seumur hidup aku mengangkat benda berat camtuh...i think the oxygen tank+bcd+all others x kurang 10kg...rasanyer lebih lagi....15kg maybe at least....then, for us to stay down in the water kena pakai weight belt lagi of which it weighs about 3-5kg and maybe more depends on the person...so, in total, ade la macam pikul kambing sekor kot...hehehe...the worst part was...kitorg kena carry that things from the dive centre to the beach! siap naik tangga turun tangga...nak menangis rasa...macam buruh paksa...once we reached the water, lega giler...
so, we started practicing the skills among other things is how to take off the mask and put it back, how to clear the mask in the water, how to give oxygen to your buddy, the signs and all sort of "how to"...some of us having difficulties staying in the water...but Sonja was very patient despite she had to spend more time to build our confidence in the water... after that session, imagine we had to drag ourselves carrying those heavy equipments all wet back to the dive centre...climbing back all the stairs and walked back...memang giler penat! but we all had fun!
the next day, we did our theories revision and continue to practice our skills...this time, we went further to the jetty where it was deeper (still had to carry the equipments ourselves!)...from the jetty, we had to swim to the buoy where we would practice our skills again...then, after lunch, we were divided into two groups...i was paired up with Byot as buddies and Ayu with Ieta...we did our training separately...the whole day in the water was fun...didnt realize how fast the time flew...then, came day 4...our last day where we had to pass the writing test (lucky it was MCQs) and more dives.....hari yg akan menentukan either we pass or fail...huhuhu...Ayu n Ieta continuing diving at the Jetty under Sonja's supervision whilst Byot and me had the chance to boat dive under Barry Smith's supervision...they took Byot n me to dive spots around the island...it was COOL!!! we really felt like a pro diver! hehehe...and lucky for us this time, we didint have to carry those heavy equipments ourselves...hehehe the experience was priceless! dapat tgk ikan2 yg x pernah tgk sebelum ni....a lot of nemos...big fish...corals...and of course the turtle! we kinda nervous when we went for a second dive coz it was raining heavily...we could felt the strong current deep in the water.....we had to hide behind rocks/corals to practice our skills...otherwise, we couldnt stay still...but the underwater was just amazing!....and oh! i lost Barry's compass...oopsss sorry Barry!
When we got back to the island, it was quite late...it was lunch time already and w
e still had not take our test yet...and we need to pack our things also...we were supposed to take 2-2.30pm boat...so, we were rushing...eating while answering the test, marked and discussed the answers with Sonja...i had to ask Radi to pack everything for me and checked out...thanks Radi! So, luckily we all passed the test! hehehe....and lucky for us also the boat was late...so, we are proud of ourselevs that we have gone through all the moduls, carry those weights etc..it was part of challenging ourselves also, pushing ourselves to the limits...and the success was sweet...we are now certified PADI divers...YAHOOOOOOO!!! I DID IT!! WE ALL DID IT!!
