Diving in Bidong Island

My last dive trip in 2011 was made to the forgotten island of Mini Saigon called Pulau Bidong.

Before embarking on the journey, I was quite apprehensive about the trip after having done some search about this little deserted island. Pulau Bidong used to be a UNHCR refugee camp post Vietnam war in the 1970s for about 20 years before it was declared as a restricted zone and closed from the public in 1991 ever since.

 

The small stretch of  beach on the island was in pristine condition, sea water was amazingly blue and crystal clear. But the 3 nights stay wasn't easy for most of us, certainly not yours truly. Amenities on the island were bare and rustic with limited food, electricity and water supply. But the divers say we’ll do whatever it takes to grab hold of this rare opportunity to get access into this new dive site.

One day we took a tour to check out the poignant remains of the once bustling refugee camp at the other side of the island, and I think all of us were quite mortified by the sight of it.

It looked like a badly rotten shack with no maintenance, there was a what it seemed like a temple and a church that has been destroyed and vandalised but some of relics still remain standing.

 

There was also a mass grave near the jetty commemorating those Vietnamese boat people who were drowned in the sea, and I also sighted some rusty kitchen utensils among the wild bush. Imagine that. It was beyond our imagination to think how on earth could this place used to house 40,000 refugees at one point.

As for marine life, some of the dive sites were quite pretty but we weren't blessed with good vis unfortunately. Well it's the end season afterall. The underwater gallery (first in Malaysia!) was pretty cool and so was the bus and excavator wreck. I'm happy to say that I'm now a ADD! (almost advance diver :P)

If you have not heard of Pulau Bidong, here's a little read.
http://www.terengganutourism.com/pulau_bidong.htm