Hoges in WA
Registered
We were picked up from our hotel in Legian right on time. 2 other divers were already on the bus, one from Toronto and the other a Brit currently living in Phuket, Thailand.
We drove over the mountains on the way to Menjangan. Normally, this would be the scenic way but this time of the year we were surrounded by clouds drifting all over the roads and through the passes. Not much of a view but at the same time quite surreal.
We boarded our boat in a small channel near Mimpi Resort and made our way to the island
Our first dive was the Eel Garden, not quite a wall but with some steepish sections. Very pleasant and interest at every turn. It was also nice for us to dive with two very accomplished divers with a relatively minimalist approach to gear no great to-do about getting ready and no fussing about. They were very pleasant company indeed.
After our first dive, we went on the island to visit the temple there. A huge new statue of Ganesha has been erected and it is far different now to the previous photos of the seaward view. There were many deer in and around the complex. Dressed appropriately, we wandered around the grounds, ate our lunch in an alcove (after asking the workers where the best place to eat was), left a donation for maintenance and went back to the jetty on the other side of the island. Also managed to pick up a geocache while I was there (GC1DNFT). Our two new friends went off to do a second dive while we lingered. Carol had a snorkel back at the jetty while we waited for them to surface. (Photos in the photo section)
Our scheduled sunset dive in Mimpi Channel turned into a night dive, as wed mucked around a little longer than planned on the island and got back to Mimpi late. The main purpose was to see Mandarin Fish, and this we did. I hadnt realized just how tiny these chaps are and had difficulty seeing them in their refuge. Nice muck dive, with some eels thrown in.
Overnight at Adi Assri Cottages. Bit of a misnomer, really as its actually more of a resort, located in Permuteran on NW Bali coastline, with a couple of pools, mountains at the back and the ocean in front. They have a website if you want to check them out accommodation is very swish indeed.
Next day started out stormy and unpromising. The wind from the night before was up even more and the sea was rising. We went to the usual take off point to be told no boats were going out. This group was a little sensitive, having lost a boat a week before (not a critical issue all divers picked up by surrounding boats and it was very close to the shore anyway).
Our DM concurred with their assessment and told them we would be shore diving that day. We then returned to our bus and went to the other side of the point where another 20 boats were moored. DM promptly arranged for one of these to take us over. The rule seemed to be to agree with the guys who didnt want to go in order not to embarrass them, then go to the other side. These boats werent braver than the other guys, they simply had a different angle on the swell and it was far easier to get out of the shoreline from there.
Off we went for another magical day on Menjangan. We dived on the inside of the island (Pos 1) in about 70. Saw my first ever Electric Clam weird. Didnt see any large predators but something out of sight had the free-swimming residents jumping all over the place. Kept looking over my shoulder to see what it was but no luck. In between dives, we snorkeled over the table reef (so shallow you could touch bottom) with thousands of brightly coloured fish in all directions.
Second dive that day was simply 200m west of the first dive, drifting back to where we started the first one that morning. Again, magical warm diving on a superb wall. Parman the DM was up to his usual tricks and spotted the most miniscule Hippocampus Denise (x2) and a juvenile Batfish. We were all quite good at spotting the large range of nudibranchs on offer there.
Back to Legian the long way home no over the mountain after diving so it was an extra ½ hour on the trip around the coast. That was the way we went to Menjangan in 1983, but theyve replaced the wooden slat bridge with a tarmac one now.
Aquamarine runs a very slick operation. The other two divers were going on to third and fourth days diving, with one going on to another dive operator (arranged by Aquamarine).
Most dive operators have staff who get on well with guests and take you to the same sites not that unusual.
Aquamarines point of difference is that it is so efficient, from front office return of emails to DMs to bus drivers, that it all runs without a hitch. Definitely value for money.
We drove over the mountains on the way to Menjangan. Normally, this would be the scenic way but this time of the year we were surrounded by clouds drifting all over the roads and through the passes. Not much of a view but at the same time quite surreal.
We boarded our boat in a small channel near Mimpi Resort and made our way to the island
Our first dive was the Eel Garden, not quite a wall but with some steepish sections. Very pleasant and interest at every turn. It was also nice for us to dive with two very accomplished divers with a relatively minimalist approach to gear no great to-do about getting ready and no fussing about. They were very pleasant company indeed.
After our first dive, we went on the island to visit the temple there. A huge new statue of Ganesha has been erected and it is far different now to the previous photos of the seaward view. There were many deer in and around the complex. Dressed appropriately, we wandered around the grounds, ate our lunch in an alcove (after asking the workers where the best place to eat was), left a donation for maintenance and went back to the jetty on the other side of the island. Also managed to pick up a geocache while I was there (GC1DNFT). Our two new friends went off to do a second dive while we lingered. Carol had a snorkel back at the jetty while we waited for them to surface. (Photos in the photo section)
Our scheduled sunset dive in Mimpi Channel turned into a night dive, as wed mucked around a little longer than planned on the island and got back to Mimpi late. The main purpose was to see Mandarin Fish, and this we did. I hadnt realized just how tiny these chaps are and had difficulty seeing them in their refuge. Nice muck dive, with some eels thrown in.
Overnight at Adi Assri Cottages. Bit of a misnomer, really as its actually more of a resort, located in Permuteran on NW Bali coastline, with a couple of pools, mountains at the back and the ocean in front. They have a website if you want to check them out accommodation is very swish indeed.
Next day started out stormy and unpromising. The wind from the night before was up even more and the sea was rising. We went to the usual take off point to be told no boats were going out. This group was a little sensitive, having lost a boat a week before (not a critical issue all divers picked up by surrounding boats and it was very close to the shore anyway).
Our DM concurred with their assessment and told them we would be shore diving that day. We then returned to our bus and went to the other side of the point where another 20 boats were moored. DM promptly arranged for one of these to take us over. The rule seemed to be to agree with the guys who didnt want to go in order not to embarrass them, then go to the other side. These boats werent braver than the other guys, they simply had a different angle on the swell and it was far easier to get out of the shoreline from there.
Off we went for another magical day on Menjangan. We dived on the inside of the island (Pos 1) in about 70. Saw my first ever Electric Clam weird. Didnt see any large predators but something out of sight had the free-swimming residents jumping all over the place. Kept looking over my shoulder to see what it was but no luck. In between dives, we snorkeled over the table reef (so shallow you could touch bottom) with thousands of brightly coloured fish in all directions.
Second dive that day was simply 200m west of the first dive, drifting back to where we started the first one that morning. Again, magical warm diving on a superb wall. Parman the DM was up to his usual tricks and spotted the most miniscule Hippocampus Denise (x2) and a juvenile Batfish. We were all quite good at spotting the large range of nudibranchs on offer there.
Back to Legian the long way home no over the mountain after diving so it was an extra ½ hour on the trip around the coast. That was the way we went to Menjangan in 1983, but theyve replaced the wooden slat bridge with a tarmac one now.
Aquamarine runs a very slick operation. The other two divers were going on to third and fourth days diving, with one going on to another dive operator (arranged by Aquamarine).
Most dive operators have staff who get on well with guests and take you to the same sites not that unusual.
Aquamarines point of difference is that it is so efficient, from front office return of emails to DMs to bus drivers, that it all runs without a hitch. Definitely value for money.
