Diary: Diving safari in Bali, Day1 | A surgeon and the sea

There are many sites which divers want to dive at around Bali. They are scattered along all the coasts of Bali island although most main destinations for tourists on land are located in the southern part of the island. Padang bai, Amed, Tulamben in the east, Menjangan in the west, Nusa Penida in the south, and Singaraja in north. I’m a typical Japanese and cannot have vacations so frequently that I can stay and dive in each destination. So, I made a contact with a diving service that I used when I got on a liveaboard from Bali to Komodo.

“Hello. I’d like to dive at dive sites around Bali in a week. Can I do that?

“Yes!”

Day1: from the airport to Menjangan

I arrived at the airport with the first flight of the day from Singapore. I would have been there at night on previous day. I had to stay a night in Singapore due to flight schedule change. I could have seen a car with which I went around Bali when I come out the gate of the airport. But I could not see the car. The car was not a car but a small bus. I was a little surprised but pleased. A small bus for a guide and me. How luxury. The name of the guide was Derek. Luca, who is co-owner of the service, said that he would be with me when he had time. We met each other on a liveaboard two years ago. He is Swiss from Italy origin. His wife is Japanese, and he can communicate with me in Japanese.

All we should do is move to Menjangan, in the west of Bali, today. Heading to the north from the airport, and across the highland and mountains which go through the northern half of the island from the east to the west. You should come across the highland to the north coast of Bali. Menjangan is a small island off the coast in the very west end.

The bus went up on a road to the highland with green rice field in both sides. The rice field was followed by tropical rain forest. We had lunch at a small cafe on the way. Luca suggested that there are beautiful falls we should go and take photos nearby. He is also photographer. He knows what photo freaks want to.

We went down on a path for a while and the fall appeared. The mist from the fall was quite refreshing. Near the fall was a small village where people made Kopi luwak, and there are coffee beans of Kopi luwak on cloth under the sun for drying. We couldn’t see any civet in cage. Not even a cage.They didn’t seem to keep them. I had a cup of the coffee and had a break. After that, I went to another fall and then returned to the bus.

After the falls, we passed along three small lakes. They were also good for taking photos.

After the lakes, we landed on the north coast and heading west straight. We got to a hotel which located on the road to a port to Menjangan. This was about 10-minute distance from the post. The hotel was simple but seemed comfortable.

It was dusk when we arrived. The driver, Derek and Luca was going to stay at another hotel. They left after my check-in. I had dinner quickly and prepared for photographing the moon. It was supermoon on the day, I could not recognize its size through my usual equipment though. I went to bed after a while.