There is nothing worse than going for a dive holiday only to have the weather work against you. And believe me, this has never been more true for most of my experiences in Perhentian. As far as I can remember, weather in Perhentian has never been good to me and in fact, Mother Nature has never been cheekier than to make my last day the brightest, most cloudless, and with the calmest sea you have ever seen. Yeah, after the rain she had unleashed upon me had left serious burns on my face (for same effect, try a industrial pressure jet spray in your face).

Not to mention, I have a reputation for being a jinx for bad weather. I am not going to name names here about a good friend in particular in Turtle Bay Divers for perpetuating this myth. So when my cousin suggested going to Perhentian so early in the season, I thought what have I got to lose.

Everything was to be different on this trip, many thanks to my dear cousin Patrick and after a bone jarring all-night drive to Kuala Besut, we finally arrived at the jetty to await our speedboat to the islands.

This time, we were bound for Teluk Dalam, a deep water lagoon with a very shallow coral reef running along its beach. Teluk Dalam is located on the southern coast of Pulau Perhentian Besar ( Big Perhentian Island ), the larger, as the name implies, of the two islands that makes up the Perhentian Islands .

We planned to dive with a brand new dive operation called alu-alu divers and to stay over at Samudera Chalets, an operation located right next to the dive store.

Alu-alu divers were relatively well stocked with equipment considering that they were not ready to take any customers. It's still early, considered the tail end of the East Coast Monsoons, and a time most dive and chalet operators use to prepare their businesses after the ravages of bad weather. Nevertheless, being a new (and in part, refurbished) dive operator, much of the equipment were relatively new and in ample supply. The staff members are not new hands either, and consist of Perhentian veterans, such as Thomas and Megumi.

Admittedly, considering that they had to do “house” (painting, laying cement to name a few) chores while being divemasters and instructors, the staff at alu-alu were a complete pleasure to dive with. I will without reservation, recommend giving alu-alu a try the next time you are at Teluk Dalam. There are other older, and much more established dive operators here. But the charm of alu-alu is its personal touch, and its very small divemaster to diver ratio, providing a very tailored and safe dive outing.

So how were the dives you ask? Well, let's put it this way, I no longer believe in jinxes. I was blessed with 3 days of sunshine, and relatively calm seas. Water visibility was not perfect though, it was after all, the tail-end of the monsoon. However, it was clear enough to see the beauty of the islands. To top it off, the relative quiet of the islands and the lack of divers in the water has brought out the sea life to the fore. Enough to even allow amateurs like me to take some decent shots. My favorite of all were definitely the photographs of the many Nudibranch species in Perhentian.

As for Samudera Chalets, they are basically basic. But they were comfortable, clean and for many of us divers who spend most of our time in the water anyway, they were just about right. The plus point was its proximity to the dive shop, which meant that you did not need to haul your body quite that far after each dive to grab your personal stuff. In my case, it mainly consisted of battery changes for my camera plus the ever needed lube of silicon grease on the o-ring seals of my underwater case. But if you are looking for something more along the lines of a beach resort, with all day electricity, hot showers and air-conditioning, I recommend the brand new Arwana Perhentian Eco Resort and Beach Chalet. These operations which started 2004 season provide all the comfort of home and more. Their pool will be operational later this year, together with their jetty.