Trip Report - Bali

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charlier

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
1,035
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Location
Seattle/Singapore/Indonesia
# of dives
I just don't log dives
Diving in Bali is still really fun and enjoyable. We dived with www.gekodive.com, based in Padangai. As usual they were professional, friendly, and super easy to contact. We only had three days for diving.

Day 1 @Nusa Penida with easy a flat water commute from Padangbai.
Toyapakeh, Nice small schools of barracuda, fusiliers, snappers, and black tip sharks at the end of the dive. The corals did not show much bleaching. The water temperature varied from 27°C to 22°C. No one else was in the water with us. The lack of bubbles was a real plus.
Bukut offered less current than Toyapakeh. My wife spotted an immature whale shark, for only a brief moment. However, the whale shark returned for 20+ min, with our small group of 4 (including DM). The whale shark seemed curious about us.

Day 2 @Nusa Penida with slightly bumpy commute from Padangbai.
Manta Point to ourselves, with the typical moderate surge. After 50 mins of diving, the eight manta returned to the shallow cleaning station. We extended our dive to 70 min. At the end of the dive, over 10 boats were on the surface.
Sental, again with only our group of 4. Nice small schools of fish, hard and soft corals.

Day 3 @Padangbai. James (Geko Diving) joined us for the morning. I was happy to be his excuse to get out of the office - he works too hard.
Tepekong with sharks in the small overhang/cave, two nice size white tip sharks on the plateau with small balls of fusiliers and sweetlips.
Mimpang, a bit colder at 25°C than the previous dive. A few commuting Mobula rays at the beginning and end of the dive. A real treat, since Modula rays rarely visit Mimpang.

Overall, I highly recommend Geko Dive Centre. There DM's are experienced, and are a pleasure to dive with. After reading the previous thread on Bali coral bleaching, I did not see much evidence for bleaching from the '16 ENSO event in Nusa Pendia or the two nearby dive sites in Padangbai. Perhaps shallow dive sites without mixing of cold water and currents might be more prone to bleaching. In my limited experience, internal waves temporarily cool down the water temperature and carry nutrient-rich waters from depth to the surface. Best, Charlie
 
Thanks. We will be diving there in two days. Good info, especially water temps.
 
Thanks. We will be diving there in two days. Good info, especially water temps.
FYI, I use a 2mm pant leggings with a long sleeve hoody top. At 27 degrees, I was fine with board shorts and my thin top.
 
Can't wait to be back in July ! Thanks for the informative report Charlie
PM or email your SE Asia itinerary. Next week, I leave for the Turkey and points south for work, but will return on 19 June.

Photo from our last trip to Alor. The water temperature varied in temperature from 27°C to 19°C (that was way to chilly for me). My fins are also used to fan the BBQ.
Alor3.JPG
 
FYI, I use a 2mm pant leggings with a long sleeve hoody top. At 27 degrees, I was fine with board shorts and my thin top.

To me, 27 C means a 5 mm full suit will keep me toasty over several days of diving. It never fails to amaze me how much people's cold tolerances can differ.
 
To me, 27 C means a 5 mm full suit will keep me toasty over several days of diving. It never fails to amaze me how much people's cold tolerances can differ.
That is why I post water temperature, not my wetsuit thickness. The thermocline can be near the sea surface or deeper at 18m+. At 22C, I was really cold and just tried to ignore my local environment. On the surface, the air temperatures are over 30-31 C, so you get warm really fast.
 
Thanks for the trip report Charlie. We definitely want to have you back here soon seeing how lucky you get... Whales shark and mobulae, now that's just greedy!

Anyhow, for water temp., I'm only diving with just a lycra, a hooded sharkskin vest and neoprene shorts. Now, I can't say that I never get cold. I've finished a few dives shivering and shaking like a madman when I could not reach a warm thermocline and was left to dwell in 16 degrees waters... brrr!

Highest personal temperature amplitude during a single dive was from 30 degrees to 15 degrees at Crystal Bay. The 5 mola molas made the shaking worthwhile by the end of the dive...

@frogfish: The Team's looking forward to diving with you again this July, hearing about your new life in colder parts of the world and seeing great shots from your trip... See you soon!
 

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