Diving in Bali

When we decided to go to Bali, we immediately thought aboutdiving. Novices and with only a few baptisms in hand, we did not hesitate a long time between the most beautiful waters in the world and the municipal pool of Orleans to pass our diving certifications. ^^

We were far from imagining the attraction we would bring to diving … A passion that we developed both at the same time despite the reluctance of Nicolas at the beginning. Today diving is an integral part of our trip, and you will discover why :).

We were not disappointed. On the first day south of NusaPenida, we saw giant manta rays at their cleaning station. No mola mola for us (deep fish that can measure up to 12m) unfortunately for us, but we were more and more comfortable and confident underwater.

The next day we dived north of the island and there the show was simply dazzling. During a drift dive, we allowed ourselves to sandstone currents and were able to enjoy the multicolored environment. It was a real underwater jungle with its trees: soft corals, some with fluorescent fibers and others hard.

Level 1 allows you to dive in pairs at 18m depth with a guide or dive master only

By crossing some experienced instructors, all told us that we had the chance to start the semi-professional diving in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Indeed, just arrived in Bali, we took the boat from Sanur to Lembongan,a small island in South East Bali, close to his big sister, the wild Nusa Penida.

French Kiss Diver Club We had been warmly recommended and we were very well received. In diving there are two major affiliations for clubs: SSI and PADI. The advantage of SSI is that you will be immediately autonomous with your level 1 and that they are often cheaper. Classes are very well done with quizzes. We follow them 100% online via the mobile application, very convenient on a trip!

Diving is a passion but also a risky technical discipline that deserves to be perfectly supervised. When you learn physics (including for a simple baptism), it may be more comfortable to do it in your mother tongue, in French.

Greg, our instructor, made us the show for the theoretical part, and was very reassuring and pedagogue for the pool exercises. After 4 hours of e-learning and all the formulas in mind, we were in a hurry to finally go to the ocean to meet the fish.

A few hours drive (3 hours) from Canggu, in the north west of Bali and almost glued to Java, lies a mysterious region populated by legends.

This arid and isolated area, however, contains rare species both on land and in the seabed.

All nature and adventure lovers will tell you, Menjangan National Park is hometo an incredible wildlife. And the way to get there is breathtaking. You contemplate the two volcanoes of the nearby island of Java and embark aboard a traditional wooden boat before arriving on an island with emerald green waters.

Pemuteran National Park is a protected reserve. Go out of season, you will be very few and sometimes even the subject of attraction of Jakarta tourists ^^.

Finally out of the exercises, we were able to enjoy a beautiful fall and underground caves. The water was crystalline and we discovered the most macro spaces to the largest specimens like a little shark !

In the evening, we made our first night dive which will remain one of the most unforgettable memories of our trip. Departure in palm from the beach at sunset ….

After feeling a little trapped that can feel, this dive allows to discover one by one species that come out and live at night. Octopuses, cuttlefish hunting, crab covered with its protective jellyfish etc …

To continue our certifications and thus be able to dive in all the situations, we decided to pass our level 2 in Tulamben. We discovered the cheapest club in the area (Dive Concepts) but also heard several bell sounds about it. Our experience was great. A lot of simplicity and professionalism on the part of Yohann and Maria our Uruguayan instructor, former yoga teacher and perfectly bilingual.

All the guides we met focused on safety and everyone was able to give us their tips and diving tips. It’s a good thing to change clubs when you train. Although the common core is quite similar, there are different experiences and good practices to garner from each.

This second level allowed us to be perfectly comfortable now, to better control our consumption and buoyancy. We realize more that the binomial is crucial in case of air problem. Also to be serene during his dive.

We took automatisms diving together and at the beginning we got bothered a lot (bumping the bottles, kicking each other, looking for each other while the other was just above, unable to communicate etc …) . Now it is much more fluid and the sharing of couples through gestures and the expression of the eyes is quite magical.

Throughout the dives, we realized the fragility of this underwater ecosystem and the need to preserve it. How many plastic, straws, tires we found everywhere. There is no culprit but it is by being sensitized as we have been that things will improve. Including on the preservation of corals. It happens to skid and touch a little, but seeing divers crush, move, break the seabed with impunity sometimes blew our heart.

To compare with the prices of other activities, visit our article on Cost of living in Bali

We took the opportunity to pass NITROX certification. It was an opportunity and Maria immediately advised us to do this to secure our future dives and be less tired.

Difficult to describe the feeling of diving. It is a total serenity:

• We no longer feel his body floating in weightlessness like an astronaut in the air
• No more noise around us, except for the crackling of the rocks and the singing of the bubbles
• Our actions are slow and calm
• Our visibility is towards microscopic creatures and at the same time when one raises the head, one is seized by the immensity of the ocean.
• It feels like a privileged foreign guest who walks around and enjoys the life that surrounds it, without touching it, simply contemplating it.

Bottled diving is undoubtedly the best way to discover Indonesia’s underwater life. But not the only one… We enjoyed a snorkeling in Amed and we would love to do free dive classes.

It seems that in a few classes, everyone can manage to hold 3 minutes underwater!

• The little night octopus that hid under his plastic bag.
• The turtle swimming next to us to breathe on the surface
• The 15 large hump parrot fishes who made white “poo” (because they eat coral with full teeth)
• The little blue moray eel with a yellow line
• Nudibranchs, small colorful and funny slugs
• Nemo playing in his anemone

• An improvised snorkeling where we saw new species of coral.We really had a feeling of freedom and also the fear without the combi ^^
• Discover artificial coral reefs (iron structures created by humans and powered by low voltage current to stimulate coral production) to repopulate the seabed. Learn more about the BIO ROCKS project
• Buddhist temples present in the seabed. When an anemone serves as a cap for a statue and the coral comes to color these vestiges of the past.
• During a night dive, move your arms and see thousands of stars (Phytoplankton bioluminescent) lit up all around you
• Enter an underwater cave and discover a baby shark, both icy and beautiful

• Morgane who gets off with the boat during our first “autonomous” dive!
• Nico who goes diving with his iPhone in the combi. Thank you the notification “The World” ^^ two meters to enter the water.
• The army of Asians with their dazzling lamps that hid all the bright plankton.
• A forgotten lead belt. Nico had cold sweats at the thought of having to dive with 2 pounds (which meant emptying his lungs at full speed to get down !!!)
• The small narcosis of Morgane at 30m. We will never know if I am null in math or if it was the effect of depth. I admit having an idea anyway ^^

Welcome to the palanquée!