Pulau Sembilan, Perak, Malaysia

4Dr_Igor_1971 5:00 PM Jan 4, 2014

Pulau Sembilan – Diving with Quiver Dive Team (Lumut)
Few weeks ago we had our dive trips to Pulau Sembilan organized by Quiver Dive Team branch in Lumut (Perak). Sembilan Islands (the Nine Islands), an archipelago of nine islands, is located in the Straits of Malacca, about 15 nautical miles (25km) off the southern coast of Pulau Pangkor. The nine islands include: • Pulau Agas, • Pulau Payong, • Pulau Nipis, • Pulau Rumbia, • Pulau Lalang, • Pulau Saga, • Pulau Buluh, • Black Rock, • White Rock. Situated 25km south of Pangkor, it takes half an hour boat ride to reach there. This is the spot where Pulau Sembilan Fishing Safari is held every year as a tourism event. There are several dive sites around these islands, which range from about 5m – 40m in depth, and have a prolific marine life. The dive site here are generally more challenging due to the currents and poor visibility, which is rarely above 15m and often as low as 3m. We had few dives on 30 Nov 2013 (three “Fun dives”), 21 & 22 Dec 2013 (five dives for “PADI Advanced Open Water”) around Pulau Sembilan with visibility 7 – 0.5 m: 1) Pulau Saga (13m – 15m) with a lot of anemones in the shallows which host anemone fish (Skunk Clownfish). We were lucky to see seahorses (Common Seahorses) and nudibranches (Jorunna funebris, Pustulose Nudibranch, Varicose Wart Slug). It is a good spot to find juvenile Yellow Boxfish, the juvenile Blue Ringed Angelfish, Common Porcupinefish, Blue Spotted Lagoon Ray, Triggerfish, Moorish Idol, Yellowback Fusiliers, Razorfish and Scorpio Fish. 2) Pulau Buluh (13m – 15m). Reef includes staghorn coral, whip coral, barrel sponges and vibrant soft corals. The main disadvantage of this area is poor visibility, which is rarely above 15 m and often as low as 3 m. Many types of Nudibranches are hard to be spotted except by the eagle-eyed diver. I was lucky to see Brownbanded Bamboo Shark, Porcupinefish, Blue Spotted Lagoon Ray, Blue Ringed Angelfish, Yellowback Fusiliers, Groupper, Boxfish and even small Sea Eel. 3) White Rock (30m), the little atoll with white tower. Information about this site says that it is “possibly the best site to find seahorses, the macro life is amazing here, from large and small nudibranchs, to juvenile moray eels, juvenile boxfish and scorpionfish.” Unfortunately I didn’t see “an abundance of life” here as visibility during my dive was around 0.5m – 1m. The nicest island in the group is Pulau Lalang, which has a fresh water stream and a beach for camping. We stayed here for our lunch. As I already mentioned I undertook my PADI Advanced Open Water with Quiver Dive Team (Lumut branch). Lumut branch is situated at Marina Island, Lumut, Perak which is within three hours driving by car from Kuala Lumpur. I thoroughly satisfied with all aspects of the course. I have been extremely well looked after by the office and feel I have had a very high standard of tuition. I enjoyed learning the additional skills such as Drift Dive and fish ID dive. Absolute pleasure to have Eugene and Muhamad Arif as instructors. All thanks to the exceptional mixture of professionalism, support and trust gained from the staff. I would like to extend a special ‘Thank You’ to Leanne and Carlos. I highly recommend them to anyone for diving!

4Choonwat 5:00 PM Dec 15, 2016

Relax trip
There are 2 operators currently providing the full service (transfer, dining, accommodation etc) in Pulau Sembilan. Both occupied a portion of the beach side by side. According to the staff, there is 3rd operator coming soon, their facility is under construction right now. I have read some of the reviews here about the Nine Island (Pulau Sembilan). I am lucky that I have chosen the right operator as I did not face the bad experience as they do. Instead of I chose the more established operator, I opted for Ice Star, which is smaller in terms of number of tourist handed as compare to their rival. Even though they are smaller, however, they have appropriate amenities such as washrooms, camp site (shaded) etc. The camp site is equipped with ample ceiling fan and lighting. They are more than 10 washrooms just situated beside to the camp site. The tent provided are generally ok for me. The staffs set up the tent for all of us. For the 2D1N package, we were served for 2 breakfast (1 on the jetty and 1 in the island), 1 lunch (seafood platter), 1 tea time, 1 dinner (another seafood platter with slight different dish than lunch) and 1 BBQ supper. The taste was ok although it may not be matching to hotel standard. However, the serving size is too big for me. All the tables were unable to finish their food. I did feedback to the staff to reduce the portion as to avoid wastage. Mineral water is unlimited supplied through out the appx 24 hours stay in the island. My package is MYR 270 for adult, which is MY20 cheaper than another operator. According to the staff, this is because they are not providing lunch after exiting the island in the 2nd day. They cancelled this sometimes ago per the feedback that it is too early for lunch since the return transfer take place normally after breakfast in the island. The boat transfer has to be happened before low tide as the boat unable to get into the jetty during low tide. My kids were so enjoyed playing water on the beach as well as snorkeling trip and jungle trekking. They are peoples opted for boat fishing provided by the operator at no charge. However, we were unlucky as the seawater at the snorkeling spot was cloudy on that day probably due to weather. The jungle trekking just took less than an hour. It was a bit challenging especially for my 6 years old son. But, everyone enjoyed the trekking. There is a nice scene for photographing along the journey of the trekking. We did see the blue tears (illuminated planktons) but pretty small quantities along the beach. The staff was saying probably due to tides and seasons. In summary, it was a relaxing trip. We left with good and positive memories about the island and activities arranged.