30 for Thirty: No#19 Swim Alongside a Turtle

On honeymoon, we learnt to scuba dive in the Maldives and we were desperate to see a turtle. No luck. Last Summer, we went diving in Thailand on Koh Tao, also known as Turtle Island. No turtles. This year, we widened our search to Bali and the Gilis.

Hoorah! 2014 is our year for seeing turtles. So many wonderful hawksbill and green sea turtles in their natural environment. We snorkelled with them and dived alongside them. What graceful, magical things they are. While diving Shark Point, off Gili Trawangan, we saw two enormous guys which our dive master guessed were around 80 years young.

Here are some of my new friends caught on camera*!

 

*Photos taken using GoPro Black Hero 3+, no filter (definitely investing in a red filter for our next trip)

I am so pleased to be able to cross this one of my list! 

30 for Thirty: No#2 Advanced Diving Qualification

No#2 on my 30 for thirty list was to pass my next level of scuba diving certification. Scuba diving has become a bit of a holiday passion for me. I love that I can use equipment to breathe underwater and explore a completely different environment. I'm a tropical water wimp, though. I've not tried dry suit diving in the UK, though a colleague did try to tempt me to dive the Mersey. Not tempted, yet!

Unintentional, "Is this thing on?" photo

Most dive schools offer courses designed by one, or both, of two main dive organisation: PADI and SSI. Our open water was a PADI qualification. Once you're open water qualified, you can start to complete your advanced open water (PADI) or advanced adventurer (SSI) certification. My advanced is SSI. From my perspective, there's little difference, though one thing I liked with SSI is that you receive your diving qualification card there and then. For both certification programs, this involves trying out five dive specialities, including a deep dive to 30m and a navigation dive, and three more from a range of different specialities. You receive information briefings for each but, unlike the open water, there are no chapters to memorise or tests to pass. After the advanced adventurer, the next step in the scuba diving journey would be to take a full course in any of the specialities and gain the speciality diver certification.

At Shark point with Mango Dive

We started our SSI advanced adventurer with Manta Dive, a large and professional dive school in Gili Trawangan. I chose to complete a night dive, which was actually pretty horrible experience for me, a nitrox dive and one which aims to perfect your underwater buoyancy. After the five dives, I was awarded my advanced adventurer certification and felt much more confident about my diving. M had a little trouble equalising so decided to rest his ears for a few days and, thankfully, was able to complete his certification once we reached Nusa Lembongan. We booked diving and accommodation with World Diving (amazing diving experience - can't recommend them enough). I tagged along on Matiss' final advanced adventurer dives. He took advantage of Lembongan's crazy currents and completed a drift dive and an underwater naturalist speciality where we learnt more about the marine life and how to identity the beautiful fish. I also did a fun dive with Mango Dive and Bungalows, where we'd stayed on Gili Trawangan, after completing my advanced adventurer. I'd definitely recommend Mango Dive, another smaller dive shop, if you're diving on Gili T.

Nemo, poking out of his anemone. Gili Trawangan

Over the dives we saw stunning marine life. The corals in Nusa Lembongan, in particular, were breathtaking- so unspoilt and vibrant. We treated ourselves to a GoPro but the photos are actually a bit rubbish. I think we'll buy a red filter to keep some of the colour at depth, next time. Photographic reminders, or not, my dive log is full of sightings of tropical fishes, like angel fish, bat fish, butterfly fish,  parrot fish, lots of Moorish idols, and anemone fish (Nemos!) and then puffer fish, porcupine fish, boxfish, scorpion fish, octopus, cuttlefish, lion fish, sea snakes, mantis shrimps, giant travallies, sea stars, colourful nudibranch, sea cucumbers, sea stars, juvenile white tip reef sharks and a massive black tip shark (amazing!) and SO MANY SEA TURTLES! Sadly, the currents in Nusa Lembongan meant we couldn't visit the dive sites where we'd have almost certainly seen manta rays and we were also a little early to see the mola molas. Boo. Next time, Lembongan, next time.

"If we took a holiday": Summer 2014

I am a more than a little bit excited about this year's holiday plans. We've been saving pennies with the hope of travelling for a few weeks this Summer around Bali and the Gilis, exploring, eating and diving. Flights are now booked. It's time to get planning!

The plan:
Bali: We hope to spend some time on Bali's South coast, avoiding the main areas of Kuta, perhaps staying in Seminyak and/or Sanur, travelling to Ubud, heading North to trek Mount Batur and, after some time in the Gili islands, a few days diving from Nusa Lembongan.

Image source

Gili Islands: Until recently, I didn't know that these three islands off the coast of Lombok even existed. Now I dream about them daily. My best friend, who is just about to arrive back in the UK after what sounds like the most fantastic travel adventure, told me about her dive trips in the Gilis over Skype and her stories sold these paradise islands to me almost immediately. No cars; only bicycles and horse drawn carts. Add to that some sun kissed sandy beaches, lush vegetation, beautiful reefs, and perhaps the biggest draw: the almost certainty of meeting this fella, or at least one of his distant relatives.

Mr Turtle, waiting for our arrival. Image source

Gili Trawangan is the largest of the three islands and seems to have a reputation as being the party island of the three. Gili Meno and Gili Air are smaller and quieter. We've not decided yet whether to split our time between the islands, or base ourselves at a quieter spot in Gili T and take a boat across to Gili Meno and Gili Air for a day visit. All three islands look breathtaking and dive reviewers rave about their underwater environment. I'm very excited.

Image. Gili Air

I love a good spreadsheet and I'm starting to build up a list of possible experiences and 'must visits'. Have you visited Bali or the Gili islands? Any recommendations?

"While we devotin' full time to floating!"

Darlin' it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me! Up on the shore they work all day, out in the sun they slave away while we devotin' full time to floating, under the sea!

~ Sebastian, Disney's The Little Mermaid ~

All dressed up and ready to dive!

In 2011, I had my first open water diving experience and I absolutely LOVED it. We completed the first part of our PADI Open Water while we were in the Maldives as part of our honeymoon trip. It was amazing to be able to learn how to scuba dive together and we were lucky enough to see manta rays, reef sharks and so many beautiful collections of coral and fish. It definitely took a bit of getting used to and M had a bit of a facial hair + scuba mask issue, but in the end we were both putting our full trust in our regulators, making hand gestures like pros, and making friends with Nemo's relatives. This little adventure into the underwater world has left with a bit of a taste for diving! 

You may have read that we recently book flights for a three week trip around parts of Southeast Asia. We plan to make stops in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Most nights now involve a Google search of something and the most frequent search we've made is where to dive? We've read that Koh Tao is the best of the Thai islands for diving, so it looks like this may be the place for us to complete our PADI and get a couple of fun dives done. So exciting! Ah, the daydreaming continues...

Have you completed any diving in Koh Tao? Do you have any dive school recommendations or any tips for accommodation?