The Perhentian Islands

Perhentian Islands: Learning to Breathe Beneath the Sea

The Perhentian Islands rose like jewels from the South China Sea — their waters so clear, they shifted endlessly between emerald, turquoise, and sapphire. Against this backdrop of crystalline beauty, I took my first real steps into the underwater world, earning my Open Water Diving certification.

Days began unhurried, with the comforting ritual of strong coffee sweetened with condensed milk — a taste of Southeast Asia that seemed to anchor every morning. From there, time dissolved into colour: the cheerful jetty in shades of red, blue, and yellow; the vibrant reefs just below the surface; and the silent expanse of the deep, where every descent felt like entering another dimension.

Beneath the waves, life revealed itself in encounters both humbling and wondrous: turtles gliding with unhurried grace, bamboo sharks slipping quietly into shadow, schools of fish scattering like fractured sunlight. Each dive was not just adventure, but communion — a reminder of how vast, delicate, and alive the ocean truly is.

And above the water, I discovered yet another way of seeing. With the early days of my drone flying, I watched the islands from the sky — ribbons of sand edging into green jungles, lagoons opening into endless blues, the whole seascape unfolding like a living map. From those heights, the Perhentians revealed themselves not only as a diver’s paradise, but as a photographer’s dream — raw, radiant, and unforgettable.

This photo essay gathers fragments of that experience: the thrill of discovery, the poetry of the sea, and the luminous beauty of a place where land, sky, and water meet in perfect harmony.