Saturday July 18, 2009
Lucking out in Lang Tengah
By MICHAEL D’OLIVEIRO
The trip was a pleasant surprise of marine sightings and easy diving.
Small islands can’t offer much diving,” a friend scoffed to me once, as he pointed to Pulau Lang Tengah on a map of Malaysia, a footnote of an isle between the mighty Redang and the hedonistic Perhentian.
Piqued by his claim, I found myself on its shores earlier this year, ready to test out its diving spots with a couple of friends.
D’Coconut Lagoon has a cosy ambience. At least the beginning of our journey was straightforward. After a hair-raising, five-hour dash to Kuala Terengganu, followed by an even quicker one to Merang up north (not Marang, mind you, which is nowhere near it), we found ourselves a mere 40-minutes away by speedboat from Lang Tengah’s shores.
Several resorts offer accommodation on the island but we chose D’Coconut Lagoon for comfort of size and amenities. It had a pool, decent food, air conditioning and the all-important in-house dive centre. The facilities were comfortable but somewhat ageing already and the staff were a little shy. The Shangri-La this is not.
That same afternoon we were all kitted up at the dive centre, briefed by the affable Hamidun (a.k.a Don) and his trusty dive masters. We found that most of the (good) dive sites were from the north down to the west and right down the southern tip. The eastern shore is largely rocky and prone to strong currents.
We started at Karang Nibong up north. Visibility was not fantastic but we marvelled at the teeming fish life up here. Some juvenile pufferfish mingled with parrotfish and angelfish amid lots of nudibranchs on ground level. A few cobias darted in and out of the large boulders that pock-marked the site. At the shallower levels, Moorish idols fluttered around, and we even spied a blue-spotted stingray out and about.
A triggerfish made a brief cameo but what was memorable was the real lack of coral cover here. I expected more.
The feather star is a common sight on the ledges. We got up early the next morning and had limited luck with visibility at Yellow Reef and White Reef down the western side. Coral cover improved with more varieties evident at the latter — whips, sponges and lots of brain coral.
We ventured up north again to the more open Tanjung Nibong, and the reef jumped to life again. Here, we were delighted to see a humphead parrotfish foraging for food. An even larger grouper dashed from one coral bommie to another when it saw us approach. But the little reef fish were also in abundance.
The many boulders here even created some wonderful and memorable swim-throughs (natural tunnels) for us to navigate. All this got us excited, and we couldn’t be sure if life was appearing because the weekend had officially begun or whether we were hitting the right dive sites.
D’Coconut lies smack in the middle of the west coast, and for our last trip of the day we headed next door to Redang Lang Resort’s house reef. It was a Project Aware dive, and we joined over a dozen divers in sweeping the area and scooping up the dreaded crown-of-thorns starfish (a.k.a. COTs). The house reef, like D’Coconut’s own, was too sandy and sparsely populated with coral to really call a dive site. Not a proper one anyway.
Our third day saw even more action. Going out to the other side of the island for once, we ventured to Batu Kuching. Upon descending, we immediately sighted three blacktip reef sharks in very shallow water! They sped off fast.
Nudibranchs come in all colours and patterns. The coral cover was generous, and we spotted a moray eel lurking at one stage. One coral bommie revealed a host of hingebeak shrimps. To top it off, as we were about to do a safety stop, a dozen humphead parrotfish swam past. So much for the west coast being the more exciting one!
Back to the west, we were treated to more friendly sights at Tanjung Telunjuk, with its dusky pipefish, cleaner shrimps and some tomato anemones. Lots of nudibranchs were also found here as well as a huge variety of healthy coral. Unfortunately, a colony of COTs seemed to have gathered too. The marine life was not as prolific at Batu Bulan, but we got an up-close glimpse of a roving blacktip reef shark.
We made our last dive at Tanjung Telunjuk again, as the island’s diving community fittingly decided to get rid of the COTs here. Amazingly, my dive buddy and I bagged 53 of the critters. We also glimpsed a huge green turtle nestled on a small boulder, chewing off a small piece of coral. It looked genuinely happy.
The entire trip was one pleasant surprise of marine sightings and easy diving. Kudos to the dive team that guided us for their wonderful service. Visibility wasn’t the best and the coral weren’t always as colourful or prolific as we’d have liked, but we managed to squeeze in many dives without feeling rushed or crowded, as is the case with many larger islands.
And with all dive sites just minutes away from our resort, Lang Tengah was a great addition to the family of islands we’ve been diving at. It’s certainly another choice you would want to consider.
Several sharks were spotted on the dives, especially in Batu Kuching. — YEW KOK YUEN Getting there
Travel by car is recommended, with the journey time being four hours from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan, and then an additional two hours to Merang. Or, one can fly to Kuala Terengganu and take a 30-minute cab ride to the jetty.
ACCOMMODATION A 3D/2N twin-sharing standard room package at D’Coconut Lagoon will cost RM380 per person. All meals, boat transfers, taxes and service charges are included. Applicable from July till September 2009.
For reservations, call (03) 4252 6686 or e-mail: sales@dcoconutlagoon.com. For more information, visit www.dcoconutlagoon.com.
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