I cannot get over how amazing Nusa Lembongan is! I like it so much better than Bali, but I am also not a city person. It is definitely on island time and at a much slower pace with many places accessible by foot or by scooter. We rented some scooters the other day and found a ‘hidden beach’ (not so hidden because it was on the map) but with only a couple of others out there. This was my first experience seeing coral out here and I was so impressed! I was the only one with a snorkel and fins so I didn’t spend too much time exploring but in just the couple minutes I found parrot fish, porcupine fish, and lots of surgeonfish! After spending a couple of hours there, we went to Blue Corner Cafe, our new hang out spot while on the island. One of our friends works at the dive shop right next door and it is the perfect sunset spot right on the beach with fun games each night like bingo and trivia.
Thursday I finally got to get in the ocean! My friend Chelsea and I took a snorkel trip booked through our hostel for just 150,000 Idr; a whopping $10! The first stop was Manta Point, where you are pretty much guaranteed a manta sighting no matter what season it is. We stopped at the site which had quite a few other boats, in probably a 100-yard radius, with snorkelers all in between them (not exactly the safest swimming conditions). As we looked over the side of the boat, we saw heaps of jellies, so dense that you couldn’t see anything else in the water. They must have come in with the tide because just as we decided to leave, so did all of the other boats in the area. It was a pretty swelly day so it took us a couple tries to find a good enough spot; something I was used to from running snorkel trips for over a year. Once we settled on one, we hopped in to start looking for some mantas. After a few minutes of searching, one of the crew members who was in the water with us, spotted one. Now, these are pelagic mantas. I have seen very few manta rays in my lifetime that maybe maxed out at a 6 foot wingspan. When I saw this one 35 feet below me, I literally said “Holy S#$%” through my snorkel. It had to have been at least 10 feet wide. It was incredible to see such a gigantic animal, that feeds on the tiniest organisms, flying through the water with such ease. I spent quite a bit of time freediving down with him/her to get a glimpse at the underwater life this beautiful creature has, but sadly I had to return back to reality (silly body needing to breathe). As I headed toward the surface I was met by quite a few jellyfish- luckily I did not get stung but Chelsea was not as fortunate- as well as many pieces of plastic floating in the water column. I became nauseous as I watched my new friend nearly eat a plastic bag floating by. By the time I got back to the boat, both hands were full of trash. I was warned about the trash that was here but that didn’t make me feel any better when I saw it. Indonesia is one of the best places in the world to experience and see things in the water, but as a developing country they do not have the means to get rid of the amounts of trash that are being produced; most of it coming from tourism. So, it either gets burned and all of the harmful chemicals get released into the atmosphere, or it gets thrown into the ocean. Doesn’t that just make you want to throw up?! Bali was terrible but they do seem to make more of an effort here on Lembongan (bamboo straws everywhere for the win!), although you pretty much have to buy plastic water bottles. I had prided myself on not using them, thanks to my handy dandy hydro flask, but here you cannot drink from the tap unless you want Bali belly. That means that every time you want water, it comes in plastic. I have bought 4 water bottles since I have been here and my soul hurts. I try to keep them for refilling, on the off chance I find filtered water that I can pay for, but it is quite difficult because I am not yet settled in the town I will be living in and I don’t have the ability to carry them all around with me. Basically we are all constantly dehydrated here with the heat and humidity and the lack of accessible water. *Okay water bottle rant over* The other two spots that we went to did not have nearly the amounts of trash as Manta Point, although I did pick up a couple pieces.
The next spot was Crystal Bay, two islands over, on Nusa Penida. This is the biggest of the three islands and a very popular spot as we saw probably 20-30 boats in the small bay. Jumping in here was like entering an aquarium. The water visibilty and clarity didn’t even feel like you were underwater. Also the many different species of coral, hard and soft, all living and growing in such close proximity to one another was breathtaking. And the fish. Oh my goodness I need a fish book. I recongized some of the species (thank you Maui) but there are so many new faces that I want to learn all about! The last spot was called Mangrove Point, and no sadly I did not get to snorkel through mangroves, but got to see some pretty cool species here too. It was more in the open so there was a current that you had to kick pretty hard in order to get back to the boat. Massive coral heads out here and walls of fish. This spot was 5 degrees warmer than the other two so getting cold here really wasn’t a worry. Burnt was on the other hand, though I didn’t notice until much later. The negative thing about these last two spots was that they tied the boats up to the coral….and I’m just going to leave it at that.
Overall, I had an amazing time getting back into the water and seeing so many different things in another part of the world. I couldn’t wait to get back in and dive (that will be on the next post). I have fully embraced the beach bum life and I am loving every second of it!
The Travelling Cookie 