Diving in Bali

The main thing I did in Bali was scuba dive. The diving was great and I was pleasantly surprised as I had been told it wasn't so great. Either I went to the right spots, I have low expectations, or my informants have too high of expectations. Whatever the case, I saw some cool stuff like an octopus being ripped apart by some triton trigger fish, and some other cool stuff diving in Candidasa. A couple of drift dives provided living octopus, cuttlefish, and lots of stuff I don't see back home in the Red Sea. And bare in mind all of these shots were taken while I was drifting past these things. So it's not like I could stop and set up the shot before I took it. I think they came out pretty good, considering. The coral coverage was impressive and in most places we went it seemed pretty healthy.We also did some cool stuff like a drift dive where we drifted out one way, came up about 20 feet and drifted back the other way right back to the boat. In addition to the drift dives, I did a manta dive,  and went to Tumbalen for a wall dive and a wreck dive. The wreck doesn't much resemble a ship anymore, but it was still a cool dive. I was hoping to find pygmy sea horses here, but had no luck. They're only about 1 cm long or so and look just like the coral to which they cling. So it is very difficult to spot them. Maybe I saw one and didn't even know it. Oh well. The search continues.

It was a very enjoyable three days of diving. Not just the diving itself, but the drives and boat rides to the sites, the great lunches, and great company. The drive to Tumbalen was particularly nice and is where I saw this.

After a long day of diving, we would typically have a beer at the bar at the dive shop and then I would head back toward my hotel and hit up the happy hour at a place next door. The happy deal was three beers for the price of two. The catch was you had to buy them all at once. Eventually I convinced the waitress that I needed a bucket of ice. Cold beer on a hot afternoon is always welcome. And the view was nice too.

The food sucked, though. But there was plenty of good food at other places nearby. I found some decent pizza, of course, and some sushi, and some ono local kine grindz.

On top of all this, my dive guide was excellent. His name was Gusde and he has a pretty impressive back story. Four years ago he didn't speak English and didn't know how to swim. He started working at the dive center hotel and picked up English. He saw people using the pool for scuba training and got curious. The dive shop put him to work cleaning gear and whatnot and two years ago he started diving. In those two years he went from not knowing how to swim to having done almost 900 dives and become an instructor. I was impressed and glad to have had him as my dive guide. Ask for Gusde at Bali Crystal Divers. Tell them I sent you. Maybe they'll hook me up next time I'm in town.