Dive Global can help you enjoy the very best in global diving. Contact our experts at Dive Global to
make sure you get the most out of your dive trips, every time. Plan a Trip Today...
|
SERVICES >
Custom Dive Trip Planning >
More on... | Trip of the
Month | Destination
of the Month | Liveaboards
| Diver's Tales |
Critter Calendar | Seasonal
Calendar | Site
of the Month
 Terry and Tracy are Dive Global's newest underwater travel journalists team. We will follow this adventurous Divemaster/Diveinstructor couple on their latest forays into the Global underwater world.
Terry Dukes comes from Portsmouth in Hampshire, England where after leaving school he became an apprentice in HM Dockyard and learned to become a Fitter and Turner. He learned to dive in the UK in 1994 and became a PADI Instructor this year. He’s a shark fan and hates anyone that eats Shark Fin Soup and refuses to eat in any restaurant that has shark on the menu. Terry’s passion is diving and making his guided dives fun and interesting for his divers and remains in touch with many of them.
Tracy Donaldson also comes from Portsmouth and learned to dive in the UK following a Try-Dive in a pool which was a Christmas Present from Terry. She qualified as an instructor in 1999 in the Tioman Islands in Malaysia and is now a Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Tracy’s love is teaching and is particularly pleased to take on students of a nervous disposition. Her other passion is wildlife photography.
Together they've been traveling & diving the world for the last five years...
The last few months Terry and Tracy have been in Brunei diving the oil rigs. Here's their story...
The kingdom of Brunei is located at the top of the island of Borneo, sandwiched between the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and is probably the smallest country we have ever been to. We would have never heard of the place let alone visited it, if it had not been for the fact that Matt and Kirsty, friends of ours from Portsmouth, moved out there to live.
Diving in Brunei falls into three main categories: reefs, wrecks and rigs.
Reefs around Brunei are generally quite shallow, have excellent fish and coral life, but are affected by fairly strong currents and only low to average visibility caused by a lot of run off by the surrounding rivers, which can make them seem a touch bland. But good for training and open water dives. Wrecks, these seem to be Brunei’s major attraction. There are three wrecks dived regularly, including the Australian, American and Cement wrecks. The Blue water wreck is quite away out and not dived often. Also there is the wreck of The Bolkiah which is in close to shore but fairly difficult to find. Plus many other uncharted second war wrecks. The good thing about diving the wrecks is that they are not affected by river run-off and generally have excellent visibility.
This article is about diving the Oil rigs of this country. As oil is the main source of income for Brunei, there are quite a few offshore oil rigs and many of them are accessible to divers. They are rich in marine life, acting as man-made reefs and giving homes to many hard and soft corals.
 Oil exploration began in Brunei in the early 1900's, with the investigation of natural seepages and oil pools in the Labi and Seria districts. It was not until 1929 that the first land drilling became productive in Seria marking the beginning of what is now a multi-billion dollar operation, and the source of Brunei's wealth.
The advent of the second world war and the subsequent invasion of the Japanese severely halted oil production and it wasn't until the late 1950's that oil exploration began in earnest again. This time, offshore, with Shell's first platform becoming operational at South West Ampa oil field in 1963. This was followed by the first offshore processing plant at Ampa 6, in 1976. Since then drilling has been successful all along the Brunei coastline at Fairley, Champion, Iron Duke and Magpie oilfields. The structures are now becoming artificial reefs encrusted with coral and sponges, and teaming with marine life.
Until a few years ago, Shell had a policy of "cleaning" growth from the platforms due to a concern that the added weight of the growth and it's "rooting" into the metal structures would cause damage. Fortunately, this has now stopped as studies have shown the platforms can easily cope with twice their own weight and that the growth actually protects the metal it clings to. This has allowed the platforms to become rich in marine life and home to an abundance of fish. One of the strangest phenomena observed by local divers is the fact that different platforms play host to different species; that is, it seems to be whichever life form gets to a platform first becomes the most dominant. So, it is seen, some sites are mainly covered in sponges, whereas others can be encrusted in soft or hard corals. Also, the fact that on one site, Octopus are prevalent, on another Moray Eels will dominate. Further investigation into this is hopefully going to be carried out by Marine Biologists in the near future.
Platforms
 The platforms which we dived were the furthest out of the Ampa field, roughly 10-11 nautical miles from the shore off Kuala Belait. All have a maximum depth of 40 metres which is generally not reached as the sea bed is very silty and the bottom 5m's or so is quite stirred up and not worth wasting your dive time on.
The general construction of a DP (Drilling Platform) is a square with 4 legs held together with criss cross horizontal bracings at around 26m, 16m and 5m, with 10 to 12 "conductors" (pipes that originally held the drilling and now serve in bringing the oil to surface) which reach from the drilling platform to the sea bed. This arrangement makes navigation and multi level diving very easy and interesting, with many places for corals and sponges to grow and for fish to live and hide. PP's (Production Platforms) are of similar design but lack the presence of the conductors, making the construction very open. This allows shafts of sunlight through causing excellent silhouettes and giving the feeling of cathedral-like atmosphere.
PP's and DP's are connected by overhead gantry's of pipe work and navigation between the (underwater) is pretty straightforward, allowing both to be dived on one dive. This gives the opportunity to experience two different environments.
AMDP 8, PP 8 AND DP 27
These 3 platforms are joined in an "L" shape configuration. They can be dived all on the same dive but the best way is in pairs on two dives, diving DP8 twice. The resident life form on DP 27 seems to be octopus living in the conductor funnels at 12m. Whereas, on DP 8 it seems to be barrel sponges and huge Starry Puffers (possible 1m long - never seen any so big before!), and PP8 seems to be home to a rather large friendly turtle. Also seen on the dives are a school of Giant Barracuda cruising mid water between DP8 and PP8.
 AM DP 5
This rig is covered in bright green soft coral "trees" so thick in some parts that it is impossible to get through the conductors, as well as the usual reef fish in abundance. Tracy and Matt were lucky enough to see two Manta Rays cruising past overhead in the blue water on this dive.
AM DP 21
This was our first rig dive and the visibility was amazing. You could sea all the way to the see bed at 40m with the sun filtering through the platform making for an awe inspiring dive. It is covered in corals and sponges and some very curious batfish circling around on the safety stop. None of the fish on these platforms seem overly perturbed by the presence of divers which seems to indicate the lack of hassle they receive from their visitors which is a good thing as the Club operates a no-touch policy. All in all well worth the 5 a.m. start and the 120km drive from our "home" in Muara to Kuala Belait.
 AM DP 12
Closer to shore than the previous platforms and subsequently a touch shallower, it's bottom bracing is around 20m and this is where the life is. This platform has more of a "reef" feel to it, as it is teaming with reef fishes such as a dozen or so very inquisitive Blue Ringed Angelfish, schooling Bannerfish and a multitude of Moorish Idols, Anthias and Dascilus, plus White Eyed Morays and Octopus. The structure is encrusted with sponges of all shapes and size. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of life above this 20m point so it is worth using your bottom time wisely to get the maximum from this otherwise lovely dive.
Monsoon season in Brunei is from around November to February. This brings heavy rains which cause a lot of run-off from rivers, thus reducing visibility, together with stron winds that make it too rough to go out. Kuala Belait is on the river Barum and on rainy days the river can wipe out the diving completely. As the diving is generally on done here at the weekends, it is best to visit during the dry season between March and October to avoid disappointment.
Getting to Brunei is easy and fairly cheap. It can be reached from the neighbouring state of Sabah by boat from Kota Kinabalu via the island of Labuan, or by air direct to Bandar Seri Begawan (the capital of Brunei), from both Kota Kinabalu and Labuan and also from Kuching in Sarawak. You can also reach it from both Sabah and Sarawak by road, though it's quite a drive! International flights arrive daily from the UK via Abu Dhabi (Dubai on Sunday), Perth and Brisbane, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. These flights are with Royal Brunei Airlines, who can be contacted through their website at www.bruneiair.com . Airline prices are very competitive and deals are often available. Brunei is also served by Malaysian, Thai and Singapore airlines. Once in Brunei transport can be expensive and difficult, so the best way to get around is to hire a car. Hertz, based in the district of Gadong have very reasonable rates and can be contacted by emailing Eyien Lim at hertz@brunet.com. Advanced booking is recommended, so you can have a car waiting at the airport for you. Getting around can be a bit confusing as Brunei has very modern roads and it seems there are at least 5 ways to get where you want to go. Also, road maps are difficult to obtain as they are officially banned due to a bizarre ruling dating from 1962 which has never been lifted. Howerver, "Shell", do produce a very comprehensive map in book form but it's finding one that's the problem. Kuala Belait, is about 100km drive from the airport. Once in Kuala Belait, hotels are easily located on the seafront road and in the town centre, around the Jalan Pretty area. Petrol is incredibly cheap so exploring the country is definately worth the effort.
Shell adopts very strict health and safety guidelines concerning Recreational Scuba diving on it's platforms, and only allows limited access to the Panaga Sub Aqua Club and the Garrison diving club - both based in Kuala Belait. Luckily for us, we met John Elder, a leading member of the Panaga Club whilst out diving the wrecks and he invited us to do some diving with his club. We took him up on this offer a couple of weeks later and were very glad that we did, as the dives were beautiful with heaps of life and crystal clear water. We strongly recommend diving in this part of the world if you get the chance. John can be contacted on annajohn47@hotmail.com for further information on the clubs' schedule. Please note, it is a private club not a dive shop and large groups of tourists cannot be catered for, but individuals and pairs should cause no problem.
Read more about Terry & Tracy's adventures on their website TNT Dive Ventures
Lonely Planet Brunei :: Online | Buy
|