Yup, the food is damn good. I was with kaleebso last September in Tioman as well.

What type of dives are you into? What do you want to see? There are many dive sites around the world. Your last dive quite recent what, so fast craving to dive already?

Popular Indonesia destinations will be Bali, Manado, Komodo, Lembeh, Lombok, Pulau Weh and the expensive and popular Raja Ampat.
In Thailand, the popular one is Similan islands LOB.
The ones I know in Philippines are Boracay and Malapascua, but I'm sure there are more dive sites if you check online.
You can also check out Maldives for big stuffs. Australia Great Barrier Reef, NZ and the Caribbean sea if you have the budget. Egypt Red Sea is also one of the places I wanna dive at in the future.

Layang Layang!

Hi guys,

I just want to ask any divers here to share their knowledge of purchasing the equipment.

I'll be enrolling my PADI OWD course mid next year, and currently I'm planning my budget towards the necessary equipment to be purchased that will use during the course such as wetsuits, fins, mask, snorkel etc.

How much the budget will be affordable to purchase all the necessary scuba equipment? 1K or more than that?


Thanks.

read thru this thread and u will have your answers

in a nutshell - use the dive centre equipment first.

if u wanna buy - go for mask (esp if you are vision-impaired) and fins (cos rentals can be pretty uncomfy).

once you decided that you're addicted, then you can buy the rest of the equipment.

total cost? prob from 1,500 onwards, the sky's the limit...

i got an M size BARE shorties that i'm not using anymore since i got my full suit. let me know if you want it and i can sell you for cheap. RM150.

There are different types of equipments. If you really wanna get, just get mask, fins and booties (for open heeled fins). Wetsuit also if you want to but it's not really important. A lot of people that dive in Malaysia just wear rashguard and surf pants. When you are really into it, then only you invest in the regulator and BCD, dive comp and also a dive bag maybe.

Depending on what your needs are. There are fins that are really cheap and there are fins that are like RM700. Wetsuits got thin, thick and really thick, long or short, cheapest around RM300 and some can go up to RM1000 and above. Mask also many types, branded or not-so-branded, got cheap ones that you can get for RM80 and expensive ones probably around RM300. BCDs, regulators all got many types also. Dive more first and make more friends, then talk to them and see which one you prefer before investing in the equipments.

You're just taking OWD so just use rental equipments first.

Thanks for the comment..

Thanks for the comment. But I think fins and mask I need to buy because I try DSD before I can't find any suitable mask to fit in due to my nose is quite small.

danial92,

good start for deciding on mask n fins and i suggest open heeled fins with booties. the booties walk u past all surfaces under the sun with comfort, most importantly, preventing u fall down or injure urself on the wet and slippery boat after dive.

i witnessed once a diver fell n hit her head on the beach onboard right after our dive.

ya go for open heel with booties.. save yourself from blisters..

now after every dive trip or after the fourth dive, i need lots of plasters for my toes..

planning to get some socks to deal with the blisters.. akona 2mm sock??

not sure whether it works but tempted to try..

For the mask, try getting Japanese brands one. My nose also quite small and hard to find masks that can fit nicely. So far I've found IST black color silicon mask to fit me perfectly. I was told Tusa mask are quite suitable for people with smaller and flatter nose, but I have not used one for diving yet.

Wow, that could be really hurt. Anyway open heeled fins will fit my because my legs are a bit longer along with booties...


Really, is it TUSA's water sports products are a bit of expensive I guess?

Yesterday was my first and last trip to Pulau Sembilan.
Vis really bad, around 2-3m. The other thing I hate was that the moss (I think) gets stuck on all your body hair, dive gears, rash guards, shorts and everything. Even after washing off with fresh water after each dives, got flies come and stick to your skin. Make sure you wash every corner of your body after getting up, especially behind and around the ears.

We went on a Saturday so their divemasters were not free to bring us around. So we dived on our own and since it was our first time, didn't see much things. According to the boss, if we go on weekdays and their divemaster bring us around, then guarantee got things to see. But the bad vis and the moss getting stuck on my body just makes me not want to go back anymore. The sun was really bad too. Put on loads of sunblock still get sunburnt.

It's not very expensive, consider medium range I guess. You can also try Gull Coco mask, below RM200 the last I check. It fits my small nose.

This post has been edited by munkeyflo: Dec 23 2012, 05:49 PM

Ouch, that's a nasty review of the Sembilan Islands. The algae is depending on the season you go perhaps. I'm from Pangkor. Sometime in the year we'll get like algae all over our body even from swimming at the beach.

Its US1205/pax, private guide.

Ahh, so this algae getting stuck on my body isn't an all year long thing? Do you know when is the season? I would give Pulau Sembilan another chance if the algae won't kacau me.

I felt like I was diving in an aquarium that has not been cleaned for years, the water was greenish and almost yellowish! Lol.
The last I went to Pangkor was almost 6 years ago, in December as well, but didn't have this algae thing.

when i did p9, it was below average but not horrible.. good to see some fish and coral and all that. if viz was better - sometimes it starts at 5-8m then drops to 1-2m. and usually lost from buddy so can practice solo diving

but i dont remember it had algae bloom. sounds so bad.

Sorry sis, this i'm not too sure. From there but don't stay there.

But i do get what u mean, all the greening stuff stuck on your bulu tangan, looks really funky.

This post has been edited by TAGreptiles: Dec 24 2012, 03:53 PM

My bulu not that long so still quite easy to wash away. My bf bulu kaki a lot, that was even worst. Lol.

Btw, for those who plan to do a 1 day trip (like we did), best is stay overnight there cause very damn tiring. We left KL at 5am, had some delays on the boat cause of some miscommunication between the boats regarding our weights. In the end, not enough weight, some of us had to use fishing weights. We did our 1st dive around 11am, finished up 3 dives and reach the jetty around 6pm. Shower and left for KL at 7pm. On the way back, some lorry carrying fish overturn somewhere near Ijok and it seems people were stealing fishes lol. So traffic was quite bad. Reach KL around 11pm. Lucky I didn't have to drive.

IMO, the stuff I would get first are:

Masks (RM200-500 for non-power mask).
Fins + booties (RM400-500).
Wetsuit (the full one) if you cannot tahan cold, coz dive centers normally only rent shorties (RM300-600).

BC and regulator can wait until you've done a few dives and you're certain that you're into this hobby for the long haul, coz they're fairly pricey and can be a chore to lug around, especially if you're planning to fly to your dive destinations.

BC is about RM1000-2000
Regulator with SPG and octo, north of RM2k perhaps?

Might also want to consider getting a dive com before the BC. I got a Suunto Zoop for about RM750, good enough for most recreational divers I'd say.

Prices are based on my own experience and window shopping. Your mileage may vary!

Merry Xmas all. Island season opening soon. Hand in there.