Indonesia’s island of Bali is known by many as a diver’s paradise because of its many beautiful reefs and vibrant undersea life. I had the pleasure of taking a trip there just last week, and was greatly looking forward to exploring a smaller island just off the coast, called Nusa Penida. Last year, I traveled to Bali and did my open water diving certification in a beautiful town called Amed, most famous for the USS Liberty wreck dive nearby. This was an amazing experience for me, and one full of beautiful encounters with many different kinds of fish including angelfish, clownfish, moray eels, stingrays, and even a barracuda. Despite the amazing experience I had, I remember regretting not having more time for additional dives in other areas around Bali. This feeling was exacerbated by seeing a video posted by a friend of mine on the day of my flight off the island. He had dived off the coast of Nusa Penida, where he was able to swim with manta rays and even a large whale shark. Upon seeing those videos, I knew that Nusa Penida had to be the destination of my next dive trip.
The Trip Begins
This brings me to my trip last week. I flew into the Denpansar Airport on Bali, and the next day I was on a boat from Sanur Port to the beautiful island of Nusa Penida. The ride was calm and the day was sunny, warming my heart and filling me with optimism for the trip ahead. My friend had recommended to me a local guide with connections that could get us a ride to a good dive spot for seeing mantas and sea turtles. Upon arriving, I learned that whale sharks would be very rare to witness this time of year, and that I should not get my hopes up.
The Manta Rays
The morning of the dive was sunny, and we got to the dive location early before many other tours had the chance to arrive. The guide said that the day before there were four mantas at this very spot, so I entered the water with an optimistic enthusiasm, and without a care in the world. Within two minutes in the water, four mantas appeared from the murky blue water, gliding through the water in an almost unreal calmness. They seemed to be focused on some of the large rocks, coming very close and at times even rubbing themselves on them. I learned later that they often use these rocks to clean themselves, which is why they can be reliably found here during much of the year. Luckily we had a few peaceful minutes with the mantas, because before long many other boats had arrived at this spot, and the waters were soon full of large groups of snorkelers. Despite the beauty of the mantas, I found myself a bit bothered by how unruly some of the snorkelers were, with some coming extremely close to the mantas to take pictures. Before long, the time to leave had come, and we made our way back up to the boat.
Colorful Fish
Next stop was a place where our guide knew we would find some great reefs with vibrantly colored fish. He was right, and immediately upon entering the water we were greeted by colorful corals and beautiful fish everywhere including clownfish, angelfish and butterflyfish. Once again, it wasn’t long before the whole area was taken over by hoards of snorkeling groups.
Sea Turtles
Our final stop was to an area near the harbor where our boat had taken off from, and a place where I was told we could find sea turtles. Once again, our guide did not fail us, and within two minutes I was face to face with beautiful sea turtles enjoying a lunchtime munch on some tasty snacks in the coral. It was cool to see them digging into the coral, and I found it fascinating how other fish were lingering nearby to eat some of the scraps that the turtles had dug out of the reef.
A Close Call
Our day was done, and despite not seeing any whale sharks, I was very happy with my other sea life encounters. Two days later, my pleasant satisfaction turned to nervous relief when I learned that another diving group had a vastly different encounter the very next day with a great white shark. Great whites are probably one of the last things I would have liked to encounter on earth, and are rarely ever seen near Bali. Luckily no one had been hurt. The same cannot be said for another group that had their boat capsize off the coast of Nusa Penida a few days after ours, an unfortunate event that cost a young woman her life.
Reflecting now on this trip, I am deeply grateful for the experience I had, and am reminded of just how lucky we all are to be alive.
Thank you for reading my post. All photos were taken by myself on a GoPro, except for the shark photo which I sourced below the image.