Malaysia 2006: Day 7
As painful as it was to actually go snorkeling/scuba diving, it was definitely worth it. Pulau Payar on the west coast of Malaysia is evidently the only major spot to go, with Langkawi Coral and one other company operating a platform fixed over the coral reef on a series of all-day trips, 8:30am to 3:30pm. The east coast of Malaysia has the 2nd best spot, Redang Island and the surrounding area, while the best scuba diving is off of Borneo.
The ferry ride was fairly uneventful, being transferred from the coral platform to the beach was pretty straightforward, then we put on snorkels, masks, and fins, and hit the water. It was impressive-- and made me very sad I wasn't scuba diving! =( (next time, damnit... this will be planned better... $*)@#)!) A few minutes in the water was enough to make me forget about that, tho, since the water was warm and clear, and there were a zillion fish in the water! Throw in a gaggle of tourists, some loaded with the breadcrumbs they had been provided, and we were soon surrounded by fish, small sharks, barracudas, and all sorts of awesome things. They nibbled at the bread, at our skin, at the camera case...
The risk of sounding cliche is very high, but it was simply a very enjoyable experience. After scuba diving off the coast of Catalina Island in California, where maybe a dozen orange fish would make a 45 minute dive in 54F water, seeing a dozen brightly colored fish in one second in toasty warm water was awesome. =D
Lunch on the beach was included for the US$60 or so the whole snorkeling trip cost (more rice, veggies, fish... starting to feel kind of generic?), then into the water a few hundred yards down the beach to watch the shark feeding. That was fun, but the fish on the other side of the beach were far more numerous, even after the sharks had left.
We chatted a bit with a German family on the beach as bugs bit us; the talk evolved into scientific and genetic subjects well over my conversational German, but was interesting all the same.
Returning to Penang, we wandered downtown for a bit, took the free bus around downtown to sightsee and head back to the Komtar Building to secure our Bas Konsortium (Bus Consortium) tickets back to Kuala Lumpur. Dinner was a spicy Malaysian noodle dish, then over to the bus terminal, where we wandered for a few minutes trying to find the right bus. *whew* The ride back was uneventful but very comfortable (and cold-- for only the second time in the whole trip, too much A/C!); crossing the very long bridge that connects Penang Island with the peninsula, by then the sun had set and we couldn't see much. Sometime during the ride, our cell phone turned itself off, but as we approached Kuala Lumpur around 10:30pm, we turned it back on and called Kean and fixed things. =)