Tioman Then and Now
Old School Diving
I’ve been diving Pulau Tioman for more than 20 years now and I have seen it change tremendously. Just like any economy, some changes are very positive and others come at a price. I have seen Tioman in its heyday where only the very adventurous would go through the extreme logistical hassles and poor sleep arrangements.
Long story short, my first few trips up to Tioman in 1995-1998, we used to have to bring EVERYTHING up. By everything I mean it: air compressors, dive gear including tanks and weights and even food rations. And if we are to forget anything or any equipment fails, your weekend dive trip would be very short. Knowing that all the trouble we have been though to get there, this taught me to be better aware and prepared for all my upcoming dive trips. You may call this TOUGH LOVE.
THEN…
The Drive Up
The most gruesome factor to dive back then was to organise all the things we need to dive there. Getting from Singapore to Tioman was pretty much the same; take a van on Friday night and drive up to Mersing. With a few differences - But the difference was that the road were undeveloped, a section of the road was just wooden planks, making it a six-hour drive time.
We would reach Mersing Jetty around midnight and straight away board on our “luxurious” “liveaboard” dive boat
The Boat
The dive boat is a small wooden single engine about 12m x 5m long. Traveling at a very slow pace of about 4-6 Knots. Before heading out, we have to ensure that all the tanks are accountable for all the dives that we are planning to do. So if we plan to do 6 dives for a boat of 8 divers, and we do not have any air compressors, we need to make sure there’s at least 55 tanks on board including spares. There were only not a few dive shops on Tioman; which meant that we had to bring all the tanks from Mersing ourselves. If the tanks are not prepared beforehand, we would help to load all the tanks on. There was a strong sense of togetherness back then and we actually enjoyed helping each other out between dive crews and divers.
Mersing to Tioman
The fun part then starts. We make sure we have enough ration for our boat ride like beers, drinks, and snacks to last us for SIX HOURS to Tioman itself. I have to say, it is a very nice feeling traveling in total darkness and just chilling under the bright stars; seeing shooting start along the way was definitely a highlight. The only place to sleep if you were lucky was to sleep on top of the tanks.
Here’s when things get tougher: if it rained. The boat does not have any shelter or cabins for you with the only covered area for the Captain. This meant that if it rained, you just have to deal with it and get your bath in early. Since there is not shelter, if you want to sleep, you probably have to lay on top of the tanks that you have on board. We prayed that weather would be favourable.
Still, after hours of boat ride and little sleep, seeing Tioman at sunrise was totally worth every trip. Depending on the time that we reach, we would either head straight for a dive to maybe grab a quick breakfast in Tekek.
WORST EXPERIENCE BUT BEST TRIP - I remember one trip, when the sea was choppy between Mersing and Tioman. The six-hour boat ride became an eight-hour struggle with the boat bobbing up and down, tanks rolling around and being drenched with rain and ocean splash the whole night.
What about the safety? Well back then, there was not much of a governing body to patrol and the population of divers are relatively small for them to invest in one. So technically, we were explorers and doing things at our own risk.
Accommodations/Food on Tioman
There was not many sleep arrangements on the island back then; and definitely no resorts. We slept in what I called “Chicken House”: small ‘A’ framed hut by the beach with very little amenities. Each room slept four people on two queen size mattresses on the floor with few pillows. Because owners believed that the sea breeze was enough, we were lucky if we had a ceiling fan and there was definitely no air conditioning. Mosquitoes, cockroaches and flies are our usual roommates. Sometime we have extra guest like large monitor lizards, frogs and even monkeys. Rooms conditions were never an issue back then because all we wanted to do was dive. Now you probably understand why not many ladies did not want to dive back then.
Food was amazing. Local cooked food cannot get any more authentic. You will not get your pizzas, steaks or burgers but there was fresh seafood every time. Local fishermen brought an array of their freshest catch and you just had to chose. Huge sea basses, groupers, trigger fishes, wrasses, Spanish mackerels, lobsters or even swordfishes. Spearfishing was allowed back then; sometimes we would catch some for the locals and ourselves for lunch and dinner.
Marine Life
Diving in Tioman was simply amazing. When nature is left undisturbed, it will flourish. Large schools of fishes, colourful coral and water visibility at about 20m average. On a better day, sometimes up to 30m. Dolphins swimming along our boat and reef sharks were a common sight. Whale sharks and Mantas were spotted throughout the year. Surprisingly, there were cases when someone spotted Tiger Sharks too. There is so many fishes with so little divers around. Chebeh is like an aquarium you could just imagine. Bumpheads Parrotfishes in Tulai, Lobsters in Gua Layang and schools of Chevron Barracudas in Soyak are just to name a few. Turtles were a norm. You have macros like Frogfishes, Ornate Ghost pipefishes, Nudibranches, Stargazes and Mimic Octopuses. So you don’t need to travel and take flight somewhere to get some good diving. All these beautiful creatures are the main reason we traveled through hardship every weekend and its totally worth it.
Now…
Logistics Singapore to Tioman
Things have changes a lot over the last two decades. Although roads have improved drastically, bus/van rides have become more comfortable and much faster. Mersing Jetty has become cleaner but still not as organised as it should be; at least there are now seats and proper tiled floors and basic toilets. The biggest differences being: dive shops on Tioman to eliminate bringing tanks from Mersing and; large fiberglass ferries which takes as little at 1.5hours.
Travel time from was 13 hours back then widdled down to less than 6 hours.
Accommodation and Food
Little huts have changed to resorts with amenities like spas, karaoke rooms, function halls, adventure parks, swimming pools, projector screens and modern bars. You don’t get many unwanted guest in you rooms although your rooms are situated next to the jungle. Food selection is aplenty although it has loss its authenticity; buffets served at every meals with western and asian flavours. BBQ dinners are common on weekend nights. Enjoying your cold beer along side a plate of black pepper BBQ squid and watching your favourite football team on screen. These are our typical nights in Tioman when we bring our students and divers for our dive trip. Security guards roaming your resort gives assurance for divers to bring their whole family down to the island.
Dive logistics
Wooden dive boat changed to fast speed boats which takes you to your dives sites at 30mins maximum. We used to travel about 1 and half hour to get different dive sites. Tanks and air compressors are found in most dive shops in Tioman so you don’t need to stock up so many tanks on board. Because of this, diving becomes less taxing and directly promotes safer diving.
marine life
I can see that the number of fishes have declined throughout the years. Maybe the whole world is changing due to climate changes, overfishing and ocean acidification but locally speaking, I believe tourism does contribute to the decline of fish population and natural behaviour. Nowadays, there are a lot less sharks and turtles around. Whalesharks or mantas and macrolifes are a rare sighting. And the foundation of the scuba diving, the coral reefs, have been destroyed slowly over over the years from irresponsible divers and snorkeling tourists.
The Future
With all the great way to travel and attractive resorts on the island, this means the population on the island increases. I understand that diving strives on tourism. Without tourism, places like Tioman, Maldives or Phuket will not survive. Look at the recent pandemic. The whole world goes to lock down and these places and countries took a very very big hit. On the flip side, because of the influx of people coming in, lots of constructions, the nature deteriorates.
I believe we can strive to keep the modern amenities and conveniences but with olden days abundance of marine life. We just need to do our little part like recycle, not using the sea as our dumping grounds, stop shark finning, or prevent eating wild caught fishes. I believe we can help recover nature to its prime days for our future generations to witness and enjoy.