Diving & Rafting in Bali

Bali is one of my favorite destinations in the whole world. It is really an awesome place to do loads of activities. There are many places worth visiting, be it for photography, sight-seeing, diving, water-rafting, shopping, dining, pampering oneself and the culture itself. People often got mistaken that Bali is a country and Indonesia is in Bali. Something that needs major correction isn't it? This time,my trip to Bali was a combination of 'underwater tour', land tour and shopping, but the major activity is of course the underwater tour. Note that whenever we(I don't normally travel alone) plan a trip, no matter how diverse the activities are on the trip, SCUBA diving is the one making the largest proportion out of it (if there is one). Why? Because of the cost and amount of time spent for this activity. It is really uninteresting to spend SCUBA diving activities for only one day, especially when it comes to diving out of Malaysia. Oppsss....by the way, I did that one day diving in Similan island, Thailand. Didn't satisfy about it though, and lucky there wasn't much to see.

Neon damsels with their coral home.

Crocodilefish (don't worry, it is harmless)

Chromodoris annae

Acropora staghorn corals, home to the furious damsels.

Male ribbon eel

Next morning, we headed to Seraya, which is a few minutes away from Tulamben. It was a shore dive. and
today's dive, we were no longer a team of six, but 7. one the DMs friends, Irfan, joined us. Well, lucky my darling was the planner of this trip, if not, I would have flirted with this Irfan guy. Wakakakaka....(pls don't kill me sweetheart!!). To what I heard from Muhfa, he was a rich guy, own a business somewhere around Legian or Seminyak...or somewhere like that. Ok..ok...enough with the flirts. While entering, there were rocks everywhere that made the water looked dark. I was quite curious but when I dipped my face, everything was like crystal clear and nice. Those rocks came from the eruption of nearby Mount Agung, ages ago. Coral were not so abundant as what we had observed at Menjangan island. But the critters here were simply amazing. Nudibranchs, ribbon eels, flamboyant shrimps,and fishes. While diving, there was thermocline which got me headache and started to feel like throwing up. Our second dive was at a spot further up from the infamous USST Liberty wreck of Tulamben. It was in the same stretch of Seraya so basically not much difference in terms of marine fauna. It was sort of a torture dive for me because we need to fin for as far as I-don't-know-how-far until we got to the wreck. I thought I cried a moment because I couldn't stand the cold water (I'm sensitive to cold) and the burning on my head. But the pains were diverted by focusing on the search for critters and of course to 'guide' the camera to do the painting :D.

Mooray eel

Harlequin shrimp

This weird looking fish..well I don't know what is it.

My air was almost empty that I started to have problem with buoyancy. It wouldn't be a problem if I took underwater camera set with the Ikelite housing because it would compensate for the insufficient weight. I used 2 lead weights when I have my camera set. So I would not be able to maintain neutral buoyancy when 2 lead weights are used, but without my camera set!! The guys helped me to avoid myself being thrust upward. I'm the first to descend, and I'm the first to get out of the water. Haha...And then, we had lunch, just a plate of fried rice (Indonesian fried rice is always delicious) and some fish crackers. We (actually they) rested to meet the proper surface interval and prepared for last dive at USS Liberty wreck. I was so not coming (again!!) because I didn't feel like 'torturing' myself. I need let my body to calm down and another reason for that, it was cloudy, approaching sunset which I didn't want to experience it underwater. And I made the right decision because my buddies told me there was extreme thermocline and it was cold all the time. After rinsing our equipments, washed ourselves and packed all dive gears, we headed to Sanur. Another day passed nicely.

Female ribbon eel

Fish BBQ

Next day, we planned to go for white-water rafting in Ayung river. It costed Rph 500,000 each person for such activity. Well, this was my first time experiencing water-rafting and it's....international. Haha...but I didn't think it was that challenging and it was only level 2 or 3...something like that. It was enjoying though given the fresh and cooling environment which I really love always. Oh..by the way, the price inclusive of lunch. Around noon, we left Sg. Ayung and headed for another must-do activity (especially for ladies) that is shopping for souvenirs. We went to Krishna Oleh-Oleh Khas Bali (Krishna Bali Souvenirs) which is in Denpasar. When it comes to souvenirs, I got blinded and felt like buying everything. I ended up buying 2 creatively-made photo albums and candle stands. I thought they would be nice for my soon-to-have display cabinets and I might consider using aromatherapy candle frequently.At night, we went to have seafood dinner at Gedoangan (instead of Jimbaran beach). There were dance performances and while waiting for the food, we entertained ourselves with the performances. And there came our foody-foody. We were hungry. I could see they were starving and the dishes emptied within  the blink of an eye. Arrghhhhh....I really have to go to Bali again to have the real seafood dinner and MUST included all, prawns, lobsters, squids, grouper and anything nice. Now I feel damn hungry!!! That's the end of my 3rd trip to Bali. Definitely will return but no diving this time. Only travel in style with broad-brimmed hat and trolley-bag.