Hintermann
Contributor
- Messages
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- Location
- Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, UK
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I was looking forward to this trip rather more than most others because I twice was forced to cancel it, the first time in August 2009 and then again in September 2011. Thankfully, everything went smoothly this time around; third time lucky, I guess. As it turned out, it was the best of my exotic dive trips to date.
I had decided to bypass chaotic Jakarta airport and fly direct to Bali. To do that, I took the afternoon KLM flight from Bristol to Amsterdam and connected to the overnight flight to Singapore & Bali. I was able to book my luggage direct to Bali and for an additional £44, I was allowed an extra 23kg checked luggage, ideal for the dive kit.
The trip had two distinct parts: The first was a land based itinerary in Bali itself, first in Tulamben and then a day trip to Nusa Penida. Following that was a 9-day liveaboard trip on Mermaid I to Komodo National Park & surrounds. This is the report for the Bali part of the trip.
I arrived late in the evening at Denpasar airport but the transport from Liberty Dive Resort in Tulamben was waiting and the 3-hour trip to the place was uneventful. There was a short, sharp shower on the way but that was the last of the rain that I saw for the next 2 weeks. Starting the following morning, it was uninterrupted sunny days and clear, starry nights throughout.
The accommodation in Liberty Dive Resort was very good and the staff very courteous and helpful. A good nights sleep helped to get over the jet lag and after breakfast in the well supplied restaurant, I went to the Dive Shop. I was allocated a personal guide (for me only) for all 12 of my dives in Tulamben and I was able to plan my own dive schedule with him. After completing the paperwork and sorting out the dive kit in the morning, I was ready for the check-dive.
This was to be at a local reef called Coral Garden and my first shore dive since Malta in 2008. The entry was tricky because of some strong waves coming in, but we coped. The water temperature was in the 29*C range but knowing the long itinerary and prevalence of fire coral, I used a 3mm full suit. The coral was mostly the hard type interspersed with clumps of the colourful soft variety. There was plenty of fish life including groupers, snappers, angelfish and .in common with most other dive sites in the area loads of nudibranchs. They had also sunk several Hindu idols to form artificial reefs.
The next two dives were long awaited an afternoon and night dive over the wreck of USS Liberty. This was an odd shore dive because the visibility was less than 10 metres at the shallow entry site but as we swam to the wreck, improved to around 30 metres. It was eerie how the outline of the wreck loomed out of the murk and got clearer as we approached it. It is so covered with colourful coral that at times it was hard to tell that it was actually a wreck dive. Fish life was also plentiful, including a couple of stingrays and a small school of bumphead parrotfish. There was no way to truly penetrate this old wreck but there were several interesting swim-throughs. During the night dive over the wreck, loads of crustaceans like banded shrimps, slipper crabs etc came out. We even saw a couple of cuttlefish.
We did 4 dives on the following day: Started with the well-known Drop Off, a lush, coral covered wall with giant gorgonians, sponges and lots of fish, including a school of catfish. Once again, there were lots of varied nudibranchs for macro photography. On the guides suggestion, for the second dive we took a catamaran to Alamanda Reef; it was not a true boat dive in the sense that there was no room to kit-up in the narrow boat and so we had to get into the water with fins and mask and gear-up afterwards. The topography here was more rocky than other sites but the scarcity of coral was more than compensated by the fish-life, including more bumpies, pygmy seahorses and even one of my spotty friends the clown triggerfish.
After lunch we went to a place called Melasti in the afternoon, a true muck dive. After the shore entry, we had to swim against a strong current to reach the spot but it was worth it. Buoyancy control was important because of the silt and we saw a lot of small critters, including miniaturised equivalents of lionfish, crabs, stingrays, pufferfish etc. By sharp contrast to the muck, a small artificial reef formed by a sunken metal frame was coveted in colourful coral and sponges. Likewise, the night dive at Betu Belah offered more macro stull with nudibranchs, flatworms, flabelina etc and also frogfish and cuttlefish. It was fun searching around for interesting critters in the silt and coral clumps.
4 more dives were scheduled for the following day. For the first, we took a catamaran north to Kubu; the shore entry was over a shallow, pebble-strewn beach and we had to swim for about 100 metres at a depth of 3 to 4 metres over the pebbles before reaching the actual reef. This consisted of two distinct areas; a sandy area with macro ctitters to the left and a coral covered reef to the right. Both were very interesting in theor own way and I went a bit mad with my camera with so many interesting stuff to see. This included a huge spotted moray eel, a large turtle and a rather large & mean looking titan triggerfish that seemed to take a fancy to my face. Later we had bit of a battle with the waves trying to get back to the shore
The next dive was over Emerald Reef, a conventional reef dive with lush soft coral formations, huge sponges and lots of reef fish. The sea was very calm and visibility excellent, making it a very relaxing dive to start with. Just as I was trying to get close to a black-tip reef shark, a sudden current hits us and for the next 7 or 8 minutes we drifted uncontrollably over the coral and through the critters. But it petered out as quickly and rest of the dive was fine.
After lunch we went south for the next 2 dives, to a reef called Sereya Secrets. For the afternoon dive we went to the southern part of this reef, mainly rocky and sandy areas interspersed with artificial reeflets formed by sunken fishing nets, concrete blocks etc. The reef might not win beauty contests but it was teeming with both large and small marine life of all kinds. There was a large school of pretty oriental sweetlips having a meeting under a fishing net canopy supervised by a massive pufferfish. The night dive was on the northern part of this reef and among other things we saw several colourful mantis shrimps, sea snakes, decorated crabs etc. But the highlight was a school of vertical razorfish forming an eerie backdrop (see photo).
I had only one dive scheduled for the following day, my last day in Tulamben. This was to be the famous Tulamben Drift Dive, a lazy, 45-minute drift from Coral Garden to the Liberty Wreck. But when we arrived at the starting point and did the shore entry, the current was rather weak and we had to help by finning a bit. But we managed to drift over the sandy bed and coral clumps, watching lots of critters on the way - ribbon eels, nudibranchs, sweetlips, snappers, groupers, angelfish, bumphead parrotfish to name a few. It was a funny drift dive because od the varying depth the sea floor was as shallow as 8m in places but suddenly dropping to nearly 20m as we went along. The end of the dive was particularly great as the wreck suddenly loomed above us out of the blue.
Afterwards I returned to the resort, washed the dive gear, put it out to dry and got my dives attested. I then packed my personal stuff, checked out of my room, settled-up and had lunch. By then the gear was partyly dry and so I could pack it into the mesh bag and take the transport back south. I went to Segara Agung Hotel in Sanur and settled down. That evening I saw some local cultural programme related to the ongoing Bali Arts festival.
The next morning I was picked-up by staff from Bali Scuba for a 3-dive day trip to Nusa Penida. Even though June was too early for them, I was hoping to see at least one Ocean Sunfish ( Mola Mola) but was not to be. On the positive side though, the usually turbulent Crystal Bay was relatively calm and clear and our first dive here with excellent visibility. At around 25*C to 26*C, the sea temperature here was noticeably cooler than Tulamben and there was also a thermocline to even cooler water. But the reef is extremely colourful with lush and healthy coral with lots of varied reef fish, allowing great photo opportunities. We then went to Manta Point and dived there after a surface interval of only 45 minutes; but this was a sub 15-metre dive throughout. The visibility was not as good as Crystal Bay because here the surge disturbed the silt. But we were rewarded with a couple of huge manta rays and managed to get close to one of them. There was also a nurse shark under an overhand further into the dive.
The third and last dive of this Nusa Penida trip was scheduled to be the Ped Reef Drift Dive. Here the current was just right and as we were told that it would be almost a continuous drift, I decided not to take the camera. The current was just perfect in strength and direction throughout the 47 minute drift and the visibility excellent while the sun shone above. As we drifted over the colourful and intricate coral formations, we saw marine life of every description including reef sharks. Leaving the camera had its own bonus of being able to see and absorb more and this was enjoyable a different way.
We then went back to the mainland and I returned to the hotel. I went to a local bar and got drunk with some Aussies that I had met in Sanur. Woke up with bit of a hangover next morning but was OK by the time the transport from Mermaids Liveaboards came to pick me up in the afternoon. I was on my way to Komodo, but thats another story.
Here are the photos from the Bali side of the trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25941505@N04/sets/72157645429649296/
I had decided to bypass chaotic Jakarta airport and fly direct to Bali. To do that, I took the afternoon KLM flight from Bristol to Amsterdam and connected to the overnight flight to Singapore & Bali. I was able to book my luggage direct to Bali and for an additional £44, I was allowed an extra 23kg checked luggage, ideal for the dive kit.
The trip had two distinct parts: The first was a land based itinerary in Bali itself, first in Tulamben and then a day trip to Nusa Penida. Following that was a 9-day liveaboard trip on Mermaid I to Komodo National Park & surrounds. This is the report for the Bali part of the trip.
I arrived late in the evening at Denpasar airport but the transport from Liberty Dive Resort in Tulamben was waiting and the 3-hour trip to the place was uneventful. There was a short, sharp shower on the way but that was the last of the rain that I saw for the next 2 weeks. Starting the following morning, it was uninterrupted sunny days and clear, starry nights throughout.
The accommodation in Liberty Dive Resort was very good and the staff very courteous and helpful. A good nights sleep helped to get over the jet lag and after breakfast in the well supplied restaurant, I went to the Dive Shop. I was allocated a personal guide (for me only) for all 12 of my dives in Tulamben and I was able to plan my own dive schedule with him. After completing the paperwork and sorting out the dive kit in the morning, I was ready for the check-dive.
This was to be at a local reef called Coral Garden and my first shore dive since Malta in 2008. The entry was tricky because of some strong waves coming in, but we coped. The water temperature was in the 29*C range but knowing the long itinerary and prevalence of fire coral, I used a 3mm full suit. The coral was mostly the hard type interspersed with clumps of the colourful soft variety. There was plenty of fish life including groupers, snappers, angelfish and .in common with most other dive sites in the area loads of nudibranchs. They had also sunk several Hindu idols to form artificial reefs.
The next two dives were long awaited an afternoon and night dive over the wreck of USS Liberty. This was an odd shore dive because the visibility was less than 10 metres at the shallow entry site but as we swam to the wreck, improved to around 30 metres. It was eerie how the outline of the wreck loomed out of the murk and got clearer as we approached it. It is so covered with colourful coral that at times it was hard to tell that it was actually a wreck dive. Fish life was also plentiful, including a couple of stingrays and a small school of bumphead parrotfish. There was no way to truly penetrate this old wreck but there were several interesting swim-throughs. During the night dive over the wreck, loads of crustaceans like banded shrimps, slipper crabs etc came out. We even saw a couple of cuttlefish.
We did 4 dives on the following day: Started with the well-known Drop Off, a lush, coral covered wall with giant gorgonians, sponges and lots of fish, including a school of catfish. Once again, there were lots of varied nudibranchs for macro photography. On the guides suggestion, for the second dive we took a catamaran to Alamanda Reef; it was not a true boat dive in the sense that there was no room to kit-up in the narrow boat and so we had to get into the water with fins and mask and gear-up afterwards. The topography here was more rocky than other sites but the scarcity of coral was more than compensated by the fish-life, including more bumpies, pygmy seahorses and even one of my spotty friends the clown triggerfish.
After lunch we went to a place called Melasti in the afternoon, a true muck dive. After the shore entry, we had to swim against a strong current to reach the spot but it was worth it. Buoyancy control was important because of the silt and we saw a lot of small critters, including miniaturised equivalents of lionfish, crabs, stingrays, pufferfish etc. By sharp contrast to the muck, a small artificial reef formed by a sunken metal frame was coveted in colourful coral and sponges. Likewise, the night dive at Betu Belah offered more macro stull with nudibranchs, flatworms, flabelina etc and also frogfish and cuttlefish. It was fun searching around for interesting critters in the silt and coral clumps.
4 more dives were scheduled for the following day. For the first, we took a catamaran north to Kubu; the shore entry was over a shallow, pebble-strewn beach and we had to swim for about 100 metres at a depth of 3 to 4 metres over the pebbles before reaching the actual reef. This consisted of two distinct areas; a sandy area with macro ctitters to the left and a coral covered reef to the right. Both were very interesting in theor own way and I went a bit mad with my camera with so many interesting stuff to see. This included a huge spotted moray eel, a large turtle and a rather large & mean looking titan triggerfish that seemed to take a fancy to my face. Later we had bit of a battle with the waves trying to get back to the shore
The next dive was over Emerald Reef, a conventional reef dive with lush soft coral formations, huge sponges and lots of reef fish. The sea was very calm and visibility excellent, making it a very relaxing dive to start with. Just as I was trying to get close to a black-tip reef shark, a sudden current hits us and for the next 7 or 8 minutes we drifted uncontrollably over the coral and through the critters. But it petered out as quickly and rest of the dive was fine.
After lunch we went south for the next 2 dives, to a reef called Sereya Secrets. For the afternoon dive we went to the southern part of this reef, mainly rocky and sandy areas interspersed with artificial reeflets formed by sunken fishing nets, concrete blocks etc. The reef might not win beauty contests but it was teeming with both large and small marine life of all kinds. There was a large school of pretty oriental sweetlips having a meeting under a fishing net canopy supervised by a massive pufferfish. The night dive was on the northern part of this reef and among other things we saw several colourful mantis shrimps, sea snakes, decorated crabs etc. But the highlight was a school of vertical razorfish forming an eerie backdrop (see photo).
I had only one dive scheduled for the following day, my last day in Tulamben. This was to be the famous Tulamben Drift Dive, a lazy, 45-minute drift from Coral Garden to the Liberty Wreck. But when we arrived at the starting point and did the shore entry, the current was rather weak and we had to help by finning a bit. But we managed to drift over the sandy bed and coral clumps, watching lots of critters on the way - ribbon eels, nudibranchs, sweetlips, snappers, groupers, angelfish, bumphead parrotfish to name a few. It was a funny drift dive because od the varying depth the sea floor was as shallow as 8m in places but suddenly dropping to nearly 20m as we went along. The end of the dive was particularly great as the wreck suddenly loomed above us out of the blue.
Afterwards I returned to the resort, washed the dive gear, put it out to dry and got my dives attested. I then packed my personal stuff, checked out of my room, settled-up and had lunch. By then the gear was partyly dry and so I could pack it into the mesh bag and take the transport back south. I went to Segara Agung Hotel in Sanur and settled down. That evening I saw some local cultural programme related to the ongoing Bali Arts festival.
The next morning I was picked-up by staff from Bali Scuba for a 3-dive day trip to Nusa Penida. Even though June was too early for them, I was hoping to see at least one Ocean Sunfish ( Mola Mola) but was not to be. On the positive side though, the usually turbulent Crystal Bay was relatively calm and clear and our first dive here with excellent visibility. At around 25*C to 26*C, the sea temperature here was noticeably cooler than Tulamben and there was also a thermocline to even cooler water. But the reef is extremely colourful with lush and healthy coral with lots of varied reef fish, allowing great photo opportunities. We then went to Manta Point and dived there after a surface interval of only 45 minutes; but this was a sub 15-metre dive throughout. The visibility was not as good as Crystal Bay because here the surge disturbed the silt. But we were rewarded with a couple of huge manta rays and managed to get close to one of them. There was also a nurse shark under an overhand further into the dive.
The third and last dive of this Nusa Penida trip was scheduled to be the Ped Reef Drift Dive. Here the current was just right and as we were told that it would be almost a continuous drift, I decided not to take the camera. The current was just perfect in strength and direction throughout the 47 minute drift and the visibility excellent while the sun shone above. As we drifted over the colourful and intricate coral formations, we saw marine life of every description including reef sharks. Leaving the camera had its own bonus of being able to see and absorb more and this was enjoyable a different way.
We then went back to the mainland and I returned to the hotel. I went to a local bar and got drunk with some Aussies that I had met in Sanur. Woke up with bit of a hangover next morning but was OK by the time the transport from Mermaids Liveaboards came to pick me up in the afternoon. I was on my way to Komodo, but thats another story.
Here are the photos from the Bali side of the trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25941505@N04/sets/72157645429649296/
