Donsol Whale Shark Snorkeling

For many divers like the diveslut, whale sharks are right up there on our "things to see underwater" list.

Lets get this straight first you noobs, WHALE SHARKS DON'T EAT PEOPLE. Like the elephant on land, a whale shark is a benign vegetarian (sort of). All it does is swim around the great ocean, minding its own business, and opening its cavernous mouth to capture plankton, krill, fish eggs and probably whatever else is floating in its way. It breaks my heart to see giant whale shark fins displayed outside Chinese medicine shops right here in KL. Losers and scum of the earth (the diveslut can sometimes come off as Captain Righteous).

Being as large as they are, whale sharks are apparently not hard to come by, provided you are in the right place at the right time. By right place, i mean Donsol which is accessible by flying to Legazpi from Cebu in the Philippines. Donsol has boomed because of its whale shark sightings. You dont even have to be a diver to see one, the place is purely for snorkeling. Whale sharks don't seem to mind (i'm not sure i did not ask the shark) the snorkelers and have been visiting that area for years. They like to come near the surface for plankton and maybe sunlight, so its easier to snorkle with them, than dive.

Our hopeful bunch at our first visit to the whale shark center. All gear up, but where was the shark?!


While they like to guarantee shark sightings (because it sells tickets), i would like to emphasize that there is no 100% guarantee when it comes to nature. Whale sharks don't have phones, and like cats, they don't come when you call them. It was good that our dive trip organizers (Great Ocean Divers)  had the foresight and booked us on 2 sessions. The first was unsuccessful. We circled the waters for 3 hours but was only greeted by ocean spray and hot sun. We didn't even realise the boat had snacks so we starved. HOWEVER, our second time there, it was a success.

Hello you beauty, where are u heading? (i stole these two photos from a large Danish man)

Whale shark snorkeling is NOT a leisure activity. You have to be like a SWAT team, ever ready to go. Once the shark spotter spots a whale shark you will see 5-10 boats start to beeline for the area. There is tension in the air and you near the area, the guide will tell you NOW NOW NOW!

So there you will be, like a clumsy oaf strapping on your fins, mask, snorkel and camera, while the guide as already plunged into the water, and is screaming at you to hurry the fuck up! As you take the plunge your self (during which i realised i still had my dry land clothes on) there is NO time to adjust your gear, the dive guide will tell you LOOK DOWN NOW!!! And as you do, there it will be, A HOLY MOTHER ITS A WHALE SHARK I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES OMG I HOPE MY CAMERA HAS BATTERY AND MY MASK DOESN'T FOG!!!!.

Absolutely thrilling experience. Then the swimming starts. If you look like a weak swimmer, fear not these dive guides know what to do. What happened for me was i felt a strong arm latch on to mine, and suddenly i was propelled forward, right after the shark, as if i had grown an engine for an ass. It was bloody amazing. We saw the same shark 3 times that day, the same frenzied gear up and jump in moments. And i took some videos i hold so close to my heart like this one here.

Donsol isn't the only place to see Whale Sharks. Whale sharks are generally oceanic and if your diving around their chosen route or feeding area, you might just see one. Pulau Tenggol off  East Malaysia has recorded many sightings, and so has the Koh Tau, Koh Lipe area off Thailand. Other major hotspots are the Maldives, Similan Islands, Christmas Island and etc. Happy whale shark hunting!

It's hard to look pretty underwater

The diveslut is female and she can be a bit of a vain pot. However, when it comes to diving, its just bloody impossible to maintain that level of vanity. If you are a diver, try taking a look at yourself while your underwater. You will come to a realisation that being visually enlarged by 30% is NOT FLATTERING. If you have a zit, it will look like a volcano. If you have a nice belly, you will look several months pregnant. If you have the finest pores on your skin, u will look in dire need of a facial. All skin discolouration looks worse under water and as you go deeper, you loose any redness and you just look zombiefied.

Worse, is hair problems. I like to keep my hair long (and lustrous i would think) but i've come to many instances where my long hair backfires underwater. See exhibit A below and you will see where i'm coming from.

A hair raising experience. No pun intended.

Diving with long hair (ive learnt) requires two things:-

• a good hair tie - which will secure all loose strands and keep you from looking like me in that pic. What i don't like about hair ties though is that when i remove it after a dive, a fistful of hair seems to come off with it too.
• a hair band - ahh yes.. much to my disdain, that is what i forgot that day..

 Remembered my hairband this time. Diveslut success. :)

Whatever took me so long?! (Perhentian snippet)

After all my hours spent underwater so far (est. 140hours since i just hit my 144th dive), its a wonder to me that i never thought about writing detailed experiences about it. With all my raving about diving i should have something to show for it right? right??? Ok maybe not really but the idea of sharing my experiences suddenly sounds so appealing. Who knows who might stumble upon this blog and gain diving insight? or read my review on dive gear? or choose a dive itinerary or destination which i recommended. So fun! And how wonderful if years from now i came back here, to the sacred and holy Dive Slut, and relived my beautiful memories of this hobby. This activity that i hold so close to my heart must be recorded, must be shared, not just in my dive logs. Well enough of excuses and justifications. I suddenly just want this. There.

This pic here is the log of my most recent dive at Perhentian Island. Needless to say, it wasn't exciting. Not that it matters because even in the dullest of dives, a Goby Fish is always amusing.
Speaking of Perhentian Island, we stayed at the Flora Bay Resort which is on the bigger island. Its a decent resort but the toilets in the chalet are questionable. Furthermore, it has got to be the laziest dive centre i have come across as yet. They only do 2 dives a day. -__- The first dive starts close to 10am. Maybe they missed the memo that early morning dives are always the most spectacular. Hmmph! That said, if your in for a laaaazy dive trip, Flora Bay it is. And their Nasi Goreng Kampung and Nasi Goreng Thai is EPIC. We had it at every meal and sometimes i still think about it.

I'll pick a dive to write about with underwater pics next time. This dive trip was so lazy even our cameras didn't make an appearance.

Dive sites we tried around Perhentian were

• Batu Layar - Beautiful staghorn coral cover. We were surprised by a sneaky Bamboo Shark. Large school of yellow snapper.
• Tokong Laut - Pinnacle to about 20m. Largely amused by a big school of snapper. Diveslut is not a fussy diver. 
• PDRM Wreck - as the name suggests, its 2 police boats which were sunk in early 2012. There wasnt much coral cover yet but juvenile fish were already finding a home there. Barracudas and snappers. 
• Shark Point - There was a black tip reef shark but i'm so lucky i missed it. -__- Otherwise, during this dive there was a tiny bluestreak cleaner wrasse following one of my buddies around. Was really cute. It tried to clean me as well.
• Sugar Wreck - TRIP HIGHLIGHT! Beautiful wreck lying on its side called MV Orion. This was the only time i regretted not having my camera. The viz was beautiful and we could swim through the deck of the wreck. According to the DM it was rare. We saw more bamboo sharks and large schools of other fishesh. If you go to dive Perhentian, you MUST GO TO SUGAR WRECK. 
• Terembu 3 - A site with three big boulders and some cool swim through areas. Divers bubbles make a small air pocket at the roof of the swim through and its really pretty. More snapper and hunting jack fish and pompano. 
• D'Lagoon - a site mostly for snorkelers so a lot of coral is damaged. Was disappointing but for a yellow goby :).

All in all, for about RM1.2k for the whole 4D3N dive trip including FireFly flights. It was a good deal. And of course, my dive buddies made the trip just perfect.

"There are two kinds of divers, divers that pee in their wetsuits and divers that don't tell the truth." - Anonymous

Hello! It's the Diveslut!

Hi there i'm a self professed diveslut. As described in the urban dictionary:-

A diveslut is noun; sounds like dahyv sluht; 1. a diver of male or female sex who will dive ANYWHERE with ANYONE at ANY TIME.

Oh yeah. That's me. 

I started diving in August 2008 during Malaysia's independence day holiday and have not looked back since.  My first dive was actually in a tiny swimming pool at Diver's Den which is located along Jalan University in PJ. Starting with pool sessions is great for folk who aren't sure about their love the ocean yet. I recall that snorkeling used to freak me out (wtf right?) and i had a bad case of surface anxiety (i still do occasionally). When i sank down into that pool though, it was an OMG moment. Breathing and being enveloped in water was and still is the most awesome feeling ever.

After several pool sessions with instructor Sharon and passing the PADI Open Water Test, she decided that i was ready to face the open ocean. Diving with Diver's Den is great because their instructors teach you good diving habits (don't touch the fucking corals!!!) and they have their own dive resort in Pulau Redang. The resort is called Redang Kalong and its located close to the more commercial Laguna Resort.

I recall fondly my first ever dive (virgin dive i guess?). It was jelly fish season that time (no we were not informed) so when i made my first giant stride into the water BOOM! Jellyfish. Good thing i was covered in a rented suit but it freaked me out good. The rest of my open water dives went smoothly there after. Sure, my mask kept fogging up, sure, my buoyancy was absolute crap, sure, i had no idea what to do with my hands, sure, i worried constantly about floating up and sure, i was breathing like a horse. Seriously, a HORSE. But the one thing that made all those terrifying and uncomfortable dives worth it? A turtle. A Green Sea Turtle.

On one of the dives at a site called Kerrenga (Fire ant in English, see i remember this shit), there it was, benign and beautiful. Sitting silently on a table coral. I thought to myself, this is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen! A turtle! As we finned by, i saw it looking at me, and in my bubbly imagination, i felt Mr/Ms green turtle telling me "Come back bitch! Its the bomb down here!".

If you look carefully i wrote that i saw 2 manta ray's. HAHAHAHAHAHAH. It was a grey sting ray. Still a noob. How embarrassing.

"There are no dumb questions in scuba diving. And, yes, if you throw up underwater, the fish will eat it." - anonymous