lurvethelife: vacation

Great Ocean Road + The Twelve Apostles, VIC.

11:32

Under the sea.

21:50

And I'm back. Sorry for the long gap between this post and the last .-. Was a little held up by studies and, ahem, watching the Japanese anime, One Piece. Well, the good news is... I've finished another part of it so I will be sober enough to face my studies for a few weeks (or months).

Anyway, back to the topic. This isn't a post about Disney's The Little Mermaid's song, sung by Sebastian, "Under the sea". This is a post about being under the sea surface, literally.

I've mentioned that I was spending my school holidays at one of the best snorkeling sites in the world (Tioman Island and Sipadan Island are two others in Malaysia). Where is it, you ask? Well, it's Redang Island! However, due to weather changes, the island is unavailable during the monsoon season, which is from November to March the next year. So, be sure to check the weather before you take off to Redang Island!

Our resort offered a package which includes a 3D2N stay and three snorkeling trips. The one on the first day was a little dull but the one on the second morning, WHOA. We were dropped off at the Marine Park and the first thing we saw were lots of people and lots of fish!

And when I said "lots of fish", I wasn't kidding! The marine park was full of shoals of fish. From top, they look like a gigantic black mass but from up close, you can see those individual fish swimming together and staying away from obstacles.

I'm not a first-timer at snorkeling, neither am I a pro. For those who can't swim or can't swim really well, you don't have to worry. You can also have a go at this sport. The life jackets will keep you afloat and you can also get some help from the skippers (are they really called skippers? I'm not too sure. oops).

Anyway, all you need is a life jacket and snorkeling masks. Apparently, there are two kinds of snorkeling masks, the basic kind and there are also power masks, which are perfect for the short-sighted. Buckle up, and you're ready to go!

It is advised that snorkelers keep themselves within the roped area because there are sharks and other aquatic sealife out there. It is hard to get help if you wander too far off either. I'm content with the marine life within the roped area anyway.

Here are the shoals of fish from under the surface.

By the way, the fishes REALLY DO bite. My cousin got bitten and her finger bled. She joked about bringing a souvenir back after snorkeling. They really have sharp teeth so BE CAREFUL!

I got these few photos from one of my aunt's underwater camera and one of my uncle's smartphone (he didn't feel like going underwater and we stuffed our things in the hotel's safebox..).

So, back to studying I guess. Trial exams coming up soon so... wish me luck again! :D