Bali - Amed

Friends of the ocean,

this is another blog post dealing with the blue in front of Bali. Because after having such great experiences in Nusa Penida, I thought: Why stop there and looked for more dive spots and offers for dives in Amed. After finding a suitable dive center, I headed back to Bali.

This time, however, I took the cheap and slow ferry. The owner of the hostel in Nusa Penida was so kind to drive me to the ferry for free. That was at 7 a.m.

I have to say I liked this ferry much better than the fast ferry I used on the way there. (Especially since I didn't have any white bench marks on my pants and shirt afterwards.) Plus, you can sit in the shade and enjoy the ride.

Arriving in Padangbai, I tried to organize a driver to take me from Padangbai to Amed, despite the 'Non-Pick-Up Zone' of Grab and GoJek. Let's say that was less successful and an experience that I can mark as an experience but don't have to experience again. Because the locals tried more and more to force me into a ride and the drivers neither reacted nor were reachable at all, I gave up and walked about 20 minutes towards the end of the city. My hope was to find a driver there who would pick me up. Let's say this plan worked out half way, as I eventually found a scooter driver who took me. Unfortunately, the scooter ride took about 80 minutes and I balanced 13.4 kg on my back the whole time. Let's say I did my belly workout for at least a year during these minutes and sweated a lot. And that's not all, because of course I had planned to put on sun cream after the ferry and forgotten it because of all the stress and discomfort. Thank goodness the driver gave me my sunscreen during a short stop and I applied it while riding on the scooter, as best as I could. Except for the upper back area, it worked quite well. Well, when I arrived at the hostel, I jumped into the sea first and then went to the dive center in the afternoon.

The next morning, after breakfast on the rooftop terrace, it was time to go diving.

During the second dive, I saw a Black-Spotted Reefshark passing by in the blue. After the first two dives, I returned to the hostel for a short nap and a snack. In the evening, my first night dive was planned and I was supposed to be at the dive shop shortly before six. Stupidly, it started raining so heavily at half past five that I now understand what tropical rain looks like. But since I would get wet anyway, I packed everything important into my dry bag and set off.

The night dive was an incredible experience and being in the water at night was a completely new experience for me and filled me with a lot of peace and humility. It's a crazy feeling when everything is dark except for your own flashlight and the silence of the sea accompanies you while diving along an old shipwreck. Plus, we were able to stir up bioluminescent particles in the dark and start a little underwater disco. It was simply WOW!

The next day, I had 2 more dives and saw a lot more marine creatures, which are depicted in the pictures above.

Since I unfortunately can't share any videos here, the recordings of my night dive will have to wait until we see each other again and I can show them to you live.

In my hostel, I met some very cool people and planned a scooter trip with them for the next day. But more about that in my next post.

Until then, feel hugged,

Yours Britta