gee13
Contributor
This is a belated review of my last trip September 2009. With quite a few questions on diving in Bali I thought this be helpful.
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This time it was time to head out to Bali and surrounding islands of Nusa Penida and Lembongan. My main mission was to be in search of the rare and fabled pelagic Mola Mola Sunfish. Also would be good to check out the USAT Liberty wreck at Tulamben.
As this was my first time in Bali it was difficult to gauge what to expect. As my last dive trip out to Sipadan was solo and this was with family it was going to be even more interesting over water. The plan was to so some sightseeing for a couple of days, head out to my base in Lembongan for a few then back to Bali and to Tulamben for a day trip. So after visting some beatiful landscapes and temples on cliffs and mountains it was time to head out to Nusa Lemongan and Penida.
I had read quite a lot about diving on these islands- ripping currents, thermoclines, drop offs, drift dives, rich coral diversity and of course for the lucky... Mola Mola. I was to be diving with World Diving, upon recommendation. We stayed at Dream Beach, an isolated small beach on the south side with thatched huts and bungalows. It was pretty basic, but adequate and more for the serenity of avoiding the day trippers that invaded Mushroom Beach and the main strip Jungut Batu.
First day out as I stepped out my hut just after 6am to check out the view I was greeted by a deep rumbling sound and the ground moving below me. Just checking if I was dreaming indeed! But not to be. An actual earthquake! Wow, what a way to start my first diving day. Thoughts of Tsnami and the lot. Anyway a quick call to the DC and no alert. Water were calm as so it was all go. After a quick scooter ride to the DC in Jungut Batu, it was all hands on deck, gear on and the 'Big' boat out to Buyuk, dive site 1, north of Penida where it was sighted couple of days ago. There were many boats out today as it was part of Project Aware reef annual cleanup and I was fine to do my bit for the environ and to remove offending fishing lines and possible nets from the delicate reefs.
So we headed out to Buyuk - a dropoff site and today had a nice current for drifting. No Mola spotted today butsome nice coral growth with the usual spread of indopacific rim smaller assortment of fish. Angelfish, Wrasse, Parrotfish etc all adorn the reef. When we were doing our safety stop at around 10.30am we heard another shudder underwater. Earthquake again? Apparently some aftershock and it was business as usual after putting those dreaded tsunami thoughts again behind me. Second dive we did was Toyapakeh which I thought was fairly average as the corals were a little brown but there were some nice critters apotted including a scorpionfish. I was perturbed to see a huge multitier restaurant on the water with a massive catamaran ferry on it and tourists taking speedboat rides closeby!
Next day I was put on the small traditional boat or 'jukung' called Safari to dive Crystal Bay, with 3 other divers and a DM so this was going to be a close and personal affair. On the way we saw some king of long pointy fin on a roundish fin jump straight out of the water and descend quickly. My first Mola sight but overwater and sudden! Hope this was to be a good omen. We dropped into the bay at around 9 to find only a couple of boats. So we kitted quickly and got in, hopefully to get the first spot. As we jumped in there must have been another 10 boats that turned up and not long after. One thing I noticed 5 minutes into the dive as we hit 20m was thermocline and as I checked my comp a crisp 19 C. It wasnt long after that and the place was filled with bubbles Made, our DM did spot a Mola and signalled to wait but called off as there a strong downcurrent. As our air was getting low at 30m I headed up rather dissapointed as we were so close. Next dive was Mangroves, a site rich in coral diversity, colour and growth. There were also lots of macro around to spot - some nice Nudis around. A great shallow drift dive to 15m with loads of diverse smaller fishlife. Waters were a little warmer at 25 C!
On the third day was going to be Crystal Bay again on the Big Boat. The tide was so low we had to heave the boat out! So we headed out a little later. Which was good in a sense by the time we got to Crystal some of the early morning boats had gone. There were maybe 5 boats out. So down we went, I was with main man Made again and was feeling confident as he really seemed to have that knack of knowing the right spots. Again we hit the thermocline but today was a little chillier indeed at 17 C! Soon after Made did the eye signal and through silent hand waves rather than a tank rattle called us down to 30M. There it was, the magnificent Mola Mola Sunfish surrounded by cleaner Wrasse!! It was quite large and Simply Amazing! But it wasnt long after our 'first' sighting that the sound of tank rattles and bubbles soon invaded the area and the fish simply swam deep into the blue. I was rather perturbed to see divers following after itpast 40M!!! Anyway it seemed we had it all to ourselves albiet very briefly. 2nd site was S.D Point a nice drift dive again with current and some nice softcorals again and loads of smaller fish life. It was nice warm up in 24 C waters on this dive.
Out to Buyuk on the Big Boat again. Today we drifted in a different direction to our first dive and I was pleasantly surprised at how much nicer this side of the site was.We had the whole place to ourselves so this was nice. Spotted a hawksbill turtle and... there was another Mola Mola the came up from the deep just at the right time when our group was passing. It wasnt as large as the first one but was still pretty awesome sight! Apparently you are lucky to get 2 days in a row. This kind of rare spotting seems to be a case of 'right' place at the 'right time and I was adamant my first Mola spot 'overwater' was my good omen. As was the lucky shell given to me by my daughter. I also quite rapt When I was told our last dive was going to be Mangrove which was great to end my time on Lembongan and Penida with my favourite site!
Overall a nice few days diving at Penida and Lembongan. Some great natural dive sites with a large range of marine diversity, in places very rich and colourful healthy coral reefs. John and Sue run a very relaxed but safe operation at World Diving. Yes they did cite my card, the dive briefs are thorough, SMDBs are sent up by the DMS before surfacing, The DMs think safety first, are a great bunch and they have the sharpest eyes. Apart from the hordes of divers at Crystal, most of the other famous Penida sites were quiet. It was nice to take just a short boat trip back rather that 1 1/2 hour back to main Bali island. Mission Accomplished!
I didnt head out to Tulamben when I got back to mainland as I was unfortunately hit by that dreaded Bali Belly, so I'll have to postpone that until next time.
>>>
This time it was time to head out to Bali and surrounding islands of Nusa Penida and Lembongan. My main mission was to be in search of the rare and fabled pelagic Mola Mola Sunfish. Also would be good to check out the USAT Liberty wreck at Tulamben.
As this was my first time in Bali it was difficult to gauge what to expect. As my last dive trip out to Sipadan was solo and this was with family it was going to be even more interesting over water. The plan was to so some sightseeing for a couple of days, head out to my base in Lembongan for a few then back to Bali and to Tulamben for a day trip. So after visting some beatiful landscapes and temples on cliffs and mountains it was time to head out to Nusa Lemongan and Penida.
I had read quite a lot about diving on these islands- ripping currents, thermoclines, drop offs, drift dives, rich coral diversity and of course for the lucky... Mola Mola. I was to be diving with World Diving, upon recommendation. We stayed at Dream Beach, an isolated small beach on the south side with thatched huts and bungalows. It was pretty basic, but adequate and more for the serenity of avoiding the day trippers that invaded Mushroom Beach and the main strip Jungut Batu.
First day out as I stepped out my hut just after 6am to check out the view I was greeted by a deep rumbling sound and the ground moving below me. Just checking if I was dreaming indeed! But not to be. An actual earthquake! Wow, what a way to start my first diving day. Thoughts of Tsnami and the lot. Anyway a quick call to the DC and no alert. Water were calm as so it was all go. After a quick scooter ride to the DC in Jungut Batu, it was all hands on deck, gear on and the 'Big' boat out to Buyuk, dive site 1, north of Penida where it was sighted couple of days ago. There were many boats out today as it was part of Project Aware reef annual cleanup and I was fine to do my bit for the environ and to remove offending fishing lines and possible nets from the delicate reefs.
So we headed out to Buyuk - a dropoff site and today had a nice current for drifting. No Mola spotted today butsome nice coral growth with the usual spread of indopacific rim smaller assortment of fish. Angelfish, Wrasse, Parrotfish etc all adorn the reef. When we were doing our safety stop at around 10.30am we heard another shudder underwater. Earthquake again? Apparently some aftershock and it was business as usual after putting those dreaded tsunami thoughts again behind me. Second dive we did was Toyapakeh which I thought was fairly average as the corals were a little brown but there were some nice critters apotted including a scorpionfish. I was perturbed to see a huge multitier restaurant on the water with a massive catamaran ferry on it and tourists taking speedboat rides closeby!
Next day I was put on the small traditional boat or 'jukung' called Safari to dive Crystal Bay, with 3 other divers and a DM so this was going to be a close and personal affair. On the way we saw some king of long pointy fin on a roundish fin jump straight out of the water and descend quickly. My first Mola sight but overwater and sudden! Hope this was to be a good omen. We dropped into the bay at around 9 to find only a couple of boats. So we kitted quickly and got in, hopefully to get the first spot. As we jumped in there must have been another 10 boats that turned up and not long after. One thing I noticed 5 minutes into the dive as we hit 20m was thermocline and as I checked my comp a crisp 19 C. It wasnt long after that and the place was filled with bubbles Made, our DM did spot a Mola and signalled to wait but called off as there a strong downcurrent. As our air was getting low at 30m I headed up rather dissapointed as we were so close. Next dive was Mangroves, a site rich in coral diversity, colour and growth. There were also lots of macro around to spot - some nice Nudis around. A great shallow drift dive to 15m with loads of diverse smaller fishlife. Waters were a little warmer at 25 C!
On the third day was going to be Crystal Bay again on the Big Boat. The tide was so low we had to heave the boat out! So we headed out a little later. Which was good in a sense by the time we got to Crystal some of the early morning boats had gone. There were maybe 5 boats out. So down we went, I was with main man Made again and was feeling confident as he really seemed to have that knack of knowing the right spots. Again we hit the thermocline but today was a little chillier indeed at 17 C! Soon after Made did the eye signal and through silent hand waves rather than a tank rattle called us down to 30M. There it was, the magnificent Mola Mola Sunfish surrounded by cleaner Wrasse!! It was quite large and Simply Amazing! But it wasnt long after our 'first' sighting that the sound of tank rattles and bubbles soon invaded the area and the fish simply swam deep into the blue. I was rather perturbed to see divers following after itpast 40M!!! Anyway it seemed we had it all to ourselves albiet very briefly. 2nd site was S.D Point a nice drift dive again with current and some nice softcorals again and loads of smaller fish life. It was nice warm up in 24 C waters on this dive.
Out to Buyuk on the Big Boat again. Today we drifted in a different direction to our first dive and I was pleasantly surprised at how much nicer this side of the site was.We had the whole place to ourselves so this was nice. Spotted a hawksbill turtle and... there was another Mola Mola the came up from the deep just at the right time when our group was passing. It wasnt as large as the first one but was still pretty awesome sight! Apparently you are lucky to get 2 days in a row. This kind of rare spotting seems to be a case of 'right' place at the 'right time and I was adamant my first Mola spot 'overwater' was my good omen. As was the lucky shell given to me by my daughter. I also quite rapt When I was told our last dive was going to be Mangrove which was great to end my time on Lembongan and Penida with my favourite site!
Overall a nice few days diving at Penida and Lembongan. Some great natural dive sites with a large range of marine diversity, in places very rich and colourful healthy coral reefs. John and Sue run a very relaxed but safe operation at World Diving. Yes they did cite my card, the dive briefs are thorough, SMDBs are sent up by the DMS before surfacing, The DMs think safety first, are a great bunch and they have the sharpest eyes. Apart from the hordes of divers at Crystal, most of the other famous Penida sites were quiet. It was nice to take just a short boat trip back rather that 1 1/2 hour back to main Bali island. Mission Accomplished!
I didnt head out to Tulamben when I got back to mainland as I was unfortunately hit by that dreaded Bali Belly, so I'll have to postpone that until next time.
I didnt drink enough!!
