This below was posted on facebook, by my good friends Alex and Jessica who own and run Villa Alba. My thoughts are very much with them as they've invested a lot of time and energy (as well as money) building up this centre from scratch
"Well the evacuation went well even though Agung sent us a curveball ! Plan was to remove as much dive gear as we could but still remain open .
Then at 9 pm when the warning level changed to level 4 it was a change to plan B . Lucky for us we have all our own transport and a very good team of drivers who all turned to when the call went out. So the vehicles were emptied again and the guests loaded on only to find that the roads were all blocked with traffic so it was decided to head to a safe haven (Amed) which had not been raised to level 4. Accommodation was found for 28 personnel and the guests were allocated their rooms.
We took the decision to head back into the level 4 zone that night to retrieve some of our more expensive dive equipment and this was accomplished by 4 am.2 hours sleep and we were unloading the gear to Two Fish Divers in Amed so a big thanks to them for coming to our aid and that is what the diving business should be about help each other when needed.
Next was the collection of the guests and the evacuation continued, unusual feeling when you are heading out and seeing the emergency services heading in. With lights and sirens blazing.Those boys ang girls seem to have bigger gonads than I.
So guests were catered for and thanks to Villa Costa Plenty in Sanur for the excellent accommodation arrangements.
I did manage to extricate a few bottles of single malt and there will be a few"wee drams" getting used up tonight.
So we will be back tomorrow to load up more dive gear if we are allowed into the red zone!
We did think of remaining in Amed but the problem is that even though it is not a danger zone there are parts of the escape road to the capital that are classed as red and there will be no access therefore no escape if she did blow.
No sign of anything untoward at all during the day but there may be a possibility of an increase in activity at 8pm tonight going by some sources .
So whilst it saddens both Jessica and I to abandon Alba to it's fate it was great to see our team in action and a special thanks to our drivers and other staff for going above and beyond remembering that they have families that have to be looked after.
So we will wait and see the outcome and we are satisfied that even though there were a few changes to our procedures we eventually to have a safe outcome for guests and staff."
"Well the evacuation went well even though Agung sent us a curveball ! Plan was to remove as much dive gear as we could but still remain open .
Then at 9 pm when the warning level changed to level 4 it was a change to plan B . Lucky for us we have all our own transport and a very good team of drivers who all turned to when the call went out. So the vehicles were emptied again and the guests loaded on only to find that the roads were all blocked with traffic so it was decided to head to a safe haven (Amed) which had not been raised to level 4. Accommodation was found for 28 personnel and the guests were allocated their rooms.
We took the decision to head back into the level 4 zone that night to retrieve some of our more expensive dive equipment and this was accomplished by 4 am.2 hours sleep and we were unloading the gear to Two Fish Divers in Amed so a big thanks to them for coming to our aid and that is what the diving business should be about help each other when needed.
Next was the collection of the guests and the evacuation continued, unusual feeling when you are heading out and seeing the emergency services heading in. With lights and sirens blazing.Those boys ang girls seem to have bigger gonads than I.
So guests were catered for and thanks to Villa Costa Plenty in Sanur for the excellent accommodation arrangements.
I did manage to extricate a few bottles of single malt and there will be a few"wee drams" getting used up tonight.
So we will be back tomorrow to load up more dive gear if we are allowed into the red zone!
We did think of remaining in Amed but the problem is that even though it is not a danger zone there are parts of the escape road to the capital that are classed as red and there will be no access therefore no escape if she did blow.
No sign of anything untoward at all during the day but there may be a possibility of an increase in activity at 8pm tonight going by some sources .
So whilst it saddens both Jessica and I to abandon Alba to it's fate it was great to see our team in action and a special thanks to our drivers and other staff for going above and beyond remembering that they have families that have to be looked after.
So we will wait and see the outcome and we are satisfied that even though there were a few changes to our procedures we eventually to have a safe outcome for guests and staff."
