Nusa Penida Mola Mola Dive
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pughio83
Contributor
Sad news again, I am rapidly now becoming apprehensive about my weeks diving there next month!! Condolences to all involved in yet another crystal bay incident.
Bali Diver
Contributor
Crystal Bay waters closed after two deaths | The Jakarta Post
According to this article, Crystal Bay is now closed until further notice.
According to this article, Crystal Bay is now closed until further notice.
Bali Diver
Contributor
I heard yesterday that may happen and was surprised to hear that.At last some action being taken on this dive site and maybe a time for everyone to have a good think
The closing being not enforced I doubt it can help to prevent future incidents here ...
dirtfarmer
Contributor
If they would enforce it maybe they need to close it except for local shops diving with small ratios.
People are stupid and some dive ops will gladly take their money and put their customers lives in jeopardy in the process. They probably figure divers dying won't stop the endless
flow of idiots diving sites beyond their ability. Follow the $.
When I first arrived in Bali in 2008, managing a dive centre in the East we set guidelines for divers at Crystal Bay:
a minimum of 50 logged dives
experience in deep and drift diving
and to have dived within the last 6 months
This was our attempt at weeding out the unsuitable divers. However, we probably lost more divers than we won, most who were deemed too inexperienced for CB just went off and dived with someone else, mostly our neighbours, and we lost a lot of business that year.
I personally have had one DM tourist guest hanging on my BC on a safety stop with his fins on the surface, unable to stay down and risking his feet to the boat propellers. Looking at his qualifications and experience level, he was a suitable diver for the site, however, once he was in the water that was another story.
Unfortunately, a lot of dive books on the market, still promote CB as the ideal place for a Mola2 encounter, so divers will not be talked into another site, even if it has less boat traffic, less current, and longer time with the Mola2.
So, although fingers are being pointed both ways, at divers and at dive operators, it has to come down to the customer needing to consider whether they, personally, are ready for a guerilla dive, so that if it all goes t*ts up, never mind whether your friend wants to do this dive, can they self-rescue, do they carry an SMB in case they get swept away (and do they know how to deploy it), are they fit enough to swim against a strong current (a lot of divers can't even fin properly), and did they listen to the dive briefing which starts with ""'people die here"""??
We're in the middle of crazy season now in Bali, with many divers wanting to head over to see the Mola2, and it's such a shame that we have had so many accidents this year, but hopefully the bad press will help to encourage the authorities to act before divers stop coming to Bali altogether.
a minimum of 50 logged dives
experience in deep and drift diving
and to have dived within the last 6 months
This was our attempt at weeding out the unsuitable divers. However, we probably lost more divers than we won, most who were deemed too inexperienced for CB just went off and dived with someone else, mostly our neighbours, and we lost a lot of business that year.
I personally have had one DM tourist guest hanging on my BC on a safety stop with his fins on the surface, unable to stay down and risking his feet to the boat propellers. Looking at his qualifications and experience level, he was a suitable diver for the site, however, once he was in the water that was another story.
Unfortunately, a lot of dive books on the market, still promote CB as the ideal place for a Mola2 encounter, so divers will not be talked into another site, even if it has less boat traffic, less current, and longer time with the Mola2.
So, although fingers are being pointed both ways, at divers and at dive operators, it has to come down to the customer needing to consider whether they, personally, are ready for a guerilla dive, so that if it all goes t*ts up, never mind whether your friend wants to do this dive, can they self-rescue, do they carry an SMB in case they get swept away (and do they know how to deploy it), are they fit enough to swim against a strong current (a lot of divers can't even fin properly), and did they listen to the dive briefing which starts with ""'people die here"""??
We're in the middle of crazy season now in Bali, with many divers wanting to head over to see the Mola2, and it's such a shame that we have had so many accidents this year, but hopefully the bad press will help to encourage the authorities to act before divers stop coming to Bali altogether.
I'm going to Bali in one month from today and have to strongly support actions by the local authorities to address this very dangerous situation.
There is a saying, "you don't know what you don't know". To expect your average resort trained and infrequent diver (which probably represent the majority of people who will go there) to understand and make an intelligent decision about the risks is naive...they don't have the experience to make the assessment if they are qualified. History has shown that this can be a highly dangerous dive, and so any operators who do not make that EXTREMELY CLEAR to their customers and truly make an attempt to screen for qualifications, are grossly negligent...I understand chasing the almighty dollar but most of the worlds' recreational divers in resort locations are paying operators to give them a good dive while keeping them safe. The operators and DMs in the case of the fatalities should be taking a good hard look in the mirror and asking if they should have done something different. Hopefully the government intervention will address this, and if not done in time for my trip next month I will gladly miss this dive site if the delay will put some controls in place and save some lives.
There is a saying, "you don't know what you don't know". To expect your average resort trained and infrequent diver (which probably represent the majority of people who will go there) to understand and make an intelligent decision about the risks is naive...they don't have the experience to make the assessment if they are qualified. History has shown that this can be a highly dangerous dive, and so any operators who do not make that EXTREMELY CLEAR to their customers and truly make an attempt to screen for qualifications, are grossly negligent...I understand chasing the almighty dollar but most of the worlds' recreational divers in resort locations are paying operators to give them a good dive while keeping them safe. The operators and DMs in the case of the fatalities should be taking a good hard look in the mirror and asking if they should have done something different. Hopefully the government intervention will address this, and if not done in time for my trip next month I will gladly miss this dive site if the delay will put some controls in place and save some lives.
Dim
Registered
@Divewench: it's true many books and websites point to CB as the best places to see the molamola. On this forum there are a number of posts about mola-sightings in different places. But which divesite would you (and the other experienced posters of course 
) suggest as the best alternative for Crystal Bay?
I will be in Nusa Lembongan for 2 days in september and would definitely try to sea the mola's. Thanks for the input!
) suggest as the best alternative for Crystal Bay?I will be in Nusa Lembongan for 2 days in september and would definitely try to sea the mola's. Thanks for the input!
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