Diving Bali

This is where we set off on a bat to Nusa Penida island for 3 dives. You can see some traditional boats there - not our mde of transportation though.

These are pictures from the first dive. It was a drift dive so its hard to take ictures when moving with a strong current and I was a little overwhelmed by everything so didn't take too many pictures. I didn't bring the camera on the next two dives because I needed to focus on what I was doing being a newbie at scuba.

Spiral coral

Sea Turtle!

I wake up early and head to BIDP for my first diving experience in Bali. We will be doing three dives around Nusa Penida island. A small island that is part of Bali off of its southeast coast. It takes about an hour on the boat to get there. There are only 5 divers which is good for me, since only have the 4 open water certification dives under my belt I'm a little nervous. I get to buddy with one of the divemasters who is also an instructor. We actually have 2 diving with us. Our first dive is Tugu and is a drift dive. It was a really amazing sloping reef that went down many meters. Its hard to get a good look at anything though because of the current and I was really nervous since I had never been diving with such a strong current and felt like I was being pulled down and away from reef, but when I was closer to the reef with my buddy it was better. The next dive was also a drift dive at SD which I enjoyed more now being more acclimated to the conditions. We saw trumpet fish and sea turtles and someone even saw a pigme seahorse, but my eyes aren't trained enough to see something so tiny. Anyway, I stayed really close to Farrish. The current was so strong that our group got split up. I stayed with my buddy and all was good. There were amazing coral formations larger than I ever imagined. And schools of fish swimming all around us. I really need to learn about marine life so I can be more specific about what I saw. I saw lots of pretty colorful ones, big, small, skinny, fat, some with funny looking mouths...(sorry, Lauren!). Our last dive was at Crystal Bay which during this time of year one can see the famous Mola-Mola (or sunfish) that is about 3 meters long, flat and has a dorsal fin and a ...This spot also had a severe thermocline (good thinking BIDP on the double wetsuits for that dive) it was about 23 Celsius in the thermocline. This spot was also beautiful with really deep blue water and many schools of fish. More marine life than coral formation but really spectacular as well. It was an easy dive with no mola-mola. I guess I'll have to come back to Bali for mola mola season. The whole crew was really nice and invited me back to the office to have some Arak, Balinese "wine" (liquor), with them after the dive. I needed to have my dive book logged anyway so I went back did that and had some Arak with the guys. We decide to get something to eat when a couple of the other guys that were drinking at the shop come by on the motorcycles. We decide to go with them. I ride with Wayan, one of the divers from the shop and his tire breaks on the highway. Here I am sitting on the side of a highway in Bali waiting for his friend to come (I'm expecting Indonesian time) happier than could be. He was so apologetic, I felt bad for him, but I really wasn't upset. Anyway, this will all lead into serendipitous moments and collisions. Everything happens for a reason. His friend arrives to bring me to meet the other guys at the restaurant. His name is also Wayan, nickname "Kare" or "Curry" since kare is curry in Indonesian. He speaks little English and apologizes. I am now in a car with a complete stranger, but at that moment I didn't give it much thought. Maybe its a little naive of me, but looking back it was all supposed to be.
At the restaurant they ask me what my plans are. I tell them that I plan on going to Kuta to meet my friend (Inge) and take surfing lessons. They immediately offer Kare to take me. I notice he is hesitant and says no to them, but at the end decides he will come pick me up and Inge and take us surfing....serendipity? They bombard me with questions about what time, where and how long it would take me to put on my makeup in the morning...funny guys..haha