The Day After Perancis Balik

WX- Great weather again. Seas a bit choppy, otherwise fine. Current very strong.

Would you believe it. It's all about luck and timing. We had about 35 French nationals plus some others nationals in the resort for 8 days. About 10 of them saw the hammerheads once in all that time. The day after the the Perancis leaves, most if not all the others plus the new arrivals see the school on their first dive. ALMOST all except for those that think they know where the hammerheads hang out after diving here once before (the know alls). Ahhh.... what clever divers they are. So Des Ne.

We just had some comments from some divers that left Layang Layang not too long ago. The bottom line is having a jolly good time on holiday. Diving and (especially) the hammerheads is but an excuse for a well deserved holiday away from the daily grind of going to work. See you guys on the ski slopes.

Cameras and Camcorders

Wx- Back to hot and sunny today. Great for suntaning again. Calm flat seas.

Sighting-again as usual the normal culprits. Hammerheads, schooling jacks, dolphins, dogtooth ....... (curiousity, how do you do an underwater hand sign for school of jacks?).

Reminder for those with cameras and all. Do you know that the modern camera or camcorder have a time out after 5 minutes or so? We have divers coming back complaining that they did not take a photo or filmed the hammerheads and exciting fishes because they thought they were filming or taking a shot when they pressed the button. It's like the stories of those days when you ran out of film at the moment you needed it most. Also, can you remember to close your mouth in awe and take the shot. Another reminder, if you chase the subject, you will only get tail shots and a scolding from other divers when you chase the subject away. Be considerate and think of others before you swim off like a missile.

Word of advise, make sure you secure your camera/camcorder to your body. We just had a severe case of missing camera at depth (like 2000m). Sayonara.

Wet Wet Wet

WX-Very wet. rain the whole day. Vis underwater very good. Sea calm.

Like the weatherman says, very sunny. In reality, rained the whole day. Trust the weatherman for accuracy.

Manta up close and personal. Maybe thresher (according to guest), marble ray, and a bikini clad DM. Efeects of the French divers on him. Oh, forgot, a school of hammerheads for the divers that arrived today on their first dive. Some divers are just born lucky. Too bad messieurs and madames, better luck next time.

Question. Do divers have childish tantrums or is it only just a specific nationality? Bon voyage.

Mobulars and Friends

WX-Great for diving, sunshine, calm seas and just a light breeze.


12 Mobulars, 5 Suspect oceanic white tips (as reported by guests), 1 Ferrari whale shark (did not hang around, just swam off as reported by DM), 1 very big shark (yet to be identified but suspect to be Tiger by DM) in the deep, 1 hammerhead (definite), a school of hammerheads (definite 3 only maximum), 1 leopard and 1 ghost pipe fish. Water temperature is warm at the top and cold at depth (20m onwards).

Reminder. When you drink alcohol, don't drive/dive. Regardless of whether it's half a glass or not, red/white wine, beer, gin tonic/bitter lemon, jd, vodka or whatever we forgot to write. (What happened during the dive operation briefing???) And if you do drink before the dive, make sure you continue to enjoy it because you're not going to dive for that day. Next, if the DM stops you from diving, don't blame the waitress for serving you. It's not her fault. Divers are supposed to be responsible for their welfare as well as their buddies. On that note, have a safe dive and enjoy the undersea or pool side.

Ps. If you can salsa, please teach everyone else so that we may enjoy the exercise. Thank you.

Another Day in Our Paradise

Wx-Sunshine and everything nice. Calm seas and mild currents.

Water temperature and visibility almost extremes. Cold at depth and hot at the top. Visibility green at depth and brown/red on top. We are not scientist but a rough idea would be that the cold waters currents rose to the surface and compressed the upper layer to the top with the planktons included. Can somebody enlighten us if that was the scenario?

Sightings still normal with the hammerheads. We guess the water visibility and temperature has no effect on their behavior pattern. So, theoretically speaking the stories about hammerheads likes and dislikes are about as good as theories.

Spinners playing around after yesterday's storm. Some lucky divers got to dive with them for 15 minutes. Fortunately or unfortunately, they did not get to see them fornicating.

All in One

21st to 25th Wx-Sunshine and calm seas until today, heavy rains in the morning and choppy seas but diveable.

For the past few days, we have regular sightings of Hammerhead schools, Mantas, Mobulars and all the usual stuff. We are now waiting for the Orcas, Mola Molas and Tiger to show up. NOT all the divers in-house have seen the elusive hammerheads. Pressure is still on for the DMs. We still say luck has everything to do with the sightings.

Also we have a group from France (33), this place is turning into mini French town. Last week was Hong Kongers and next week will be Japanese. As for the other Europeans, they have been turning up regularly every year but in smaller numbers. All we need now are the Timbuktooans to show up to make it really international and interesting.

Trivia, do you remember on the MAS flight from LLR to BKI and got security check as you board the plane? We have some new security staff certified by MAS to search you now. Recognise anyone? The guys who made you the Hammerheads on the bed.
Au revoir.

Yesterday and Today

Wx-jolly good yesterday

Only 17 mobulars, 3 turtles, 2 mantas, 1 hammerhead and a couple of leaf fishes on a coral head.

15 divers from HK had a sarong party theme night. The mixture fom the group comprised of 1 american, 2 japanese, 3 indonesians and 9 hongkongers. Nice party bunch and a lot of attempted salsaing. Been here 4 times, so we guess they know what they are doing.

Wx-heavy thunder and a sprinkling of rain in t6he morning today. Humid in the afternoon.

Quiet underwater as far as the pelagics goes. Hammerheads must have gone off again for another shopping holiday. We are praying that they come back soon. Wind still blowing from north east.
Currently about 80 divers and will begin to climb again after this week end. That's it for now. ciao.

Surprise of the week

Wx-very hot and very fine for past 3 days.

No posts on previous 2 days because we do not want to bore you with the same story (no hammerhead sightings). Until today that is. we guess we are beginning to develop the same syndrome as all the divers that come to Layang Layang (hammerheads or bust).
Main gripe is no hammerheads means no good dive, no good divemaster and want their money back. Get real ladies and gentlemen, we don't have a secret switch for the hammerheads, we do not have a contract with them that says they must perform when YOU are around, we do not have a line to god either. We are only human and our job is to divemaster, show you stuff we know and can control. HAMMERHEADS, THRESHER, WHALE SHARKs, MANTAs are not bolted down in the water. We know you pay a lot of hard earned money to be here, WE WANT to show everything you expect but...........

Praise be to god (in normal circumstance, we are not that religious), there are a lot of other divers that do not have that mentality or expectations. We thank them for making us happy just to know them as happy people. Hip Hip Hooray.

On a lighter note. Have you notice the sunset when you are in Layang Layang? They can be so spectacular. We heard tell that some people will travel all over the world for a beautiful sunset. Hey, the stars are great too. makes you small when you look up and try to count them.
ps. we welcome you all with open arms regardless.

Good News

Wx-same as yesterday and still looks good. Good enough for BBQ.

Hammerheads must be thinking about easter eggs as well. They are all over the place on the 1st and 2nd dives. Manta too but it was deep. Mobulars and thresher again. As for the jacks and all, they are still at the same place as before. Overall, today was a good day. 120 divers in house but it does not look or feel as though there are that many around. We'll see what happens during the BBQ. If they are missile eaters or not.

Spot the King, if you are Malaysians, you should. The other gentleman is our FT Minister who controls the land the resort is on. Name the person way back there in the background and get a free beer. Make it 2 if you know the full name.

Questions to answer when they get off the plane, "where are the hammerheads?" - IN THE WATER. "where in the water?" - For those of you who know us, you can answer on our behalf, right? Thank you.

Turtle Stress

Wx-great as always, everything perfect for a great diving holiday EXCEPT......

Underwater creatures turned up for their expected performance on schedule. We guess our contract with them was an offer they could not refuse. Bottom line is so far so good. We only hope that the manager for the hammerheads and friends will not get a better offer from somewhere else.
EXCEPT some divers are still swimming like missiles chasing after them and depriving the relaxed, concientious, considerate, safe and responsible divers from a chance of witnessing the hammerheads.

EXCEPT we had a diver from Hong Kong that grabbed hold of a turtle underwater and shook the shit out of it. He was banned from diving but we think banning him was too mild. We wonder what would happen if we got hold of his son and shook the shit out of him? Look at the photo closely and you will see what we mean.

ps. For your information, Hong Kong divers are not the only ones. For all you know, tomorrow may be another diver from a first world country or worst still, could be the guy next to you. Ahhhh humans, aren't they fun. Cheerio.

New Chicks

Wx-same as yesterday and rain is now on the wish list.

Hammerhead school sighted but not as prolific as a couple of weeks ago. As for the other great stuff, they are still around. eg.
silvertips, jacks, yellow fins, baras, ghosts, pristine reef......

Our feathered friends have been back for a while now. Unfortunately, we were so engrossed with the HAMMERHEADS that we forgot to mention them in the previous posts. Chicks are up and running. This year they were back early, we suspect they might not be the original flock as the numbers are smaller. Wind is still blowing North East. We will let you know if and when another flock arrives. Try this site for more infomation.

Hammerheads Back from Leave

Wx-very,very,very hot, Sea-flat, vis-30+m, Currents-zero

At last, some action in the water. They were sighted at about 30-35m. Maybe wrote too fast. Knocking on wood and the keyboard, just to be safe. All the HHs must be back from their shopping holidays. Just hope there isn't any fishy travel fare or something. If they go off somewhere for another cheap holiday, we'll be screwed/hammered (most probably on the heads).

The weather is very,very,very hot and dry. For sun tan and all, great. How's the weather in the city, don't you wish you were here? Sometimes we wonder whether certain divers are lucky or unlucky, they can only get to see the Hammerheads when they extend their stay. Others don't see it even if they stay for 2 weeks and some get everything in 6 days 5 nights. How long and when is a good time, you figure it out. Bye.

More and Less

Wx-more sun, Sea-less waves, Vis-more further, Current-less strong

Mobulars 17, Hammerheads 1 school, Ghost pipe fish 2, Frogfish 1 and a lot of new divers. More divers and less sightings. Now that we are beginning to get more divers, the opposite on the hammerheads (LESS). For those who are arriving in the next couple of days, we wish it could be different. You will hear us telling you that we wish you were here last month. This line sounds familiar? Hey, we may be wrong and you will see everything.

Word of advise, please read an earlier post on the profile of hammerheads in the archive. DON'T EXCEED 40M. NO doctor, NO ambulance, NO decompression chamber, NO heroes alive and NO good saying sorry.

Reality check, have a good dive holiday, enjoy the undersea world. Remember, the guy above is in charge of the hammerheads, not the DMs. Enjoy.

Back To Normal

Wx-very very hot, Sea-1-2m, Vis-30.25m,

From 7th to 9th, we had Our Royal Highness, King of Malaysia on the island. Diving continued as normal but the blog..... well, what can we say. Anyway back to the good news, the Hammerhead schools came back yesterday and today. We hope they will last through the easter period. The mobulars, marlin and jacks as always. Will write more when more news come in.

Mobulars and Threshers

Wx-hot, Sea-very choppy, vis-30m, Currents-all over the place

14 mobulars and a thresher for the day. All the other stuff still doing their thing.

For some trivia, the Agung (King) is coming for a visit. Lots of their support staff trying to make themselves important by sitting around, drinking coffee, watching tv and hiding in their rooms. Support staff-90, VIPs-30, Agung-1, hours spent in the resort-22, actual hours seen by anyone-6. Bye.

Hammerhead Holidays

Wx-great weather for additional tanning, Current-very, very strong.

As the title says, we think the SLF have gone for a group package tour to somewhere. Whats left behind are the stragglers that could not afford it. Ones and twos cruising around the reef. Thats about it. Disappointment galore. What to do? Diving and LIVING goes on. Currents are very strong.

Starting tomorrow, we will be having 150 guests and by this week end it will be 180. Good and bad, 50 divers and 130 non divers. Back to normal of about 70 divers by Monday. Numbers starts to increase from easter week end to 120 divers until 5th May. If you choose your time right, you will be part of the statistic. It's an experience not to be missed. You will never ever complain that there are too many divers after this.

We had a tsunami underwater sensor installed off the reef somewhere at 400m. The sensor records water movement at depth and transmit every hour to a collection centre in KL. It sounds like a bunch of dolphins having a discussion underwater when it is transmitting. See ya soon.

Past 3 Days

WX-great for sun tan. Today-cloudy and choppy

Hammerhead schools for the past 3 days. All sighted 25-30m. Still lots of missile divers. Lots of complaints about the missiles but none willing to lose out or change.

Especially so for the (no idea how to shoot a fish head and only tail shots) photographers. Divers who (had only 3 dives in Layang Layang, stayed 2 nights and know where all the hammerheads hang out) think they are better than the Divemasters mentality. Then in the end, they blame the divemasters for not showing them the hammerheads.

Oh, when will they ever learn? NEVER.

Hope you have fun next time turning your divemaster blue. But be careful when the divemaster unleash their secret weapons (photo) and turn you blue and black. Cheers