Redang

The water is turquoise and warm, the sand is white and fine, the beach is clean and idyllic...in short "perfect."

Sunday September 16 we were up at 5:30 and left for the Subang Jaya airport at 6:30. We arrived at 6:40 and found a deserted small airport. We wandered through and located the Berjaya Air check in. We had to wait until about 7:30 for the check in to open and we had our baggage scanned and walked through to the departure lounge. This was like walking through the island airport but with a whole lot less formality. We boarded the Dash 7 at 8:15 and were on our way at 8:30 (right on time). The flight was a little over an hour and we landed in Redang. A hotel bus picked us up and took us to the hotel where we checked in but the room wasn't ready. We sat around in a wood lined British colonial style open air lobby. The wonderful atmosphere was starting to relax us.

We had been told that we were upgraded to a deluxe room and we were shown by an attendant to a second floor room in a chalet accommodation by the beautiful beach side garden. It was quaint and the only thing we had concern about was the twin bed arrangement. With a shrug we got changed and went down to lie on the beach. We met Steve and Pam who raved about their room (superior which is a step down from ours). Kim decided to take a look and led Pam to our room followed by a trip to Pam and Steve's. A few minutes later Kim was back saying "Get up, Bill, we're moving!" We stopped by reception and they very kindly and quickly assigned us the room next to Pam and Steve. It was larger, newer, and had a king size bed. The only drawback was the many many stairs we had to climb to get to it. It became our exercise program given all the great food we enjoyed.

We spent Sunday afternoon settling in and hanging around the beach. At dinner that evening we were entertained by d'island Quartet. They became our personal band. They have a large and eclectic repertoire so we played a lot of name that tune among our group of friends.

Monday was another day of beach resting and reading. We tried out our new masks and snorkels by paddling around in the bay. It occurred to us that all those tropical paradise post cards that we've seen were probably shot right here. It was perfect for a mid semester rest. We made arrangements for a scuba tour and a snorkeling trip that we had built into the package: snorkeling on Tuesday and the three dives split over Wednesday (2) and Thursday (1). More beach time and reading (or napping). It's a good thing that they built the cabanas because the sun was high and intense.

We went out Tuesday morning for the 3 island snorkel adventure and at each stop the scenery got better. We saw huge varieties of fish and a lot of exquisite coral. The trip took about four hours and we enjoyed four stops. We also got to see the entire perimeter of the island from the boat. It is an environmental paradise. There are few resorts on the island and the shoreline could have been used to film any tropical island movie. We only hope there is the political will to keep it this pristine.

Wednesday we were up early to report to the dive centre for a check dive in the pool. That went well and we were ready for the real thing. After a briefing from the dive master, Toh, we boarded a converted fishing vessel and were off to the first site. Because it had been a long time since our last open water dive we struggled a little with the skills. Buoyancy was difficult for both of us and Kim's mask kept fogging up, but the reef and its life were spectacular. We were both surfaced early because we over used our air. We were joined by a couple of new divers who burned their air quickly as well.

After everyone was aboard we set up new tanks and the boat moved to the second site. Again the reef was wonderful and we felt like we were in a scene from "Finding Nemo". Kim had difficulty with her buoyancy and about thirty minutes into the dive she popped to the surface (slowly) and could not get back down. Bill joined her and we both got picked up by the boat. The rest of the divers were up a few minutes later and we had a little extra time aboard so on the way back to the resort we got to do some turtle watching. "Nemo" again!! The turtles cooperated by breaching in several places and we got a good look at many others on the bottom. The water is so clear that we could see the bottom clearly in 15 to 20 meters depth. Basically the visibility was unlimited. The afternoon was spent on the beach.

Thursday was somewhat more relaxed. We got up late, read on the beach, and in the afternoon went to the dive centre for another dive. This time were were further away from the island and there was a bit of a swell to deal with at the surface. At depth we had a current to fight. Michael, an engineer and a dive instructor from Scotland, took us under his wing and held tight to Kim who latched onto Bill so we all stayed close together with another rookie diver. Michael was great. He managed to drag us through the current by finding the soft spots and we had an excellent view of the reef. Visibility was down from the other dives because of the current and some offshore storming that stirred up the sediment but the coral reef colours, shapes and varieties were outstanding. We saw amazing, exotic fish life but no sharks or eels (thank goodness). This dive was shorter because of the current as well. We surfaced and were picked up by the boat both tired and exhilarated.

Good news!! We had purchased an underwater camera and we will post the dive and snorkel pictures. Its a 35mm so we have to have the films developed. We'll get them burned to disc so we can post them to the right side of the blog. We have also prepared and posted the land based pictures for you to have a look at.

Friday was check out. We slept in some and then went to the beach. Kim took a dip in the ocean and Bill took a swim in the pool (so did his wallet). Kim enjoyed a fabulous aromatherapy "spa" treatment. Late check out, a short ride to airport brought us back home to Subang Jaya by about 5:00 PM. This was a most wonderful restful vacation and we will try to get back in the spring.