Diving 2012

Diving

     

Photoalbum Bali

Day 10: Monday October 22, 2012: Transport to Amed and exploration

We are in Lovina for the last moments today. First we arrange everything here at the hotel, so we can call Eka en leave to Amed where I’m going to dive for a couple of days. I’m really looking forward to that. But first a nice breakfast here: two time sunny side up, chocolate paste, strawberry marmalade and a bit cheese. Add to that some coffee and a mixed fruit juice: a day can start worse than this. Then we sit on our terrace, pack, write the report of yesterday. Time flies, because day ten has already started; that’s less good news, but we still enjoy every moment here. We’re ready at about ten and hand back the towels at the reception. The MasterCard terminal is down, so this is not good, except when the manager passes by, then everything works fine again, but we need to pay three percent extra as for every transaction. Everything is OK and Eka is already there to take us to Amed. Great isn’t it? We already agreed on a price, so there is nothing left here. The case in the car and on the road to Amed. Nice! The first part is pretty busy from Lovina to Singaraja and there we pass the centre of the second busiest city of Bali, so traffic is a mess. Everywhere police officers are directing traffic and scooters are racing between cars. We even pass a Carrefour, so Bali is similar to Europe when it comes to this. Only the parking lot is totally different than Belgium. At home we would see a parking lot full of cars and maybe a few bicycles or scooters, here it’s the other way around: full of scooters, really full and just one or two cars. It’s a funny sight.

Once we’re outside of Singaraja, traffic is less and we follow the coast to Amed. We don’t stop, but look outside to the landscape. The land is dryer, the rice fields disappear and make room for forests, banana trees and magnificent hills. The road along the coast leads us up and down. Eka has a totally different driving style than the previous driver: he drives like crazy and fast, sometimes he’s held by a truck or a bunch of scooters, but we’re moving OK. At the end of the trip we see volcanoes, really magnificent mountains and we think it’s a great view at our right side: the sea is at the other side. The drive to Amed is great, relaxing in the back of the car and Eka drops us off at the hotel Puri Wirata. First we see another hotel with the same name in Tulamben, but we continue to Amed and read the village easily. We continue outside the village and from here it’s another six kilometres to the hotel: on such a small road it takes longer than on a highway, but a highway is not available in this part of Bali. We start thinking quite soon that there is nothing here: we see one lonely restaurant, a small shop, but nothing else. And then we don’t see a single thing for the next ten minutes and Eka turns towards the hotel. It looks like there is nothing else than diving here. We did see some diving centres here though: they are built one next to the other, but that’s not everything we wanted. We wanted to buy some souvenirs before we left Bali the last day or days, but that will not work here.

With a special feeling we arrive at the hotel, great location on the slope of a hill and we check in. they take us to our room, number 28 and the room is magnificent: a four-poster bed, nice bathroom with beautiful shower and a large terrace with e great view on the ocean. They’ve given us a very nice room. But our feelings are not OK, because apart from diving there is nothing we can do here and that’s not nice. With a bit of a bad feeling we go for lunch: we have a sandwich chicken. And it’s very expensive here too. Not good to end our vacation here. I ask some more information to the waiter: the nearest ATM is forty five minutes away, a supermarket is at forty minutes, so we’re really in the middle of nowhere. After lunch we discuss what to do and we quickly decide we will not stay here for five days. I arrange we can go back to Ubud, there are rooms available at the same hotel and I also arrange a driver. Then we feel a bit better and we can explore the surrounding area. There is not a lot to explore though: about hundred metres there is a small shop where we can use our last cash to buy some groceries and we can go to arrange the dives. They’ve already put me on the planning for tomorrow for three dives and maybe a nightdive and we receive a perfect explanation from Tom, a Belgian guy, nice to meet a Flemish guy here. Everything is settled then, dive tomorrow and the day after: I need to be at the centre at eight. And that’s only on the entrance of the hotel, which is very nice.

To pass the rest of the afternoon, we borrow a snorkel and mask at the diving centre and go snorkelling n front of the hotel. For my love this is the first time and we’re bit curious how this will be. We put our bag on the concrete in front of the hotel and enter the water. At the beginning everything is black, the rocks and the sand, but a bit further I see fish. First I had given a short introduction how to use the mask and snorkel and we’ve tried the mask under water, see how she manages to breather through a pipe like this and then we can start. Everything goes well and we see plenty of small fish. The usual butterfly fish hang above the coral or what’s left of it and we enjoy every moment. There is a bit of current, so we’re very careful. The instructor had warned us for the current, so we’re alright. A parrotfish passes us and the small blue-yellow fish find shelter between the rocks. A pufferfish is also around and we both like it a lot. For me this is no surprise, but she likes it too: the first time she goes out snorkelling. And then on a location like this, marvellous. At the end I see a nudibranch only half a metre deep, so that’s a good end: not really a very colourful one, but nice with black and green colours. Really very nice!

Then we return to our room, have a shower and eat at the restaurant. I call S to explain we won’t be staying here for five days and she understands the reasons why. We had planned to celebrate her birthday here, but that won’t work, hopefully we meet in Amed. She thinks it’s a pity, but doesn’t want that we don’t have fun our last days here and is OK with whatever we decide. We had expected that, but it’s nice she has said it and means it. Then the food: mie goreng ayam and seafood with cola and Bintang. We have a good afternoon and evening with the snorkelling and supper. At about ten we return to the room, enjoy the great view of the starry night and then go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be diving, so that will be great.

 

Day 11: Tuesday October 23, 2012: Diving day 1: Around Amed

Already a bit before six we’re awake in this magnificent room with a marvellous view on the ocean. On our right side in the east we see the sun rising between the palm trees and we like it a lot. We already saw the rising sun in Lovina, but this is even prettier. We stay here on our large balcony and enjoy the view. If you want to describe a great advantage of this hotel it certainly is the view and the room, just great. We almost seem to forget we’re in the middle of nowhere. While I write the report of yesterday, my love is staring at the sea and asks: what kind of animal is that? No idea, because I haven’t seen it. A bit later two dark brown fish come to the surface and blow water from their back. That must be dolphins or whales: let’s ask Tom later. At about seven thirty they serve breakfast and we’re checking out what they have today: coffee as much as you want, eggs the way you want it, so we choose sunny side up and mixed omelette. We also have a fruit salad and a freshly made watermelon juice and we’re ready for our day. The whales apparently are pilot whales, large dolphins: it seemed bigger, but we’ve spotted whales already today. Then it’s time to say goodbye, because at quarter past eight I need to be at the diving centre: both camera’s, fill out the forms and try on the equipment. We’re all ready to leave, don’t take anything that should remain dry and they drop us at the next bay. Here we enter the water for a driftdive and we should arrive at the hotel. We get ready: the guide, two Swiss ladies and me. The other group consists of one instructor and two American ladies. At the place where we enter the water we see Balinese women cleaning fish: in about ten crates we see snappers and other species of fish that are waiting to be transported to hotels and other places.

Then we can start. The first part is very shallow and the current is against us, but it’s not heavy, which is nice. We won’t reach the hotel this way though, but that will soon change. I see a lionfish, really a beautiful animal. The nice blue-yellow fish we already saw during snorkelling are here in great numbers and when we leave the coral, we arrive at an eelgarden. And this is quite a garden. Hundreds of eels stick their bodies out of the sand and disappear when we approach. It’s a great view: that many eels together is great. I succeed in getting close enough to an eel to take a picture just before he disappears in the sand. Then we reach a part where it becomes deeper. From here it goes down a couple of hundred metres, so we need to be careful that we don’t go too deep. In the beginning we reach almost thirty metres. The visibility and the view are impressive. Sponges are very large: almost the size of a human being. The surgeonfish swim around us in large numbers and we continue our dive. At this depth there is more current and it goes with us now. We loose control a bit, because the water is pulling us away. We have little control over the speed of our drift, so it’s a fast dive to the hotel. The guide will say later that there is more current than usual. A small selection of the things we see: Moorish idol, emperor, nudibranch (to be identified), many butterfly fish and also different species, really great. We see anemone fish too and as during every dive they are so cute. Feather stars have found roots on the sponges and the corals; it’s magnificent what we see under water. And then the instructor signals he has spotted a shark. About ten metres away from us we see a shark of one and a half metre in the current and he seems much better adapted to the circumstances than we are. Nice! A shark during my first dive here. A bit later we see two large barracuda’s and continue our dive.

Due to the heavy current and me fighting against it, I use a bit more air as usual and in addition this is the first dive after one month, so air consumption is higher. The guide shows us two large stingrays, not the blue-spotted, but with light dots at the end of the tail: another species I haven’t seen yet. We’re on our way for half an hour and this is already a great dive. I suddenly see a large nudibranch, about ten centimetres, I try to call someone, but nobody is close enough. Black stripes over the back of the slug and they form islands of white and yellow dots. It looks like one I’ve already seen, but not this size. And then there is a problem with the regulator. That’s not so good, it stagnates at seventy bars already. I have a look around: where is the rest, because I need to find someone as soon as possible. The two Swiss ladies are too far away and the instructor is about ten metres apart. I can still breathe, but not very well, so I start swimming to the guide, in three or four strokes I am with him, signal him that I’m out of air and take his second regulator. That’s strange because I’m still over fifty bars. I have a heavy breath a couple of times due to the effort and a bit of stress and I join the instructor to the surface. We have our safety stop and surface. I’m no longer interested in the fish or other creatures; the main focus is to get up safely. We manage that and on the surface I can still put air in my BCD, we return to the beach and to the hotel. All right! This was a great, magnificent dive to start with, only unfortunate that I had this little problem. They need to service it and give me another one.

I take a quick shower and I’m happy I can spend an hour at the pool with my love here. She stayed at the hotel and has been swimming and reading in a chair. When she’s reading time flies, so now too: the first dive is already finished. We’re happy that we can be together for an hour, but time flies when we’re together. One hour is gone just like that and I’m already preparing to go to the diving centre: we now drive to another bay to dive the Japanese shipwreck. They load everything into the van and twenty minutes later Balinese women take the gear on their head to the beach. Easy and it’s impressive they can carry that much weight on their head. We see a buoy ten metres from the beach and the guides tell us that the wreck is there. That’s close! We prepare everything and can enter the water. From the shore we already see the pieces of wreckage. They are overgrown with soft coral, but often it’s damaged by divers and snorkelers. The fish look for shelter in and around the wreck and because it’s so shallow it is a magnificent play of sun, wreck, water and fish: it’s a good suggestion to dive here. The wreck is not a big one, because after fifteen metres we’re diving the wall. The wreck as a wreck is not special, because there is not a lot left, but the reef is more beautiful. We see scorpionfish on the sand, large sea fans are rocking on the current, hard coral, soft coral: we see everything here. A couple of parrotfish eat the coral and the butterflyfish are here too. And then the first nudibranch of this dive and there will be more. The first one is white and brown with brown ‘ears’ and very pretty. The next two are blue and then a black one with blue accents. This is a great location to spot nudibranchs and I like it a lot. A large anemone offers shelter to a couple of anemone fish and we continue along the wall. It’s a great dive with plenty of colours: blue sea squirts and others are black and yellow. And then there are also the many fish with different shapes and colours, swimming between the coral and the divers. A Christmas tree worm is located on the coral and provides me with a feeling of familiarity because it’s always present in tropical water. Two more nudibranchs pass by and then anemone fish in a blue and green anemone. Superb!

We’re almost half way so we turn back: for the record, I still have hundred and twenty bars, so the air consumption is much better: there is little to no current here. Then I see another species of nudibranch: this one is black with green dots. And right after a purple one with white accents and yellow tentacles. The sponges are outstanding, especially because they’re so big, actually they’re huge. A bit shallower we see three scorpion leaf fish, also nice to see this one. And then the guide swims towards a sea fan and I hope, I hope. YES, he has spotted a pygmy seahorse. He has seen it, but I haven’t yet. I look in the proximity of his finger and then suddenly see the well camouflaged seahorse between the branches of the coral. Only two centimetres, but oh so cute. YES, YES, YES! Is it clear I like this a lot? Yes, certainly! I take pictures and hope that I will have a couple of good ones. Then we return towards the wreck and hang out there. We’ve almost been under water for an hour and it only seems like a few seconds. I’m really very pleased with this dive. We can have a shower with the gear and then take the van back to the hotel. We can’t arrange a third dive today, so I go back to the pool and enjoy the dun, have lunch and then back to the pool. With a view like this, it’s great to be here. It’s a pity that I can’t dive a third time, but number three will be available tomorrow. We have spaghetti and chicken sandwich and then relax. After an hour we return to the room, but all the stuff there and at about four we go snorkelling again. We use the equipment of the diving centre and get into the water on the same place as yesterday. There is a lot more current today and higher waves, so it’s a bit more difficult, but we’re alright. We don’t see anything special, nothing more than yesterday, but we’re having fun during these thirty minutes. Then we take a shower and prepare for supper. We have pizza and a fish curry and we love it. Since we’re both tired we want to go to bed early: first use the Internet, check e-mails and then into bed. We fall asleep at about ten thirty. Tomorrow I have diving day two and then hopefully three more dives. We’ll see!

 

Day 12: Wednesday October 24, 2012: Dive day 2: Tulamben: USS Liberty, Coral garden and nightdive

Same drill for waking up as before. Write the report on a beautiful balcony with view on the ocean and the sunrise. Super! Then a nice breakfast at the restaurant and two hours after we got up, our paths split. First we go to the diving centre together: all the gear is read to dive at Tulamben for two dives there. I get in the van and my love goes to the supermarket and then relaxes at the pool until I’m back. After half an hour we arrive there and during the transfer we have a great view on the volcanoes here along the coast. We already saw them when we came to Amed and now I see them all the time. It’s great to see that these mountains are so close to the sea and rise so high from the ground. We arrive in a small hotel with the second centre of Bali Reef Divers. It’s great to be here, it’s close to a busy road, but all dive locations are within walking distance, so that’s nice. Also the Liberty? Yes, also the wreck of the Liberty. My guide Gede has a short briefing about the wreck and then we prepare everything. They will take it to the dive spot by scooter, there we put the tank on our back and get into the water. On our way there I speak to Gede about diving, the wreck and what things I can expect. Yesterday the other guide, Kadek, told me that a pygmy seahorse was also living here. Hopefully we get to see this too. We’ll see.

We cross the street, cross a busy parking lot where they sell T-shirts of the Liberty – I’m not going to buy one – and five minutes later we’re at the beach of the Liberty. It was an American transport vessel that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in January 1942. The ship was built as a cargo-vessel for animals and served in the Second World War. In 1963 an eruption of the MountAgung has moved the wreck from the beach to about thirty metres from the shore. The volcanic stones and sand now ensures this is a very popular diving spot in Tulamben and there is supposed to be many coral and fish here. In the water we make the last preparations, put our fins on, wear the mask and then Gede will guide me to the wreck. I’m curious what it will be like. He points some small nudibranchs to be, really tiny ones, but also a couple of big specimens. He asked me what kind of things I wanted to see and he takes that into account, just like all the guides here: a really great service. I want to see it all, but especially macro and then this wreck is the right place. The first ten minutes we see like ten nudibranchs and we haven’t reached the wreck yet. Jesus, what will this be here? A couple of things will be totally new to me and the first thing is already there: a praying mantis lobster. Inside the layer under a rock you can see the animal: beautiful eyes and the two arms folded under the head, a very pretty sight. And then the animal shows its full appearance: you can clearly see this is a lobster and the most remarkable is the green-blue tail: really great colours. After that we see the wreck: a large wreck, broken into three pieces. The under water life is very abundant here: bass, butterflyfish, snappers and several other species, magnificent. Hard and soft corals grow on the wreck. Small damselfish hide in the hard corals. Just as I already saw in Egypt they disappear into the corals when you come closer. I love this spectacle a lot. There are two types of sea squirts here, the same ones as I saw yesterday. These are just details, but they’re very nice. We continue our dive along the wreck and meet more butterflyfish: longnose butterflyfish, phantom bannerfish and s couple more.

We’ve passed the first part of the wreck and dive between the remains of what used to be a majestic vessel. And then Gede shows a small white fish between the plants: a giant frogfish, the white version. It’s only a small fish to be called giant, but it’s lovely to look at. It is white with red-purple spots and has similarities with a clown. I could stay here for hours to look at the animal. But we need to continue and see a species of flabellina (nudibranch): white, purple and red, beautiful. Right next to it two nudibranchs are turning around and they seem to be in love: this will result in small nudibranchs! Then Gede stops at a piece of hard coral and takes his pointer to indicate a small crab of a couple of centimetres. It’s a brown crab with hairy legs: an orang-utan crab, named after the monkey and you can clearly see the resemblance. Also this is a great dive until now. Yet another species I’ve never seen before. Well, I don’t see it myself first, but the guide does. Close to hard coral where also feather stars are living, two harlequin ghost pipefish are hanging around. I am so happy that I’ve seen these and that I also have a couple of pictures. But we’re already on our way back and dive shallower. At the deepest place we were hitting thirty metres again. There is not a lot of current and very relaxed diving and I’m happy with this dive. And then the second pygmy seahorse of this vacation is seen. This time it’s the brown version and is sitting beautifully on coral. It’s so cute. You can easily recognize the shape, better than yesterday with the purple one. The rest of the dive there is nothing special anymore. I mean of course no new species for me, because it’s almost an aquarium here when you dive. Normal anemone fish and Clarks anemone fish are here too, so nothing special is more like an understatement. By the end of the dive we go even shallower and we see a huge green humphead parrotfish, a royal angelfish and an emperor angelfish. During the safety stop I still enjoy the view of the small blue fish against the black sand and after about an hour we stop the dive.

We return on foot without the gear, because that is being taken care of for us, to the hotel and dive centre. We stay there for about an hour and I have a chat with Tom and an Australian couple that is here with their son and then I already get the briefing for the second dive. This will be CoralGarden and hopefully this will be as much fun as the first dive today. Via a small path with plenty of garbage we walk to the dive site. We arrive on an enchanting beach with palm trees and a lazy Balinese guy (maybe this is pleonastic) and here we need to dive? Harder punishments exist than this. The first thing we see is a small scorpionfish, a large yellow-white-black nudibranch and a large school of snappers and butterflyfish. A good start. We spot an anemone with the nosestripe anemone fish, really cute these guys. Gede shows a couple of small crabs: so small, I’m very surprised he can even spot them: one is perfectly adapted to live in red corals and the other one is hiding in the side of a large sponge. I think it’s great how these guys can spot those little crabs. There was a shark here this morning, but we don’t see it now, it’s OK, cause there is enough to see. After a couple of nudibranchs, I see something special: this time not a slug, but a flatworm with several colours, very nice. The dive is very shallow, because we don’t reach deeper depth than fourteen metres. There is little to no current, so everything goes quietly. A yellow three spot angelfish, completely yellow with black eyes and a black dot above the eyes and then a blue mouth: the cute fish swims along. And yet another animal I’ve never seen before. A light blue body with a bright yellow head sticks out of the black sand. The body and the head regularly come out of the sand and you quickly recognize a ribbon eel. This was one of the things I wanted to see: check! I enjoy every second of the dive just like the one earlier today. The first one was more impressive thanks to the wreck and the abundance of fish. There is less coral here, but plenty of fish, also a very nice dive. I try to watch everything and also at the anemones and fish and some of the anemones are partially closed. That has a nice effect. We see a couple of hawkfish and then it is getting too crowded, so we look for another place. I look at a goby living together with a yellow shrimp and it’s nice to see how they’re working together. The shrimp is blind, but keeps the layer clean and at the same time the goby watches the area. This is a good collaboration. Close to the remains of an old wreck there is a lot of fish: snappers, small damselfish, glassfish and bigeyes. It’s amazing how this all looks like and I’m very pleased with these two dives today. After an hour we’re done, but I still have a nightdive for today. We clean the gear and take it back to hotel Puri Wirata where I’m very happy to see my love again. We’ve send texts a couple of times between the dives and we’ve missed each other only a couple of hours.

At one thirty the van arrives back at the diving centre, I go down to the swimming pool and then we have lunch. We have a chicken sandwich and a club sandwich. We drink enough water and then we relax. A dive into the pool and then dry in the shadow. I tell my story of the last two dives and we’re both happy that they were good. We relax some more, work our tan and enjoy the peace and each other. Time flies, because it’s already three o’clock, so we’re still together until about sixe when I leave for the nightdive. We discuss our relationship and our future and the fact that we will make everybody jealous when we’re back, because our time here is passing fast now. That’s not so funny, but we already had a great time and we’re still having a couple of great days. We talk, relax, enjoy every moment and dive into the pool/ as always when we’re together, time flies and also now that’s the case. It is five soon and it’s time to return to our room, prepare the camera’s for the dive and enjoy each others company. We also check out the pictures of the first dives and we’re both impressed what was already captured. There are a couple of great pictures. Five to six, quickly check e-mail to see my mom has sent a message and then ready to dive. Everything is ready and we drive to Jemeluk for the nightdive. About ten minutes in the van and we arrive at a beautiful bay, really amazing with still the red glow of the setting sun. Here is the nightdive tonight. Kadek, the same guide as yesterday hands me a torch and we enter the water. Once the sun has completely set behind the mountains, it goes quickly and darkness enters at a great speed. Start! First thing we immediately see is a cuttlefish, super. Second is a mimic octopus, again super. A good start of the dive. We swim over the sand and there are many feathers in the sand. They look like long straight sticks with everywhere small tentacles that are filtering the water. Some of them even look like small trees. And then we see anemone-like thing, suddenly rising from the ground. It’s very big. Kadek shows a nudibranch below a rock: first we think it’s a Spanish dancer, but it’s not, a dark-brown species, almost aubergine: then we know this is a species of pleurobranchus, the same as the last nightdive in Egypt in July. She’s as beautiful as a Spanish dancer, but a bit hidden between the rocks. Tonight we spot a whole bunch of cleaner shrimps and also some coral banded shrimps. At a certain moment the shrimp is next to a crab, both with the back to each other, a nice view. During the night the lionfish are swimming freely and we see different kinds: one more beautiful than the other. A small moray eel with a white head is seeking shelter below the same rocks as the shrimps. The eyes of the hinge beak shrimps are lighting dots on the reef. The reef itself is a bit damaged, because there are also crown-of-thorn starfish and there is a lot of broken coral here. Or maybe this is due to the divers. No clue.

The first torch Kadek gave me broke down, but after a small adaptation it worked again, but now the other one is down, but he solves both problems, so I only have a couple minutes of total darkness. A pufferfish appears from the blackness and says hi: yellow at the bottom and grey at the top, a cute animal. He even swims against the side of my hand: good evening pufferfish. The side of the small fish was very soft, nice encounter. During the nightdive we often see sea urchins and today that’s no different: toxic leather, fire and other sea urchins. We slowly start our way back, because we’ve been diving for about forty minutes already. We see some more nudibranchs and a long flatworm. Dark-blue with a white edge and two feelers at the front: otherwise you would not be able to tell front from back. On the broken shells a special type of anemone lives, at least I think it’s an anemone: a short stem as a basis like a small tree and at the end jelly-like tentacles: it’s something very special. They don’t like lights, because they pull back the tentacles when we come closer with the torches. A few moments before we reach the sand again, a scorpionfish is resting on the ground, again a beautiful animal. And then I see a strange creature: the basis of a feather star with long tiny branches, with very fine ends. When the ends have filtered something from the water, they bring it down and the food is being swallowed. Also this animal reacts to the light. From the guide of the Indian Ocean of Debelius I find that it’s a Medusa Head. First time I see this. You can only see these during a nightdive. And then Kadek points out a stonefish: yes, great: it’s still one of the most poisonous fish in the world, so be careful, but don’t worry as long as you don’t touch it. We usually never touch things under water, except when a pufferfish swim against you. The last thing we see is an anemone that is the home of an adult and a smaller crab. At first I thought the small crab was being eaten by the anemone, but after I spotted the bigger one, I realised that it was some kind of symbiosis. Of course it was not the last thing we saw, because a kind of stargazer is right next to it and all the time the small luminescent are swimming above the sand. But then the dive ends and after an hour we get out. We quickly dry and return to the hotel.

At the hotel my love is waiting and we still need to decide whether we’ll stop by Sarah or not. They are not very close, so it is difficult to arrange transport there. We’re both very tired, so we send a text to S and tell her we’re very sorry we won’t pass by today. We’ll see each other back in Belgium. Then we have supper: nasi goreng and squids in lemon sauce. The food at the hotel is great. At about eleven we are too tired and go to bed. Tomorrow we move back to Ubud to stay two days in the peaceful village and hotel. We’ll have some stops on our way, but you’ll read all about it.

 

Day 13: Thursday October 25, 2012: Departure from Amed, back to Ubud: Water Palace and Monkey Forest

Today we leave Amed and return to Ubud. We had decided this, because we’re too far away from everything; we can’t buy any souvenirs and are almost obliged to stay at the hotel. We did not want that, so we have arranged transport and a hotel in Ubud. It’s a pity that we miss the birthday of Sarah, but we talked to her and she’s sorry, but understands our decision. The reason to go to Amed were the dives and they were really great, maybe a pity I only did five, but the five I did were mind-blowing thanks to Bali Reef Divers. They have arranged it very well. Tom and Birger have made the diving centre from scratch to what it is now and they have three locations: one at the hotel Puri Wirata in Amed, the second at the same hotel in Tulamben and then the third also in Tulamben close to a budget hotel. I was at the last location yesterday. The service is super: you have a lot of input on the dive sites and the guides also look for things you are interested in. especially for me as a nudibranch-lover and macro photographer this is interesting. Macro photography rules here in the east of Bali. The guiding is almost private, because I did one dive with two Swiss ladies and the rest was a private guided dive. Great! Also the nightdive was nice: in many diving centres that would have cancelled the dive, when there is only one diver, but not here: here they do the dive and they have a great focus on customer satisfaction. It was very nice. The rental equipment is also nice; there was the one problem with the regulator, but apart from that everything was in good condition, BCD well serviced, suits are good and printed with Bali Reef Divers or Puri Wirata, so they thought of everything. Tom and Birger: you’re doing a good job and keep up the good work!