This short diving trip was motivated solely by one goal. To see Mola Mola, the largest of the three species of oceanic sunfish. In 600 dives I have never seen this strange fish but sightings in Bali seemed to be on the increase, so we decided to try our luck. Fortunately we met Michael Cortenbach of Bali Hai Diving Adventures at the ‘Celebrate the Sea’ exhibition in Singapore in April 2005 and he explained his dive operation and uncanny ability to predict with some accuracy the dates when Mola Mola sightings are most likely to occur. This ‘science’ seems to be based upon a combination of the lunar cycle and the life cycle of a parasite that lives on the 15cm thick rubbery skin of the fish. Michael indicated 24 to 27 Sept would be hot dates for sightings especially at known cleaning stations in certain dive sites, especially Crystal Bay. So on Friday 23 Sept we headed off for Bali staying overnight at the pleasant and affordable Palm Gardens Resort at Sanur. Duly rested bang on 8.00 am as arranged on Saturday morning we are transferred to the ferry terminal where we board Bali Hai II. At the time the set up all seemed a bit strange and it would have been useful to know the following information in advance – if only for peace of mind.
Basically you are dropped at the ferry terminal with all your gear and you go through check in procedure which is fairly pain free. You then board, carrying your hand luggage whilst all your other gear is taken on to the Super Cat for you. You find yourself some seats at a table and then one of the staff comes to explain the set up. The crossing takes about an hour to Lembongan Island – just west of Nusa Penida. The boat is full of mostly day trippers going for the day to the resort at which we will be staying. As you cannot check into your room until after 1.00 pm like us, you will probably want to get in your first dive before then. So I set up my camera gear on the way over in the Super Cat so it was ready for use immediately upon arrival. We repacked our bags so only dive gear was in our dive bags and we found a toilet where we could change into our swimsuits under our clothes. Upon arrival at the pontoon we were quickly ushered onto “Serendipity” the dive boat carrying my camera and our hand luggage plus our dive bags. Our other luggage would make its way separately to the beach of the dive resort. After our first dive we were taken to our resort where we disembarked at the beach wearing half a wetsuit and carrying a camera and my briefcase of valuables. This must have made quite a sight as we waded through the water holding bags in the air to keep them dry. Whilst not a great inconvenience this bit could have been organized a little better. After pressing the reception desk we finally got a room before 1.00 pm which allowed us enough time to grab some bbq buffet for lunch before our next dive at 1.30 pm. By this time our other luggage had arrived and was delivered to our ‘hut’.
This resort is situated on Lembongan Island and seems to divide into two parts. The facilities: - pool, water sports, bars and restaurants are used by the day trippers and guests staying over whereas the Hai Tide Huts are for guests only. So during the day the place is very busy but that doesn’t much matter if you are there for the diving. At night we found the place very quiet. The ‘huts’ that comprise the accommodation are something quite different. They are two tier in which the lower deck has two day beds and is open air. The steep set of steps is like a ladder to the upper deck which has a small balcony and inside a small but well finished room with double bed. The hut is covered in a huge mop of thatch. There are no toilet or washing facilities in the room which is a slight drawback if you need to pay a quick visit in the middle of the night (especially if it might be raining!). Instead there are shared washing/showering and toilet areas which are individually superior to what might otherwise have been provided if assigned to every room. The large area is covered save for the shower area which gives a very natural feel to showering as if in the open air. It was great after each dive, sometimes feeling quite cold, to step under a very hot shower whilst removing kit and slowly regaining body heat. It’s also an easy way to wash camera equipment. Once done it’s a short walk with towel round you back to your hut for a relax on the day bed whilst writing up the dive log.
The food seemed a bit expensive and staff had great difficulty with any variations that were requested such as “no dressing” or “extra french fries please”. Also it always seemed to take a very long time for your food to arrive, to the point where we joked that we had better order lunch after we finish our breakfast.
There aren’t any! That is to say there is nothing located at the resort itself. The way it works is at the end of each dive you agree the time of the next pick up and usually dead on time the boat pulls into shore where you wade out to find your dive gear already assembled with a fresh cylinder. All you need to bring is yourself wearing your wetsuit, mask and whatever other paraphernalia you may need – torch, camera etc. then its off for the 15 min or so bumpy transfer to your dive site.
Beware the currents. They can be fierce and some sites become unsafe to dive a certain times. We were fortunate and did not encounter too many current problems.
BLUE CORNER***
This site is just five minutes out from the resort on Lembongan Island. The current here was quite strong and the trick seemed to be to get down onto the reef as quickly as possible and on our dive if this was achieved you were rewarded with the sight of four eagle rays. The site comprises a series of stepped ridges and by getting down inside a ridge there is some protection from the current. Otherwise it’s a fast drift drive. This site offers a wide selection of reef fishes – angels, surgeons, butterfly fishes and sharks can be found here. One interesting feature was a reddish brown short grassy like growth covering large areas of the reef giving the whole reef a red colour even though the site is named blue corner. We dived this site to 33 metres.
SENTAL****
Situated along the northern coast of Nusa Penida this site could be a nice drift dive although when we dived it there was no current and so we could swim around and investigate much more. There were many schools of fish – fusiliers, surgeons and unicorn fish and we saw trevallies, lionfish, and a small turtle.
PURAPET***
Similar to Sental with lots of reef fish along a nice reef. Usually dived as a drift dive. We dipped down to 33 metres and saw solitary trevally and tuna.
SD***
This site is named after the primary school (Sekolah Dasor) which is just opposite the dive site. This was a great dive to a maximum depth of 30 metres. There was quite a strong current so we just drifted over the beautiful reef. There were many fish to be seen in large numbers – antheas, damsels, cardinals, wrasse, butterfly fish, moorish idols, emperor and regal angel fish, red toothed triggerfish everywhere and both titan and clown triggerfish.
Sometimes white tip reef sharks are seen at this site.
TOYAPAKEH***
Swept by currents this was another drift dive down to 28 metres at the deepest part of the dive. The site is teaming with Fairy Basslets and the usual reef fish. Two giant trevallies passed by and a large napoleon wrasse. Various trigger fishes were present – titan, clown and red toothed. We also saw a blue ribbon eel.
CRYSTAL BAY****
Also known as Penida Bay this is a site dived in the hope of spotting Mola Mola and we were lucky on four separate dives and in one dive we saw two Mola Mola on a cleaning station. Generally the number and frequency of Mola sightings this year have been in decline according to the dive guides. Whereas in previous years there were regular sightings from August to November in 2005 this has been much reduced and primarily only August (so far) has yielded many sightings. This reduction is attributed to the greater number of divers visiting the area and to a lack of discipline among some dive groups resulting in the fish being harassed. The result is that we all lose out in the end.
When we first dived Crystal Bay we were the fourteenth boat arriving in the Bay and underwater there were large groups of divers all over the reef and no Mola Mola. Our most successful dive was at 4.00 pm when no other dive boats or divers were present. The site has a steeply sloping reef down to about 60m and to see Mola Mola we needed to be deep and moving against quite a lot of current. The water is also relatively cold so suitable kit is essential unless you want a fairly unpleasant dive.
MANTA POINT***
This took about 40 minutes to reach in the dive boat past some spectacular cliffs on the south west of Nusa Penida. The small bay is relatively shallow and quite murky. Unfortunately there is not much coral and few noteworthy reef fish. The reason for making this trip is to see Manta and indeed as we arrived on site the boat boy saw a manta wing break the surface. Down below things were not so encouraging and we swam around in cold water for 50 mins seeing very little. Then as we were about to give up a small manta appeared and hovered around a cleaning station for about ten minutes before heading off again into the murky dark waters.
Our thanks to Michael Cortenbach and his staff for an impeccably run operation where everything works as designed to and things happen on time – at least as far as diving is concerned – however we would suggest that the food preparation could be quicker!
www.balihaicruises.com
www.scubali.com
Rating Guide for Videographers
***** Has everything
**** Many photographic subjects
*** Good site, lots to photograph
** Some photographic material
* Little to photograph
Sept 2005
