KUANTAN: Two couples conducting their marriage rites under the sea are among the highlights of this year’s Tioman Mega Dive 2008.

State Tourism, Arts and Heritage Committee chairman Shafik Fauzan Sharif said other equally interesting events include underwater photography and treasure hunt competitions, marine conservation project, underwater fashion SHOW and a beach fiesta.

He said the event was aimed at promoting Tioman Island, which had previously been dubbed as one of the top 10 most beautiful islands in the world, to foreign tourists and also locals.

“Last year’s successful event saw the participation of 196 divers.

“So far, there are some 40 registered participants and we expect about 200 divers to take part throughout the four-day event,” he said on Monday.

Also present were Tioman Development Authority general manager Datuk Hashim Mat Tahir and Pahang Tourism Malaysia director Amran Abdul Rahman.

Shafik said foreigners had recognised the event as one of the biggest gatherings of scuba divers in the Asia Pacific region.

He said some divers even acknowledged that the reefs at Tioman were much better than those at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

“They told me that our reefs have more varieties and need to be preserved.

“As such, the authorities should carry out programmes to conserve our reefs and make it a selling point to attract more divers and visitors,” he said, adding that among the foreigners who would be participating this year were Singaporeans, Thais, Japanese and British.

Shafik said to preserve the surroundings, the event would be held as a rather low-key affair.

He said the diving spots had also been limited to around Kampung Salang to avoid logistics problem arising FROM last year.

The event will be FROM today to Sunday.

For more information, visit the website at www.tiomanmegadive.com.

Source The Star Online