Pulau Aur

 

If you intend to travel with the dive groups going in for weekend dives, the packages usually includes all meals (very good meals often with seafood barbeque dinner thrown in), stay at air-conditioned rooms, transfer to and fro Mersing, dive tank rental and refill (usually for 5 dives) and boat used for dives. For individual travellers, the cost of these packages are ex-Mersing only.

For more information on the package deals, please contact Encik Rizam on his mobile at ( 6) 012 - 721 78 66 or (6) 013 - 775 79 60 or tel: (6) 07 - 799 56 96 . Encik Rizam can be found at Counter 8 at the Mersing Jetty and is in charge of the Bluewater ferry and speed boat services. And he may be able to arrange accommodation for you at Bluewater Holidays Resorts at Kampung Berhala on Pulau Aur. Or if you prefer to travel and book from Singapore, please contact the dive shops there and they can direct you to the appropriate operators.

For Malaysia, please check with Rainbow Runners at Plaza Berjaya on live aboard packages. Call Najib at (6)03-2141 0031 or Fax: (6)03- 2148 7440 from Mon-Fri: 9.30qm - 6.00pm and Sat: 9.30am - 4.30pm. Closed Sunday.

Please note that there are a few operators around who don't seem to appreciate the beauty of the coral reefs and its inhabitants. A friend's story about his recent live-aboard trip to Tioman island sometime in March 2002, leaves me wondering if there is truly no passion greater than the passion to make money. On this particular trip, an example of gross misconduct perhaps due to ignorance, perhaps due to unwarranted ego - the operator's 'captain' thought it to be a 'macho' thing to fish out a large Bumphead Parrotfish for the next meal, the exact same one that just minutes before, his guests were in awe of, about 60feet below the surface. A magnificent creature taken out of its realm, killed and used as porridge stock. What insanity! Rationality for such idiotic actions? 'Well, if we don't do it, someone else will.' So choose your dive operators carefully because there are just too many cowboy dive operators around who will take your money for a run and wipe out the ocean's glory at the same time - with no regard for it's future.