I just returned from a 3 week diving trip to Indonesia. I spent the first week diving around Bali, Menjangan Is, Tulamben and Pandangbai. I dived with a company called Aquamarine which was very professional with knowledgeable local dives guides. Everything was prebooked, I was picked up at the airport, and transport was organised every day to and from dive sites and next destinations. I travelled in style! Bali at the moment is just very quiet; bombs, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions all conspired to keep people away. I know the quiet is what most people want, but travelling on my own it can get a bit much if the only person you speak with is your dive guide! On the other hand diving with your personal dive guide with no other divers in sight can be bliss, especially if you are taking pictures. For me Tulamben was the best. For almost all the dives you kit up at the hotel, walk across the beach and dive. The dive sites are a bit limited with only 4 in the area, but this was my introduction to MUCK diving which I really enjoyed. In the end I did 15 dives in Bali.
After a few days of rest I went to Sulawesi to an Island called Bunaken. This was where the fun started. I got on a plane in Denpassar with no idea where I was going, only some vague directions in the line of “Fly to Manado and go to Bunaken and Lembeh straight.” I met some interesting people on the plane, also on their way to Bunaken and the next day I joined them and ended up staying 6 days at Two Fish diving resort. The diving here was much better than in Bali. Wall dives with great vis, beautiful coral, lots of fish and plenty small stuff. Altough still quite and relaxed the resort had about 15 people so the evenings were also a bit livelier compared to the places I stayed in Bali.
With 2 days left of my trip I went to Lembeh straight for 1 day’s diving. This was the biggest mistake of my trip; I should have gone for 1 week not 1 day!!! Lembeh is almost exclusively for MUCK diving. I was in heaven, poor visibility, dull sandy bottom, slightly colder water, but as many weird and wonderful creatures as you can fit in on one dive. I had a really good dive guide that has been diving for 18 years and he was pointing out staff left right and centre. You literally swim from one interesting find to the next. I counted about 20 different species of nudibranchs in just 4 dives! Then there is the pigmy seahorse, not more than 1cm tall and perfectly camouflaged on his gorgonian fan. All sorts of scorpion and lion fish, gurnards, eels and many more makes this a photographers dream.
Now I will have to keep on dreaming until my next trip.
After a few days of rest I went to Sulawesi to an Island called Bunaken. This was where the fun started. I got on a plane in Denpassar with no idea where I was going, only some vague directions in the line of “Fly to Manado and go to Bunaken and Lembeh straight.” I met some interesting people on the plane, also on their way to Bunaken and the next day I joined them and ended up staying 6 days at Two Fish diving resort. The diving here was much better than in Bali. Wall dives with great vis, beautiful coral, lots of fish and plenty small stuff. Altough still quite and relaxed the resort had about 15 people so the evenings were also a bit livelier compared to the places I stayed in Bali.
With 2 days left of my trip I went to Lembeh straight for 1 day’s diving. This was the biggest mistake of my trip; I should have gone for 1 week not 1 day!!! Lembeh is almost exclusively for MUCK diving. I was in heaven, poor visibility, dull sandy bottom, slightly colder water, but as many weird and wonderful creatures as you can fit in on one dive. I had a really good dive guide that has been diving for 18 years and he was pointing out staff left right and centre. You literally swim from one interesting find to the next. I counted about 20 different species of nudibranchs in just 4 dives! Then there is the pigmy seahorse, not more than 1cm tall and perfectly camouflaged on his gorgonian fan. All sorts of scorpion and lion fish, gurnards, eels and many more makes this a photographers dream.
Now I will have to keep on dreaming until my next trip.