I wanted to do a little scuba diving while I was in Bali, since I had never been snorkling or diving anywhere in the Pacific other than California and Baja. Menjangan Island, off the northwest corner of Bali, was supposed to be particularly good.
Agung, my motorcycle man, said he could get me a good deal, and showed me to a dive shop. I arranged for them to pick me up two days later at the hotel.
It took two hours to drive from Lovina out to the northwest corner of Bali where the boats were. There were only two other people going, a British couple, Emily and Gary, going snorkling. The trip almost got cancelled, because they needed three people to make it worth their while, and Emily wasn't feeling very well. But she was game and perked up as the day wore on.
The boat dock was yet another testament to the devastating affect of the bombings on the local economy. There were probably fifty dive boats tied up; we were the only one going out.
Unfortunately, it was a rainy and overcast day, so the light wasn't very good.
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| Idle Dive Boats on Mainland off Menjangan Island |
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| Emily and Gary |
One of the nice things about going to Menjangan Island is that you get a good view looking back at the island of Bali.
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| Bali from Menjangan Island |
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| Boat Captain | Divemaster |
In between dives, I wandered up a trail on the shore and came to a Hindu temple. It had some great stone carvings of dragons guarding it.
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| Temple on Menjangan Island |
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| Temple on Menjangan Island |
The diving was a bit of a disappointment, possible because of the poor light, but also because the waters around Bali have been hammered pretty badly. I did get to see a lionfish, however, which was a treat.