Pulau Weh 2008: Part 7

Pulau Weh has got to be one of best dive sites on the planet due to its crystal clear waters and abundant marine life. The sheer variety of corals and fishes was astounding, from pilot sharks to mantas, giant gorgonian sea fans to tiny nudibranches, there is something here for every diver.

And thanks to this lady, my good friend and dive mentor Yanni, I was able to savour the underwater wonders of Pulau Weh.

Ok, on with the final few dive pics. And have I saved the best (most of which were taken by Nazri) for last. This is a black-saddled sharpnose pufferfish. It's basically a pufferfish lah (fugu, you know?) but got a bit too creative (or narcissistic) about its appearance. ;)

This is a very very small nudibranch which only a very skillful diver could stay still enough to capture on film. Who else: Nazri lah!


This pretty little thing is called a flatworm. And its brightly coloured body is to ward off predators. Unfortunately this strategy had backfired when facing its most notorious enemy: the underwater photographer. Pretty mah.... so take picture lor....

This elusive fish is called the spotted boxfish. It is a distant relative of the pufferfish (probably by marriage) Hehehe

Wah.... a lady diver dropped her handkerchief..... no lah, this is a nudibranch egg mass. Apparently they spiral in an anti-clockwise direction. I wonder if nudibranch eggs in the southern hemisphere spiral in the opposite direction.....

That's me with Simon and his big-ass underwater camera equipment.... looks impressive but damn bloody hard to manoeuvre underwater especially when there is strong current.

The thing about Weh is the abundance of fish and the water clarity that makes the entire vista so enchanting. Everything is just that much more colourful, and many a time we found ourselves in depths over 40m and yet it was so clear and bright.

This is a table coral with its very own centrepiece. Maybe the host is expecting a few divers for dinner. Yummm....

Another honeycomb moray eel guarding its lair against predators and pesky divers who can't seem to leave it alone.

Our final dive of the trip was at a shallow sand bank dubbed the volcano due to the underwater hot springs that spew out boiling hot sulfurous gas.

Even in such an environment, we could see lots of fish, and very large ones at that, swimming around as if they realy relished the sauna-like environment.

This is the aquatic version of a communal Japanese sauna where every one just gathers around the warmth and lets it all hang out. :)

Erm.....I think this is Simon making his contribution to the gaseous environment.


Before we knew it, it was time to go back up.... for good. The last dive on the last day was over.... Time to head back to shore and clean up and pack up everything.

Ah, here's the group photo of all 25 of us... erm... where's Nazri? Alamak, he has been cut out of the pic... Sorry bro!

So until the next dive trip, I wish you all clear skies and everything nice. Oh oh, coming up... my JAVA PICS!!!!!