Metro TV

For the last 5 days, we have had the pleasure of 10 member of staff (crew and presenters) from Metro TV. They have been filming as they completed their SSI Open Water course (plus one AOW course).

They have been a great team, there has been lots of laughing and the guys are great fun to be around.

Yesterday, they all managed to pass their final exam and are now certified divers, well done guys!

Hopefully, they will let us know when the programm will be aired, so we can share the experience with the whole of Indonesia!

Cocktail hour

Its about time I mentioned that our resort bar and restaurant, Buddha Bar is now holding a 'Happy Hour' every night from 5pm. Half price cocktails are the order of the day; whether your favourite is :

Pina Colada
Black Russian
Martini Cocktail
Singapore Sling
Hurricane
Mojito
Mai Tai
Screwdriver
Bloody Mary or my personal favourite, Banana Daiquiri

There is something for every taste, and at half price, it would be criminal not to try at least one...........or two.............or three!

Bloody rubbish!

We've hardly had any rainy season this year, just the occasional stormy night, but nothing like the amount of rain we should have had by now. Anyway, last 2-3 days we've had rainy nights, which in turn has washed all the plastic garbage out of the river beds.
Yesterday, 3 beautiful dives were spent collecting as much of this floating debris soup as we could hold. At one stage a large rice sack floated by, which was great as it gave me something to fill with rubbish!
On 25th April the village is having an 'Earth Day', spent cleaning up the dive sites and beaches, and judging by the amount seen yesterday, we may be gone a while! (Photo is not from yesterday, but from Google, our waste is not this bad)!

Holiday in paradise

We've just come back from a well deserved break from work; one week travelling around Bali, diving sites we hadn't visited before.
We left Padang Bai and drove to Amed, diving with John at Eco Dive, and staying at Wa Wa We We. The diving in Amed is second to none; very impressive, we loved the Japanese wreck. Lipah Bay is a quiet, black sandy bay about 3km southeast of Amed and home to a 20 metre steel freighter wreck. The wreck sits at 6 - 12 metres between a reef and the sandy bottom and is encrusted with gorgonians, sponges and black coral bushes. The slope down away from the wreck is rich and healthy and fish life here is also good. Pipefish, shrimps, pygmy seahorses and dragonfish can be found in the right conditions here. The wreck is just covered in interesting critters.
After a quiet day and night at Tulamben, we moved up North of the island to spend some time at Pemuteran, staying at Aneka Bagus Hotel and diving with Reefseen.
The guys at Reefseen are brilliant (thanks Chris, Amanda and Adrian). They are home to the world's largest reef conservation project. Chris is the one responsible for helping the locals understand just how and why they need to protect the marine environment, starting the Turtle Project, Reef Seen Dancers, Reef Gardeners and many more community projects around Pemuteran. If you get a chance to dive the north of the island, they are highly recommended.

Welcome to Bali currents

Yesterday I had a DSD (Intro dive) to conduct. Nice lady, American, curently living in Bali, volunteer working in a childrens home. We watched the safety videos, completed all paperwork, finished the classroom session and headed to the pool. The usual fun and games trying to get a 5mm full wetsuit on when your hot and sticky, always good for a laugh, its like having a complete workout in 36 degrees C. We jumped into the pool, completed the 4 skill circuit without any problems, bimbled around the deep end practicing buoyancy before being let out into the ocean.

Quick jukung ride out to Blue Lagoon where the conditions seemed perfect, and the dive went perfectly for 20 minutes until the current changed. Suddenly we were in a massive down current with our bubbles coming up from underneath us! With full contact and control of the DSD student, we ascended, popped the safety sausage and hung on for the 3 minute safety stop. When we finally surfaced, we had been swept a good 500 metres around the corner into the next bay and along Tanjung Jepun.
As usual the boat crew had been following bubbles (and the sausage) and were just above us at the surface, so back onto the boat after 33 minutes of pure exhilaration, being swept along, watching sealife rush past.
Not sure what the student really thought, she seemed to enjoy the experience, and will certainly have a story to tell when she gets home.
Just show you how quickly the currents can change in the beautiful, powerful ocean we call home.

First dive of the 'New Year'

Yesterday was Balinese New Year, Nyepi, Day of Silence. A very sleepy day at Padang Bai, with no guests and, of course, no diving!
Today, we're back in business! 2 x dives Blue Lagoon, an old favorite with divers. First dive was to Tanjung Jepun, where there is a small fishing boat wreck and an artificial reef developing. The wreck is at 17 metres, been there for approx 2 years now, and the corals and sealife are getting a hold on the boat. It seems to have a resident Frogfish, who lives on the bow. Came across massive cuttlefish just beyond the wreck, who sat and sparkled at us for a few minutes, before being spooked away. Sometimes we come across the Odyssey submarine at this dive site; its a weird sensation, hearing and feeling the subs vibrations through your whole body. Then, suddenly, out of the blue, come a huge white submarine, with little guest faces at the porthole windows! Surreal :D
So, selamat hari raya Nyepi (1932) tahun baru to everyone for yesterday, hope you too had a peaceful day in the quiet of Bali.

Manta and Nusa Penida

Dull start to the morning, after a night of heavy rain, but the sun managed to burn through the clouds by the time we were loading the boat.
Calm sail through the strait and onto Manta Point, where we were the first boat there. Plenty of Manta swimming at the cleaning station, visibility was as usual. Lots of photographs taken, happy guests then back to the boat.
Second dive to Nusa Penida, Ped drift site. Hopefully looking out into the blue to spot Mola Mola swimming by, but no luck in spotting anything exciting.
Chilly too, with 22 degrees C!