Searching for an adventure (after days of diving together in Tulamben Bali) my new fantastic partner and I leave the security of popular dive sites for some exploration.
Following vague directions we headed west along the north coast. After a few attempts finally one dirt road reaches a beautiful stretch of coast and a friendly farm family.
We share a bit of anxiety wondering about currents, visibility as we scope out the site & procede with caution. It is quite possible we will be the first to see this amazing underwater- scape!
My partner scouting the site
.
Little Muslim children peer from the bushes as we gear up
Ready to check it out!
We take the plunge into the totally still warm water - delighted to find 40-50 ft vis after the beach swell. Rippled fine sand bottom soon dotted with coral heads - side by side with all senses firing we descend down to about 60ft moving slowly along the coastline. To our surprise large outcroppings of coral and short colorful walls begin to appear with plenty of colorful reef fish and nudis! It is so fun to hover weightlessly in the still water over these huge walls. Resisting the desire to plunge down to 100ft we remain conservative, alert and attentive, gracefully skiming back across the sandy bottom to finish the dive!
We enjoy a surface interval sharing watermelon with the driver & shy children who are quickly befriended
Geared up for another plunge:
This time we hike down the beach and glide over a spectacular coral garden at 20-30ft and decend retracing our path across the pinnacles back to the sandy lunarscape - the current now very slight.
So happy to leave the busy resorts far behind! Exploration diving is so much fun
!
