Some incredible muck diving, refresher courses and plenty of fun dives! All taken part over the easter holidays :)
Muck diving
Over the last two weeks we have had Geert and Kyle joining us especially for some amazing photography experiences. They both left no stone unturned and came back with some amazing photographs. Both divers were guided by Wayan and Kadek who have amazing eyes to spot the best things! They dived at Melasti in Amed and Tulamben, Seraya secret, Batu belah, Sidem and of course some of the more popular sites over 2 weeks.
I truly love the idea of diving with professionals who are experienced and invested with nurturing the local environment. The people who work at Bali Dive are not transient instructors, rather they are guardians who show people like myself and the inexperienced the wonders of the local underworld, big and small.
So ten weeks passed and I’m back again. What more can I say! {Kylie Tripadvisor}
Muck diving has a very slow pace and needs a lot of patience. It is great for photographers as you can see some very special things down there! Amongst those special things are rare Nudibranchs, harlequin shrimp, peacock mantis shrimps, pygmy seahorse, leaf scorpion fish, mimic Octopus, pipe fish and the list just goes on!
One of the main things that attracts divers is the Nudibranch photography here are some of our favs
5y diving, 230 diving, This time I chose BDC, a small friendly local diving club. As a semi-experienced diver it is great not to have to fit into a "system". Because you don't end up in a large group at BDC, diving is very relaxing. Starting half an hour later: no problem. Staying under water for fifteen minutes longer: fine (an average of 70 minutes of diving). Time between dives: well before a long second dive. Again the same location because that pygmy seahorse apparently looked the other way when the photo was taken: we do. I was very impressed by the professionalism of the team. Safety goes hand in hand with pleasure. Kudos to Jordan who switches from seriousness to a moment with a joke if possible in a very smooth manner. The logistics are also fine. They have a comfortable car that you can take to the most beautiful places on time. Jordan, your positivism and skills give your customers such a good feeling. Kadek, I admire your knowledge about underwater life, your photographic eye, your sincere natural enthusiasm and also your excellent (not exaggerated) cooking skills. I am sure that you will soon be an excellent instructor. Wayan, your relaxed attitude, your attention to the wishes of your customers, your trained eye and your knowledge about the sites that you can show the smallest, incredibly beautiful critters: fantastic. {Geert Tripadvisor}
Refresher courses
Sarah
Sarah came to us recommended by a friend who has dived with us a few times already. She arrived with her friend Kirsten who completed her PADI Open Water course with us. Sarah, an already certified diver started her diving in Amed with a refresher course as it was a while since she last dived! We started in the classroom for a briefing of a reminder of the basic skills and equalisation techniques as well as looking at the equipment again. We headed over to Jemeluk bay along with Kirsten and started in the shallows with some basic skills before heading off for a lovely dive on the Drop off. It didn’t take Sarah long to remember how everything worked!
After coming back to the dive shop for a debriefing and some refreshments, Sarah then headed over to the Pyramids for a gentle drift dive! The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn to head over to Tulamben to enjoy 2 fantastic dives on the USAT Liberty. We had some of the best visibility we have had in a while which made for 2 incredible dives!
We did two days diving in Amed with Bali Dive Cove and will definitely be coming back and recommending to friends. The first day we went to sites in Amed and the second we did a sunrise dive at the Liberty Shipwreck close by. We saw bumphead parrotfish, hawksbill turtle, white tipped reef shark, stingray and much more! Jordan and the team were very professional, clear and encouraging in their instructions. We felt very well cared for throughly relaxed! {Sarah Tripadvisor}
Lou-Lou and Olivier
Oliver had already dived with us in January with his 2 young daughters and this time has come back with partner Lou Lou! Lou Lou had not dived in almost 20 years so a full refresher course was necessary!
They decided they wanted to do an early session on the Liberty so we met the night before to complete all paperwork and equipment organised ready for the early start the next day. In the morning we headed over to the Liberty with their Instructor Jim. They started with a full briefing going over all the safety procedures, skills and what they would see underwater. After testing out all the kit they went in for the first dive. It was really beautiful conditions, really calm and perfect visibility! It took a little bit of time to settle into the skills but Jim was really patient and provided a lot of encouragement to make sure everything was done with ease!
After the skills were completed they headed over to the ship to check out the awesome marine life and beautiful corals!
Fun Diving
We also had Isabella, Kong and Jiannan, Hannah and Matt, two lads from Russia, Jelena and Iris who are all already certified divers and enjoyed some beautiful dives around Amed, Tulamben and Kubu. The water temperature hasn’t dropped below 29°C which has been Lovely!
Isabella enjoyed three days of diving with us starting in Jemeluk at the drop off followed by the Pyramids in Amed. The net day she decided to wake up early for the Sunrise diving on the USAT Liberty. There, Isabella enjoyed 2 dives. The first one was around the outside of the wreck and the second was checking out the middle section. On the final day Isabella decided to check out some of the amazing muck diving Amed and Tulamben has to offer and headed over to Seraya secret in between both villages for this experience. Along with guide Gede, they didn’t come back disappointed! Plenty or beautiful little Nudibranchs, pipe fish and Octopus were just some of the weird critters they saw down there!
Hannah and Matt joined us for a few days from a recommendation and had a great time! They started out in Amed on the drop off and Pyramids and saw loads of stingrays, garden eels, Scorpion fish and tonnes of reef fish! The next day they witnessed the stunning Tulamben Sunrise before diving into 2 stunning dives on the USAT Liberty. It was greta having you with us guys!
Jelena had just finished her Open Water certification in Padangbai and had heard so much good about the diving in Amed that she decided to come up for a day and night to check it out herself! Together with guide Gede, they enjoyed 2 fab dives in Jemeluk. We also all came together with other students and divers to have some dinner at one of our favourite warungs - Amed Sea View - yum!
Iris was already based in Amed and after diving most of the sites around there was one place still left unexplored... the Boga wreck in Kubu. Iris was diving with Divemaster Kadek and just the 2 of them headed over to the site. It was a great dive and they got to do some exciting penetration! The next day Iris and Kadek checked out the Amed and Jemeluk reefs. Iris has now decided she will take her Rescue diver course with us! We are very excited to start her training :D
Dinner Party
We decided to invite Geert, Kylie, Linda, Tom and Kate over to have some delicious fish. A majority of Wayans family are fisherman which meant we got some super fresh fish for supper. As some of you know already, Kadek is our Dive-master Chef and cooks up a mean meal! We had satay, grilled and fried fish with a combination of local sauces, potatoes and of course Rice! It was all Delicious!
