Under Pressure

On August the first I went to Bali with a bunch of friends for a wedding, some diving and a road trip, this blog will focus on the diving.

03-08-2008

Bali Scuba, Sanur, Bali.
www.baliscuba.com 

$120 for three boat dives to Nusa Penida including lunch, pick up and drop off and free nitrox (for two of the dives).

A forty five minute boat trip to Nusa Penida Island off the South East Coast of Bali.

Dive: 1 09:45 (AIR) - Max Depth: 27.9 Metres, Dive Time: 29 Minutes.

The first site of the day is Crystal bay where there is a cleaning station that Mola Mola are frequently seen at, I am well and truly excited by this prospect and am looking forwards to getting in the water, we are advised during the briefing that there may be strong currents and variable water temperatures, we have been advised to stay very close to the reef and be prepared to hold on if signalled to do so.

I’ve taken all my own kit, including my 3mm suit and a 2mm vest, luckily I had the sense to post on  Yorkshire Divers before I went and was warned about the variable water temperatures. We roll off the port side of the boat and all submerge together, my first dive in eight weeks, I feel excited and have the pre dive butterfly’s going on in my tummy.

The Surface water temp is 25 oC so its warm enough, the visibility is good and below me I can see pretty coral reefs with plenty of life, I smile, It feels good to be in the water, down we all go, ahhh heaven, warm clear blue water (25+ Metres Visibility), fish everywhere…

As we get down close to the reef and start getting deeper the currents pick up and the water temperature drops to 21oC, we fight the currents, at some points hand over hand on the trashed reefs, we get down to the cleaning station and there are no Mola Mola.

We let go and head back up to the shallows, we see a few nudi’s all the usual suspect tropical fish, box fish, parrot fish, antheas etc, Thierry launches his dsmb, we do our safety stop and the boat picks us up after a less than relaxing dive fighting currents.

Dive: 2 11:20 (EAN32) Max Depth: 24.6 Metres, Dive Time: 33Minutes.

The guides decide to try our luck again at Crystal bay hunting for Mola Mola, here are a few other dive boats around, after an hours surface interval in we go again, much the same, no Mola Mola, strong currents, variable water temperature although this time I see something I’ve not seen before, a black and white striped sea snake free swimming.

I thumb the dive after twenty five minutes as I don’t feel very well, I sit out the third dive and barely mange to eat my supplied lunch, a combination of tiredness, hunger (I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast and forgot to bring snacks) and possibly Jet lag.

04-08-2008

Again with Bali Scuba, today I went out my way to buy some snacks to keep me going and ensure I have some food before diving.

Out with  Lee & Dolly today, we enjoy the forty five minute trip across to Nusa Penida on the fast Bali Scuba Boat.

First dive today would be Tugu, a drift dive along a reef.

Dive: 3 10:20 (AIR) Max Depth: 22 Metres, Dive Time: 43 Minutes.

The current is fast and we where led by Fandy, we just go with the current and drift very quickly along the reef, lovely corals, a very pretty reef, lots of big sponges, plenty of large and small tropical fish.

The water temperature is a bit more settled here ranging between 23 oC and 25 oC.

I don’t remember ever doing a drift that was so fast, we really do just fly across the reef, its a great buzz although no chance of stopping to look at things in more detail.

Dive: 4 12:13 (EAN32) Max Depth: 25.3 Metres, Dive Time: 35 MinutesWe head back to Crystal Bay, Dolly doesn’t feel well (Sea Sickness) and decides to skip this dive, so its just Fandy leading Lee and myself.

We roll off the side of the boat, follow Fandy down and stay close to the reef, the current is not as strong today but we still have to work hard against it, we get down to the cleaning station….

..yet again no Mola Mola, we wait a few minutes and then head back up to the shallows.

The changing water temperatures are really strange, I’ve encounter thermoclines before of a change of 1-2 oC but nothing like these encountered at Nusa Penida, we had a low of 17 oC and a High of 23 oC showing on my computer on this dive.

After this dive the boat heads off to a sheltered bay for lunch and the final dive of the day at Toyapakeh.

Dive: 5 (EAN32) 14:21 Max Depth: 17.2 Metres, Dive Time: 46 Minutes.

Dolly is feeling better and she joins us for this dive, a gentle reef dive.  A very pretty reef, lots to see, a pair of small yellow spotted Moray,  loads of corals and sponges, a large puffer fish and a colourful Mantis Shrimp comes out to wander around, its fascinating and very nice to see (another first for me).

07-08-2008

Post Wedding Dives, with Bali Scuba from the larger boat Bali Scuba 1.

On our boat today, Lee, Dolly, Andie, Lauren, Danni (12 year old just finished her Junior OW over the last few days in Bali) Kevin, Jemma and Duncan (All newly qualified divers, having only done training dives previously) myself and the boat crew along with Fandy and Lena the guides for today, however Terry and Ely (the newlyweds, where also diving the same sites as us from another boat).

Dive:6 (AIR) 10:40 Max Depth: 20.4Metres, Dive Time 49 Minutes.

We had Lena as our guide today. Dive site, SD along the Northern side of Nusa Penida, another fast drift dive with great viz warmer waters (24 oC - 28 oC) long spiralling wire corals, table corals and large domes. We seen a large potato grouper, lots of the usual fish, a pair of giant trevally in the blue, very enjoyable.

Dive: 7 (EAN32) 12:53 Max Depth: 18.5 Metres, Dive Time: 42 Minutes.

Crystal Bay, Lee dresses appropriately for his 100th Dive…

Yet another ghost hunt for Mola Mola although the other boat shouts over as we surface that they seen Mola Mola five minutes before we got in the water great for them sad for us to know we just missed these creatures in the water.

We have lunch in the bay at Toyapakeh as this is to be the site for our last dive of today.

In the Bay at Toyapakeh there is a water park that is visited daily by a hydrofoil full of tourists, what the point of a water park at sea is, I have no idea.

Dive: 8 (AIR) 15:21Max Depth: 19.5 Metres, Dive Time: 42 Minutes (19 oC - 22 oC)

Toyapakeh, nice easy drift, pretty corals, lots of life, a large stone fish, a lion fish a few different types of nudibranch’s. Lena had a keen eye for the smaller stuff and was good fun on boat having a laugh with us and clearly enjoys her work.

08-08-2008

Terry orgainsed another day of diving with Bali Scuba but this time not to Nusa Penida but to Padang Bai, two shallow local dives off smaller boats ($80, no nitrox but lunch at nearby restaurant instead of the usual packed lunch.

Dive: 9 (AIR) 10:49 Max Depth: 19 Metres, Dive Time: 47 Minutes. (Water Temp 25 oC) - Penggek Penyu

Lena briefed us that we would be seeing a lot of smaller stuff on this dive and had to keep our eyes peeled, I buddied Duncan and Lee buddied Kev.

One of the first things I noticed when we settled in the shallows was a tiny box fish around 1cm cube, made me smile and relax instantly, this was Terrys 100th dive so from the other boat he was wearing the pink bikini Lee had on yesterday.

Again lots of different nudibranch, a spiny puffer fish hiding, lots of reef fish and as we came up into the shallows, something caught my eye above on the reef, there above us outlined by the sun shining through the water was the unmistakable silhouette of a shark.

Long, slender, fast and in the shallows, I look over to Lee, he looks to me, we show Duncan and Kev, I smile, I am overjoyed, its gone, wow, over two hundred and sixty dives and my first shark, its silhouette was that of a reef shark, whether it was gray, white or black tipped I have no idea, it didn’t hang around long enough for us to clearly identify it nether the less it was an awesome sight and we finish our safety stop with huge smiles, giving each other high fives and whooping and shouting through our regs!

The surface interval is full of smiles and laughter the way they all should be.

Dive: 10 (AIR) 12:04 Max Depth: 17.4 Metres, Dive Time: 43 Minutes - Blue Lagoon

In we go for a much dive, flat fish, lots of tiny boxfish, a small reef with a couple of fist size stone fish a bright yellow and black crab that I’ve no idea what type it is, a trigger fish, Lena points out what looks like a bit of weed or a leaf stuck to a rock swaying in the current, its actually a leaf stone fish. there is quite a bit of surge as we do our safety stop with us all being taken up to about 4 metres and back down to 6 metres.

10-08-2008

We have moved from Sanur are on a wee road trip of the Island via Tulamben and the last of our diving days, we check in at the recently reopened Emerald Hotel and Spa which has a dive centre affiliated with SSDC.

SSDC, Tulamben, Bali $55 two shore dives.
www.sunari-scuba.com

USAT Liberty - Shore Dive, Dive: 11 (AIR) 08:55 Max Depth: 23.7 Metres, Dive Time 52 Minutes. (26 oC)

We all got a mini bus for the five minute journey to the dive site from the hotel, there where very few others around and it was amazing to watch the porters carry the dive gear down to the shore entry, kitting up point, small woman carrying three full ali 80’s on their shoulders, heads or carrying a complete bcd and cylinder set-up along with a box of kit and three weight belts wrapped round them.

Singha was our guide along with Mharia and as soon as they got us all on the surface and ready we submerged right in front of a huge bait ball of jackfish.

After that the wreck started sprawling out in front of us as we worked our way down to the stern, the wreck was alive with life, blue spotted ray, a huge grouper, a large hump headed parrot fish near the engines, lots of corals, a very pretty wreck, lots of interesting ferrous oxide. A Superb dive working our way down to the bow and around the wreck. I really could dive that wreck lots of times.

Drop Off Point - Dive :12 (AIR) 11:05, Max Depth: 26.9 Metres, Dive Time 56 Minutes (26 oC)

A very pretty dive, lots of life, when I was at 26 metres I could see two twin set divers with stages a fair way below us, I believe this site is a popular one for technical training in Bali. Most of this dive was actually spent interacting with each other, halving a laugh, pretend Tango dancing, piling rocks on top of each other, making phallic symbols with rocks, chasing shoals of goat fish and in the shallows after the safety stop on the fly ( ) blowing octopus jacuzzi’s at each other.

In Summary:

An enjoyable time diving with variable water temperatures, some strong currents and plenty of fish & corals, its a pity I didn’t get to see any Mola Mola or Manta’s however with my luck at only just seeing my first shark now maybe I will see Mantas in another two hundred or so dives and Mola Mola hopefully by the time I retire from diving in twenty or thirty years! Not quite enough ferrous oxide for me as lets face it one reef is just like the next till you add a wreck

The warm clear waters and friendly fun times have rekindled my passion and I look forward to being a UK diver once more.

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