Secret bay: is it worth the trip?

[Jitsen Chang]

I'm not as seasoned as most the people on ScubaBoard, but I went to Secret Bay in 11/2011 and I loved it. I'm not sure what other people's experience was but I had a great time. You can spend hours swimming around down there and seeing all kinds of crazy things. Granted I haven't had that much experience in diving Southeast Asia. But with 200+ dives (Similan Islands, Menjangan, Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, Roatan, Utila, Bonaire, Galapagos), I would definitely go back to Secret Bay.


DSCF9362 by jitsen.chang, on Flickr


DSCF9339 by jitsen.chang, on Flickr


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DSCF9370 by jitsen.chang, on Flickr


DSCF9381a by jitsen.chang, on Flickr


DSCF9390 by jitsen.chang, on Flickr


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DSCF9414 by jitsen.chang, on Flickr

Again, not that many dives in Southeast Asia, but I saw all kinds of stuff that I had never seen before diving Secret Bay.

Like I said earlier, you hours to watch the different fish interact in these small overlapping niche environments. I found all these small microcosms scattered about the muddy bottom fascinating.

Just my $0.02

 

[gekodivebali]

Frogfish: epic dives today at the Jetty! Nudibranches out in force. Octopi still invading. Nice dragonets, stonefish, stargazer and gurnards. Rhinopia eschmeyeri (white) again...


Lud(k)o: not Alan indeed, but thanks anyhow! I love that shrimp. Hope to see you some on your next visit along with Saron shrimps. I could pretend that my mistake came from auto-typing on the iPhone, but am too honest and not that pretentious... Am not that good with names (again ask Alan).I enjoy looking at the real thing more than checking the id books...

 

[dirtfarmer]

Your tempting me too! I was in Tulamben for 6 days (LDR and of course spoiled again with my private guide and making my own dive schedule) and it was great as ever but light on the frogfish action. And I was in Padang Bai for a day transferring to the Gili's! I could have done a couple of afternoon dives.
So Geko what's the scuttlebut on the fastboats to the Gilis not running for a while?
When we had to take the slow ferry via Lombock the seas where pretty calm, and one person I talked with here said it was a shakedown?

 

[Jpalcg]

@Dirtfarmer, next time do make a pit stop in Padang Bai. The jetty dives gekodivebali mentioned were well worth it. And if you want frog fish action there was standing upside down a pylon one the biggest frog fish I've ever seen...


www.lifesauntering.com - Travel and scuba diving blog with a dash of photography

 

[gekodivebali]

Actually, the frogfish are pretty tame these days. We're having a couple on each dive, including that giant one hanging upside down. We're not pulling numbers anywhere close to our record dives of 15 plus. Better for rare nudie, shrimps and cephalopods right now.

Dirtfarmer: with the fast boats situation, the thing is there has been a new harbour master in charge for a year and a half. He does seem to take safety more seriously, which is a good thing. There were some bad waves in the Indian Ocean this January. That being said, it is the first time I've seen the speed boats not running for more than a couple of days. Padang Bai had regained its tranquility, which was enjoyable in a way, but loss of income was heavy for many in the village (those working on speedboats or selling tickets mostly!). It is a bit better now and hopefully will last. Am not sure who could benefit from a "shakedown"?

 

[dirtfarmer]

. Am not sure who could benefit from a "shakedown"?

Well unfortunately,their are some humans on this planet who will enrich themselves at others loss.Some days it's seems that selfishness and greed outweigh Love and Community.and I'm pretty sure that in Indonesia, like a lot of other developing nations the community and especially businesses are afraid or finds it difficult to fight/expose corruption, as the corruptors have more power than the people. Unfortunately the press might be in the same boat and unwilling to report on corruption.Of course I'm not very informed about the politics here in Indonesia so I hope this is not just conjecture on my part.
I certainly hope it was safety issues and not a shakedown, but as I said the day we transferred via the public ferry the seas were pretty calm. It cost me a day of my precious vacation and might on my way back.

 

[gekodivebali]

Yea, well, the boats are running fine now so you should be able to not waste another day!