Bali Under the Waves

Down Where It's wetter...

The last activity on my schedule in Bali: SCUBA diving! You can't go to Bali without experiencing the underwater world. I had heard Indonesia is one of the best places to dive, and I had been looking forward to this since my arrival here.

Back at the University of Georgia, I had completed the first part of my SCUBA certification - the part that has to be done in the pool. I then needed my open water certification, which I was able to schedule to finish in Tulamben, Bali.

I needed to be at the dive center at 7:30am. We had ridden by it the day before on accident when we were lost, when I pointed it out to Ocha. She would drive me there, but she didn't have part of her certification done and couldn't come with. I set my alarm for 5:30, plenty of time to be ready to leave at 6:30. I was going to give us plenty of time to ride there too, in the likely event that we would get lost again. Ocha woke up a little after I did, and her arm was in a lot of pain, so she said she couldn't drive me. I was packing my stuff up for the two-day trip, when she rolled over and mumbled, "what time do you have to be there, 9?" I said no... 7:30, leave at 6:30. She indifferently said, "It is 7 now," and rolled back over. And then I kinda panicked. I had waited months for this day. I didn't have a ride. I was already going to be late. And it had to take me until the fourth day in Bali to find out the time changed!?! (It was actually 6:40, she rounds up). She said I could call a taxi. That would take too long, I tried to explain to her. And for them to find her uncle's house would have been chaos. So then she said I could ride with her uncle. "By motor?" (meaning moped) I asked. She said no. So I went downstairs to see a bunch of school boys standing around a car with it's hood up. Uh oh. I yelled up at Ocha trying to clarify who and what I was riding, because her uncle was no where around. And she replied something inaudible, so I ran back upstairs. Ah, I was supposed to ride with her uncle's son (not cousin? I was confused) by moped. So I went back down, and he was one of the school boys I eventually figured out. No one knew where the place was, after I showed them them the address. I explained to them that it was on a main road going to Sanur, but no one would leave not knowing exactly where. I kept calling the dive center, but with no answer. We went back upstairs to Ocha laying in her bed and they kept talking about how we didn't know where it was. I finally used Ocha's computer to show them google maps. But they just ignored it, apparently no one uses maps. In the end, I went by motorcycle with one of the construction guys that is working on the uncle's guest house. We stopped along the road a couple of times to ask for directions. A little after 8am, I happily arrived at Atlantis Dive Center.

I was so happy that they had waited for me, and so excited for the adventures to come! We had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us, so I quickly paid and loaded up my SCUBA gear. Surprise to me: Atlantis, the PADI-certified dive company I chose, is French. All of the instructors, and most of their customers, are French speakers. I immediately thought of the famous Jacques Cousteau. They could speak English, and with such suave accents. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. The diving community always seems to be such a friendly, great group of people.

The other tourists in the van were two guys from Iran and an American woman from Atlanta. I got my own, personal instructor named Christoph. We were dropped off at a dive resort in Tulamben while the others kept going. I checked into my single bungalow room and went to meet Christoph by the water. What a beautiful place! The resort was right at the water's edge, a straight rock wall going up to where you could dine or lounge. This part of the island is not a place for tourists, only divers come here, a fact I thoroughly preferred and found quite relaxing. I was the only American at the place, but the French people and one German lady working on her Master Diver certification were really fun to be around.

I got to do two dives that first day. Each time we reviewed some skills... and then we got to explore. Oh was it beautiful! Such clear water and so many colors! The first dive was in the coral garden, and the second was on a shipwreck. I felt so fortunate to just be in Bali SCUBA diving, and then to be able to see a wreck! I don't think I ever stopped smiling, even with that clunky regulator shoved in my mouth. It was a beautiful, enchanting world. Among the many beautiful and unique fish I don't know the names of, I got to see a moray eel, a stingray, a barracuda, and a field of meter-long eels that looked like skinny brown plants flowing in the current.

...You know its better, Under the Sea...