It was an all-expenses-paid dive trip to Redang the weekend just before school started! After about 10-odd bumpy hours on the coach and a 30-minute puke-inducing boat ride (not me), I finally arrived at Redang Kalong Resort.
For this trip, I brought along the new underwater housing for my G10 that the Ktowy gang got for my birthday. Just to play safe, I placed tissue paper in the interior of the housing instead of the camera itself for my first dive. Once we surfaced and the tissue paper looked dry enough, I replaced it with the G10 and brought it down with me for my second dive.
Descending with the housing was a problem at first. I didn't know what to do with all that extra air in my hands, and let it hang loose and allowing it to pull me up towards the surface when I (later learnt that I) really should have kept a tight grip on it.
let's go diving!
in b/w so that it shows clearer
Another big creature that was seen was this big, brown ray lying on the sandy sea-bed. The usual rays that I've seen are the blue-spotted ones so this was really a first for me. I think they have a really bad reputation after the Steve Irwin accident, but seriously, they're pretty harmless if you leave them alone and just observe them from a distance.
can you spot the blue-spot?
Another first for me was the porcupine fish. I think it's one of the cutest fishes that I've ever seen, and I'm sure it'll be too when it blows itself up. My dive-mates and me were trying to decide if it was a pufferfish, or a really big boxfish (they're all in the same family)... until I saw the spines on its body while taking a look at the pictures. Stare hard enough and you'll see the spines too.
I spotted my first spanish dancer (a little pink one with yellow feelers) for the trip right after this shy, spiny fellow decided to hide under a coral plate. The porcupinefish must be my lucky fish or something!
Some of the smaller creatures that were spotted...
not too unfamiliar?
This is probably the one species that everyone is more or less familiar with, but they have cousins who look a little different from them too. Anyway, I think clownfishes are a beginner's favourite photography subjects. Reason being, they never wander off too far from their homes (the anemones) and they always look at divers so inquisitively and adorably that you cannot help but want to take a picture of them. Hur.
it retracts into its hole when it senses danger.
I think this is a tube-worm; the feather-like looking creature, correct me if I'm wrong. They remind me a lot of christmas tree decorations; I guess its christmas tree worm cousins gave me that idea.
And presenting to you....
the fattest starfish that you'd probably have never seen before! I didn't even realize it was a starfish until I saw there were actually 5 sides to it. This is the Pincushion Star, and it is usually mistaken for a rock of some sort (who is to blame though, really). One of our divemasters picked it up and there were tiny shrimps scooting around on it; cute.
And when there weren't any big interesting creatures around, I was busy looking for smaller creatures... like this nudibranch!
one of the more common ones around
People seem to like taking pictures of these sea slugs, and that's probably because they make really interesting photography subjects, especially the spanish dancers. They're quite fun to look for; it becomes something like a treasure hunt sort of thing.
angels.
Moorish Idols used to be one of my favourite fishes when I was 10 or 11; I used to think they look really elegant and graceful, with their long fins trailing above them as they swim about, like angels.
I had really nice dives there, though the variety of fishes and creatures spotted were more or less the same as what you can get at Dayang/Tioman, the visibility was much better, and I'm looking forward to heading back soon! If there's any way to arrive in Redang without the long bus ride, that'll be perfect.
underwater playground.
Till the next dive trip!
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