Boats in an inlet to the South China Sea in Na Trang

We came to Nah Trang just for one last dip in the ocean in scuba gear but wound up staying three days relaxing and motorbiking around. The diving itself was pretty nice, though lots of the underwater area was sandy and our dives were cut short both times. By far the highlight was the octopus we watched change colors and try to hide under a rock when we came close.

Nah Trang itself sprawls out into the distance past the beach area that is filled with tourists, overpriced restaurants and hotels. One day we walked around and checked out a wonderful exhibit of black and white photos of Vietnam at the Long Thanh Gallary before searching out the Long Son Pagoda. We avoided some scam artists at the bottom of the Pagoda before hiking up a hill to take in a massive sleeping Buddha statue halfway up and an even more massive sitting Buddha statue atop.

Praying in the East Tower of the Po Nagar Cham Towers in Nah Trang

The next day we rented a motorcycle and headed out of the city to visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers. Located on a hilltop overlooking the South China Sea and the entire town, the Towers are beautiful, red bricked and only semi-ruined. Inside each one is a shrine with some of the thickest incense smoke ever and a non-stop line of people coming in to pray. Our drive later continued along the coastline, stopping at the Hon Chong Promontory to view the ocean and the shrines on islands out in the middle of it.

Finally, our motorcycle day took us to the Thap Ba Hot Spring Center, which was completely unlike anything I have ever seen. The standard 100 dong ($5.50) entry fee covered a mud bath in a tub shared with numerous Vietnamese people, a mineral bath (also in a shared area), a walk through a hot mineral water alley that shoots thin streams of water, a sit under a waterfall and a swim in a pool filled with 50 of your closest friends.

There was no privacy: even for the people who spent 400 dong for a private mud and mineral bath tub. All the extra money buys is a tub free of other people in an area with at least 25 other tubs in a line next to yours. It was a completely strange experience from start to finish.

Check out the Thap Ba Hot Spring Center site for more info

The reletively undiscovered Long Beach on the Perhentian Islands

What better reason to leave the cool weather of the Highlands than for some scuba diving and time on a tropical island. The Perhentians are a pair of relatively untouched islands, the smaller of which is Long Beach where we stayed. It reminded Carrie and I of the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. The beach was where all the action was. There were restaurants, bars, sundry shops, hotels and dive shops lining the shore. Behind the beach and the single line stretch of civilization there was nothing but dense forest and some walking paths.

As for the cast of characters on the Perhentians, Carrie and I had picked up a couple of new friends on the minivan ride from the Cameron Highlands. One gal was Karen from the UK who was staying at our hostel. Our other new friend was Claire from Scotland, who we had actually met atop Mt Batur on our sunrise hike in Bali. We hadn’t seen her since, but there she was in the same van. Random! Anyway, the four of us got a room together and thus a new crew was born.

Nemos (aka clown fish) in our dive in the Perhentian Islands (taken by reuben)

During the two days there, Carrie, Karen and I crammed in five dives while Claire worked on her tan. On one dive through a shipwreck we actually had a conversation in an artificial air pocket 12 meters underwater. Caused by divers’ bubbles rising, the pocket allowed us to actually take out our breather, have an echo-filled conversation and breath the underwater air. It smelled and tasted a bit funny, but was perfectly fine and an amazingly unique experience.

During another dive we went to a cleaning station where little shrimps with claws are all congregated by a large piece of coral. Fish come over and the shrimp pick the dirt off them. Well, instead of a fish they got our hands and we watched as dozens of the little guys crawled all over us and gave us a cleaning. It didn’t hurt, but I definitely felt a lot of little pinches.

Claire, Karen and Carrie in the Perhentian Islands

Then there are the Nemos. Every dive we go on, the clown fish are the most fun to play with. Think about the fish from the movie Finding Nemo. That’s a clown fish. They really do live in anemones and every time we come over to them they are the most curious fish in the sea. An outstretched hand is usually enough to get them to come out and say hi.

Oh, and on one dive we literally saw dozens of bamboo sharks hiding under rocks and tons of blue spotted sting rays swimming all over.

Other than diving we really didn’t have much time to explore the island. We ate a few meals, wandered around, checked out the nightlife scene and the chicas had a girl’s night out when I went to bed early one evening. We could have stayed longer, but the world’s biggest party was quickly approaching and we had to get to Thailand. But that’s a story for next time…

A video of what scuba diving in the Perhentian Islands was like, as taken by Reuben

A video of our approach to the Perhentian Islands

Menjangan National Park where we scuba dived and ate lunch (taken by Carrie)

Our time in Ubud was actually broken into two segments. After a couple of days, we headed north to the black sand beach town of Lovina to do what we came here to do: scuba dive! Our first two dives were off the northwest coast next to the Menjangan islands in the Bali Baratnational park. While the big fish were few and far between, we saw some breathtaking coral that we have never seen before on any dive. We were a bit worried that it had been effected by the tsunami, but no problemo.

The only problem we had was our first dive was going against the current, so imagine spending an hour kicking with all your strength just to keep up with the group. Personally, I do not like swimming or the ocean. I love scuba diving because it usually isn’t much work and I find it extremely peaceful and tranquil. This was not. Oh well, at least the sights were amazing and our second dive there was perfect. We even saw a beautiful gigantic sea turtle just hanging out right by our head.

The dolphin statue in Lovina

As for Lovina, I can only hope it does well during the high season because it was pretty much abandoned when we got there. Walking down the black sand beach was hilarious, as the local women selling shells, posters, nick nacks and other junk would follow us every time we went down there. They even knew Carrie by name, as she was too nice to tell them to buzz off, and would flock to her saying “now are you ready to buy?” One time a vendor was waiting for us by our clothes after he saw us leaving the ocean to grab our stuff. Like, ok guy, this is a little creepy.

Our second set of dives took us to the wreck of the USS Liberty in Tulumben, which sunk off the coast during World War II. Today the ship is covered in coral and surrounded by fish…and other divers. For the first time in our diving history, we did not take a boat out. Rather, the ship is very close to shore so we literally geared up and walked into the water for a few dozen feet before the bottom dropped out and we went down.

Menjangan National Park where we scuba dived and ate lunch

For two dives we swam around and through the massive wreck of the ship, playing with corals and clams, taking our time and really observing everything around us. Highlights included a giant barracuda that was just hovering a few feet above us and a few massive schools of fish that, for some unknown reason, were forming a giant cyclone shape by circling around in the water. Amazing.

Verdicts:
Diving: Bali Hai
Lovina: Bali Hai
Tulumben: Bali Low

Typical Balinese dance at a restaurant in Lovina

Carrie and I look out to the Similan Islands

The Similan Islands off the Andaman (west) coast of Thailand is home to some of the best scuba diving in the world. One of the best ways to experience this is to live on a boat for a few days, which we were determined to do. Unfortunately, the rainy season was fast approaching and even after dropping everything in Krabi to head to Kho Lak to book a trip, we found that there were very few boats still going out.

Frustrated with our lack of options, we stopped for a bite and met Sarina, Claudio and Chris: local dive instructors on their day off. For nearly two hours, the three made calls and helped us find exactly what we wanted…even if the dates required us to spend two days relaxing and catching up on some writing before heading out. As a bonus, Sarina and Claudio could come along, get paid and be our dive masters (essentially an underwater guide).

Our delux cabin

First some background on the tour. The package we agreed to was ten dives over three days and nights on board the M/V Amarpon: a luxury speedboat. After the second day, we could choose to stay on board for two more days and nights, bringing the total number of dives to 18. Three gourmet meals a day were included, as were water, coffee and tea. Accommodations were in teeny little cabins with bunk beds, but as the dive shop owner, Marcus, was worried about filling the boat, he upgraded our cabin to the deluxe suite to get us in the door. This meant we got the same cabin but with a private bathroom.

As for the food, lunches and dinners ranged from fried rice and chicken to fish soup, shrimp dishes and pad thai. However, my favorite meal of the day was always breakfast. Imagine me, starved of tasty meats, face to face with heaping plates of bacon, sausage and ham to go along with fried eggs, onions, tomatoes and loaves of toast. I was simply in heaven and wanted breakfast for every meal. Even now, weeks after returning to land, I still crave it.

Our trip started with a rough six-hour boat ride through a series of storms that had Carrie feeling seasick and both of us in bed before 9pm. Waking up refreshed, we spent the first full day and night diving but were disappointed with what we saw. The next day things just got worse, as a huge storm tore through the Similan Islands and forced us to miss our first dive. The wind ripped the protective tarp off of the roof of the dining hall, the boat was rocking around and we honestly wondered if we had made a mistake tempting fate and going on the last live aboard of the season.

When we finally got back into the water, the visibility was low and the animals seemed to have been scared off by the storm. Needless to say, we woke up on day three convinced that we were going to be leaving. However, in order to do so we had to be picked up by another live aboard boat that was going back to harbor, as ours still had two more nights at sea. Making our decision tougher was the fact that our first dives on the third day were some of the most amazing we have ever done.

A manta ray we saw scuba diving off of Koh Bon (taken by some German guy on our boat)

Long story short, Marcus made us a great offer to stay another day…so we did. We tried to leave on day four but no boat could pick us up so we had no choice but to finish out the trip. Boy did that work out in our favor as on the final day we spent three dives swimming with manta rays. Now, I’ve seen a ton of cool things diving: corals, sharks, turtles, fish and more. But nothing can compare to the manta. These things were at least 15-20 feet long and were just as curious about us as we were about them. We literally just floated there as they swam by and circled us. At one point there were three in a row, just swimming around checking us out. And then there was the whale shark!

Throughout Central America, all Carrie and I wanted to see was a whale shark…but we just kept missing them by a few weeks. They are very rare and many divers go their whole life without seeing one. We thought our bad luck would continue but after our final dive one was spotted very close and we all put on our masks and snorkels and jumped back in. I won’t even guess how large it was but the thing was massive and simply amazing.

Looking back on the whole experience I am so glad we did it. We saw so many types of coral that I have never seen before and countless new types of fish. Though I did get scuba’ed out a few times, it really was a one of a kind experience that I hope to do again one day. But for now, I’m glad to be on solid ground…something that took some getting used to again on our first night back.

Scuba Liveaboard This and That

The first whale shark we have ever seen in nearly 50 dives (taken by some German guy on our boat)

• For whatever reason, every other guest on the boat was from Germany including a group of 50 somethings on some sort of trip together. As such, most conversations were in German except for when the younger of the passengers hung out with us and used their second language.
• Every morning we were greeted by the calls of “GOOD MORNING!” from the halls of the boat and before every dive the staff would shout “BRIEFING!”
• Despite being in the middle of the water, all we could hear was the sound of the motor keeping the power working for the lights and the AC rooms.
• Something about scuba diving makes me need to pee like crazy. Too much info, I know, but true.


Moray Eel (taken by some German guy on our boat)

• Not sure why, but Americans seem to be the only ones who don’t wear banana hammock speedos as bathing suits.
• Because I wrote it on the contract, all the staff were told my name was Gregory, which it is, so for five days I was once again known only by my birth name. I never bothered to correct them.
• By the time we hit our third dive with the mantas, word had gotten out to the other boats and Carrie counted 25 other people in the water with us.
• So many people had underwater cameras that at times with the mantas and the whale shark it felt like we were surrounded by paparazzi.

Some underwater videos, taken by a German guy on our boat:

A whale shark swims by

A manta ray

A moray eel

Fun in the ocean

Despite being in paradise, we managed to keep ourselves busy. We went scuba diving twice and saw some of the most amazing corals either of us have ever laid eyes on and more fish than I have seen on any other dive in my life.

At one point we encountered a school of large fish that were just slowly swimming by and seemed unphased by my presence. I headed over to them and joined into their school, swimming in the same pattern as a few hundred of my new aquatic friends for nearly a minute before they changed directions away from the rest of the dive group.

One of the giant roots torn up by the 2004 tsunami (taken by Carrie)

During another dive I encountered a massive group of little fish just hanging out. While they did move out of my way as not to touch me when I approached, they didn’t go far and I just floated there surrounded by thousands of fish. All in all, two of the coolest scuba diving experiences of my life.

When not diving, Carrie and I explored a lot of the rest of the island. One day, along with some new friends, we rented terrible bicycles and rode around 10 kilometers to an elephant sanctuary (of course there were none there by the late hour we arrived). The seats were solid plastic and mine was high enough for a child to ride comfortably. Carrie’s front tire was barely attached and her bike wobbled with every pedal.

Still, it was a beautiful day and after finding no elephants we all relaxed on a nearby beach surrounded by the giant roots of trees torn up by the 2004 tsunami. I also entertained myself by watching and playing with some of the thousands of hermit crabs that covered a large percentage of the sand. When I squatted down and looked it seemed like the entire beach was moving.

Sunset over Beach 7

Another day we hiked through a jungle and a mangrove field to reach a secluded beach for some snorkeling. I didn’t see much, as too many gulps of sea water through my snorkel got me frustrated enough to head in early, but Carrie said the coral was beautiful. I did, however, have a great time staring out into the horizon and daydreaming.

In between all these activities, we did find some time to kick back and relax. A lot of time was spent eating or planning when to eat next, as meals tend to take at least an hour to prepare. We made some good new friends with other people at our guest house, took local buses or walked everywhere, enjoyed a sunset at Beach 7 (original name, I know), attended the most low-key St. Patrick’s Day party of all time and, most importantly, recharged the batteries for the next leg of our trip.

Your moment of zen: the waves crashing over a sunset on Beach Number 7

YAAAAR, SAID THE PIRATE
I’m sure everyone has heard of a renaissance fair, where eccentric folks from all over dress up in medieval garb and live the lifestyle of the time for a few days. Well, in Key West they were having the Pirate Convention. Basically, the same folks who usually take part in the renaissance fare ditch their frilly aristocratic clothes for eye patches, wooden legs and bandannas. It started at the park where people had set up a pirate community, just as it would have existed on the same spot hundreds of years ago. This was complete with tents, bonfires, guns, armor, war wounds, people polishing helmits, and everyone dressed the part. The “pirates” were very friendly and talked to us in their pirate-lingo. My favorite was when I was told about how one pirate’s wench stole the evil British scallywag’s shoe the day before.

Also a part of the fun was a replica pirate village, which you had to pay a real $4 to get into, inside an old fort. There the pirates went shopping for supplies for their ships, food, ales, and, of course, wenches. This was all to prepare them for the day’s afternoon affair…a full sea battle with the British. We were a bit bummed that we were heading scuba diving that afternoon and could not stay to watch the battle, but happily boarded the boat to head out to the dive location. It was a minute or two after we passed the fort that housed the pirate village that we first spotted the pirate ship in the water. However, it seems that they spotted us too, as they began to fire their cannons at our ship as we passed by and we barely made it away with our lives intact. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch…the cannonballs were blanks, but it was still pretty cool nonetheless. And then we went scuba diving. The end.

MOSQUITOES AND GATORS
After five days in beautiful and comfortable Key West, Carrie and I packed up the rental car and headed for two nights of camping in the Everglades. Despite a night filled with mosquitoes feasting on our blood, we decided to stick around and go for a hike. Literally, every other second I heard the sound of a mosquito buzzing by my head. We both had long shirts, pants, sneakers and lots of Off on, and it did nothing. We got bit through our clothes despite walking at a fast pace. When we stopped to tie a shoe or take a photo the mosquitoes would literally swarm us and we would have to swat them off the other person. Needless to say, not so much fun.

Shortly after we headed to a different, less swampy part of the Everglades where we went for a 15 mile bike ride through gator country. We must have seen at least 20 or so gators no more than five feet from us. We even saw one jump out of the water and just miss killing a bird that was misfortunate enough to fly a bit low. After that we found a remote camp site where we tucked ourselves in for one more night of being mosquito food. In the end, I had 109 mosquitoes bites on my body and Carrie wasn’t far behind.

SKY DIVING
As you may or may not know, I have a little James Bond obsession and Web site (http://www.universalexports.net). Well, as some Bond movies were filmed in Florida, I tried to find various locations and take photos. One of them was an airstrip just north of Key West, which also happened to have a skydiving shop. As Carrie and I had both done it before, we decided to give it a go. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing the view was. It took around 15 minutes to fly two miles into the sky, all the time looking down on 90 miles in all directions of water, islands and beauty. Then it was out the door, 120mph for 50 seconds, then 5 minutes of parachuting down slowly looking over the land. No crazy stories, just the most amazing thing ever.

If you’re looking for other things to do in Florida, check out this external link: Top Orlando Theme Parks on UpTake