My bf and I went ourselves. Didn't go thru any dive shop.
I stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers. Was recommended to us by a few dive master/instructors. It's run by a foreigner but the people there are mainly local. Contacted him thru email and settled everything thru email without paying any deposit. Paid full on my last day there. Make sure you keep all the emails that states the agreed price and also print it out if possible. Because when I was there, the local guy charged me 50USD more and say that there's no way I could've gotten so cheap price. I didn't bring the printed email with me so no choice. When I came back, I scanned the receipt and emailed it to the boss and he courier back 50USD to my house. So yea, just be careful.

There are many dive hotels there. So I think nonit to pre-book also can. But the problem is how are you going to get there?
When I book my stay with Tulamben Wreck Divers, they came to Tune Hotels at Kuta Beach (where I was staying) to pick us up and take us to their hotel, which was like almost 3 hours away and a whole lot of winding road car ride, but very scenic.

Not really. I just like wrecks in general.
For me it's nice cause it's a shipwreck. I like stuff like this.

I think your plan is feasible. I did something like that as well. Went to Bali for about a week long, stayed in Kuta Tune Hotel for a night before leaving for Tulamben early next morning. Was in Tulamben for 2 nights before going back to Kuta to continue Bali tour.

Heheh fluffy guy. How fluffy are you?

And yea, blackwhitechipsKL basically tell you what to do edi.
There are lots of mainland dive centers that can help you with that.

Yea MIDE is on 1st July. Too bad I'm not able to go.

As far as I'm concern, size isn't a problem. I have seen a really fat foreigner (and I mean reallllyyyy fat) went diving in a dry suit. He's the boss of one of the hotels that I've stayed in when I was in Mabul. He still enjoys diving.

This post has been edited by munkeyflo: Jun 2 2011, 12:02 PM

Get to your local swimming pool and do some practice. It isn't as hard as it sounds.

Different divers different preference, like another forumer here, he prefers VIP service dives where everything is set up and carried on board and we just wear BC and dive. So I think mostly foreign dive sites or 5 star hotel only can provide that. And some of us put our priorities on the beauty of the dive sites.

I haven't dive at Tenggol before. Have been wanting to dive there since last year but haven't got the time and chance to do so yet. I wanna do a LOB there.

Most of the LOBs I've heard are mainly Tenggol, in Malaysia la.
Yea LOBs for Aur/Dayang/Tioman are pretty common as well.

I've no experience with LOBs.
But I'm planning to go for LOB in Phuket sometime next year. From the picture, the boats look quite good. Of course prices all quoted in USD.

Haha. True. Berjaya per dives are actually cheaper compared to other hotels in Redang when I was there.
I guess it's just the image of the hotel that they have to carry as well. 5 star hotels so you have to provide 5 star services.

Putra, which dive center did you dive with? And roughly how much?
I'm still checking out which dive center has the best deal. Looking for roughly 4 to 5 days of LOB.

Yea I'm prone to seasick. Used to fine when I was younger, can read book in the car all the way up to Cameron or Genting, but now I tend to get car sick and sea sick already.
The other day coming back from Pulau Dayang 5 hours boat ride was horrible. I was vomiting and feeling like shit all the way.

I did my OWD with Alu Alu Divers. Don't know if it's the same one. My instructor was a Russian woman and her Russian bf just teman her most of the time. But this was like 5 years ago.

And yes, sea sick pills can be bought from the pharmacy. Some actually puts you to sleep so you won't be sea sick.

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Added on June 9, 2011, 11:13 amAlright! Thanks
I'll check them out in the future.

This post has been edited by munkeyflo: Jun 9 2011, 11:13 AM

Wow, didn't know etigge here was a DM! Haha. Thanks for the eye opener.

I was thinking of doing my DM course and work at the same time but still haven't got the time to do it yet. Wouldn't mind working on an island for months. I love the sea, sun and beach. lol.

No there isn't.

Lots of people actually do their OWD and AOW together when they first start taking up diving. It can be done in just a week or so.
PADI isn't really strict with their requirements unlike others. And most of the time you'll definitely pass.

Are you planning to do it all on the island or on mainland first?

Yes I agree with blackwhitechipsKL.
I will always recommend others to do it on mainland before going for certification dives instead of doing the whole course on the island.

As I did my OWD and AOW on Perhentian and Redang respectively, I can say that it was not fun at all.
I did Rescue on mainland first before going for certification dive and I learn so much more and was very well prepared for the certification on island. Especially the theory parts.

Haha. My sister once told me her experience with Singaporean divers (no offence if there are any Singaporeans here).
She was on her own with about 6 other male divers who then introduced themselves. They all brag about how they are already Divemasters and say that she can rely on them if anything goes wrong, without knowing that my sister was already a divemaster herself with lots of experience.

So after going into the water, the diveguide signal to decent. After a few minutes, my sister and the diveguide was at the bottom of the sea waiting for the other divers to decent. And it seems they were all kelang-kabut, going up and down, legs here hands there everywhere.

Can no problem.

^IMO, EM will definitely be more expensive than WM. So can't really compare.

Sipadan per day usually about 3 dives, 2 in the morning, then one after lunch. You have to see whether it includes the what marine fee or not, RM50 or something per day.

But yea, RM980 include accommodation and OWD is cheap. Don't think MIDE can get so cheap also.

Depends on your power, if its too high and uncommon then maybe won't have and need to order.

You don't need to buy much equipments first. Just your power mask will be fine.

Yea, I get the power mask or goggles that is slightly less than my power.
Actually if your power not very high, maybe around 100 or so, then nonit power goggles also can see underwater.

I bought mine for about RM150 per lens. Mask was about RM100. So total RM400 like that. I think its more expensive for higher power lens.

For what to wear during diving, it's actually very much up to personal preference. Especially in our country where the water isn't that cold.
There are divers who just dive in their bikini or swim suit while some put on a normal t-shirt and surf pants.

Of course the proper suit will be a wetsuit and an optional rashguard underneath. Or you can just go with a rashguard over your swimsuit/swimming trunk (which is what I usually do if I dive in swimming pools). I still prefer a long wetsuit because I'm more afraid of getting injuries from corals and jellyfish, because I kena jellyfish sting before actually.

Usually if you learn diving, the dive center will provide all the equipments, including the wetsuit unless your size is quite extreme and they can't find a suitable wetsuit for you. You can also get the rash guard if you want, cause it can be quite useful even if you don't do diving, you can use it for snorkeling as well. Unlike other equipments like BCD, can only use during diving.

Did you notice anyone selling S95 underwater housing? I'm looking for one. If you free can help me check the price? Thanks in advance.

IST is a Taiwan brand if I'm not mistaken. Cheaper than US and European brands, not as top quality I would say but good enough.