Scuba, Langkawi Style

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Langkawi was so awesome that it deserves more than one post.

After our scooter adventure, we returned to Pantai Cenang in search of something to eat. All along the main road were restaurants boasting "ikan bakar" next to chilled displays of fresh fish. Basically you got to choose your freshly caught seafood, and then they would cook it up however you pleased. I had to try it. Caz and I found a humble little place offering it; the simple, folding table type places were not only cheapest, but tastiest as well. Caz opted for fried noodles with chicken while I perused the fish selection, deciding finally on squid. It made for an extremely delicious dish, and it was nice to get a taste of the island's seafood.

The next day was a big one: our first diving excursion since getting our certification. Finally time to make use of those masks! We hopped on a bus back to the jetty, then piled on a boat to Pulau Payar, a marine sanctuary not far from Langkawi. Most of the people were going just to snorkel, but there were 6 of us certified divers and a few people trying out an introductory dive. The dive staff was made up of a group of easygoing and quite silly Malaysian guys. Caz and I got our own dive guide. His name was Sari, and he was a bit quieter than some of the goofier guys onboard.

Our first dive of the day was in an area called Coral Gardens. The first thing we noticed was that we couldn't really see a whole lot. Unlike the pristinely clear waters of the outer Great Barrier Reef, the waters of Pulau Payar were downright murky. The cause of this, I've read, is that heaps of plankton fill the area, limiting visibility, but feeding all forms of sea life. It was a good thing we had Sari, or else Caz and I would have had a very disappointing dive. Thanks to his expertise, we saw eerie ghost fish, dangerously beautiful lionfish, and even a large yellow seahorse! The coral itself was very pretty, waving branches in bunches of white and purple.

We joined the snorkelers on the beach for lunch, provided by the dive team. It was a funny combination of fried rice, some sad looking hot dog pieces, three french fries, a handful of peanuts, sponge cake, and an apple. We ignored the hot dogs, and everything else went down just fine. We caught a few rays and checked out the shallows on our break. Among the fish playing near the shore, there were quite a few reef sharks. There were a couple that were big enough to startle you, but don't worry, folks; they were totally harmless. One of the dive staff began following Caz and I around humming something akin to the Jaws theme while making the underwater signal for shark. Mr. Shark was surely after Caz's cool red and black scuba mask, as he tried to take it from her throughout the day. He was also a very able photographer!

Dive number two of the day was called House Reef, and it tookplace right around the docks where we first arrived. Admittedly, I wasn't blown away by this one. We did see a few cool things: a baby yellow boxfish the size of a die and just as spotted; weird, skinny pipefish; banded shrimps and their babies; and lots of Nemos! The atmosphere wasn't quite as enchanting as the first dive. We swam around the supports of the docks and through the beginnings of an artificial reef, complete with an underwater fact sign telling us all about it. Eventually we ended up back in the snorkeling shallows. We reached a new record for time underwater, however: 53 minutes! It always takes me by surprise; it never feels that long when you're under.

Caz and I sat on the deck in the sun for the ride back, joking with Sari and Mr. Shark and enjoying the ocean wind. When we got back to Pantai Cenang, we got cleaned up and went in search of dinner. We decided to head to the restaurant on the beach that we first ate at. We had a nice meal as we listened to waves (despite the lack of chicken satay and bananas), but thunder and lightning were making their threats known. We headed back to our guesthouse just as the rain began to fall. We repacked and went to bed.

It was up early again to make the trek to Thailand, but not without some breakfast! Before diving the day before, we discovered a little unassuming restaurant very close by that seemed to be the only one open. We headed there before our trip again for omlettes, banana roti (a naan like flatbread fried up with bananas inside), and nasi lamak (rice folded up in a banana leaf with egg, onions, sardines, and a spicy sauce. Caz and I split one both mornings, although I got all the onions and sardines). We finished just in time to catch our ride to the ferry, and then it was "Goodbye, Malaysia!" and "Hello, Thailand!"