“We have enough people to go to Manta Point tomorrow morning at 6am, so be up 30 minutes earlier to size up and we can get your gear ready for the dive”.
“Huh? But I’m just recovering from a cold… and I just landed”.
“Don’t worry honey, you sound fine. But lets see how you feel tomorrow morning. But you should really go as you wanted to dive with Mantas for your birthday”.
“Huh? But I’m just recovering from a cold… and I just landed”.
“Don’t worry honey, you sound fine. But lets see how you feel tomorrow morning. But you should really go as you wanted to dive with Mantas for your birthday”.
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
Manta rays just off the coast of Bali
Sitting on a flight with puffy eyes and a stuffy nose wasn’t a great way to start a dive holiday. The last of the antibiotics sent me off to slumber land within minutes as I flew over to Bali. Groggy as I was, I managed to get my luggage and meet my friend Arie at the airport where he whisked off to my destination – Amed.
The sleepy fishing village of Amed
I set foot into Amed just after a heavy rainfall and right after sunset. The weather was cool and breezy, and the air was fresh with a hint of saline. A perfect reminder why I longed to be by the sea; listening to the soothing sounds of the crashing waves and to feel weightless when I’m in its womb.
Amed is a perfect little get away for scuba diving junkies as it offers amazing dive spots and it’s a peaceful and quiet fishing village. No over bearing hotels or accommodations, no blaring music and clearly no heaving traffic with its endless honking. This place is peaceful, green with fresh air and its situated right along the beach.
Amed is a perfect little get away for scuba diving junkies as it offers amazing dive spots and it’s a peaceful and quiet fishing village. No over bearing hotels or accommodations, no blaring music and clearly no heaving traffic with its endless honking. This place is peaceful, green with fresh air and its situated right along the beach.
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
Well hidden Porcelain Crab
Up at 5:30am and onward to the dive shop (Adventure Divers) to size up and then down for breakfast. It was nice to see both Lisa and David again and got a run down on the dive site. From feeling really good about this dive, it went down a notch or two after being told that we’re going to be diving in a swell. This meant we would have a rough ride out to the dive site and possibly a hard time getting back onto the boat. From past experience, I’ve emerged out of a similar dive situation, got caught in the surge and felt seasick.
*I clearly wasn't going to let that experience prevent me from doing this dive. I came here specifically for this dive!
It was about a 2-hour drive to Padang Bai where we would catch our dive boat to reach Manta Point. Yes, I could have stayed back in Kuta or joined another dive company that was closer to dive Manta Point, but I have to admit, I do like the way Adventure Divers ran their operations plus this was the only dive site we had a long drive to. All the other dive sites are less than 20 minutes away from Amed or it was right off the beach from the dive centre.
*I clearly wasn't going to let that experience prevent me from doing this dive. I came here specifically for this dive!
It was about a 2-hour drive to Padang Bai where we would catch our dive boat to reach Manta Point. Yes, I could have stayed back in Kuta or joined another dive company that was closer to dive Manta Point, but I have to admit, I do like the way Adventure Divers ran their operations plus this was the only dive site we had a long drive to. All the other dive sites are less than 20 minutes away from Amed or it was right off the beach from the dive centre.
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
In under 40-minutes of powering out to sea we arrived at Manta Point in which, the ride was actually smooth. Not as choppy as I expected it to be but I clearly I spoke to soon. As the boat stationed to drop us I could feel the waves and it wasn’t pleasant.
*it wasn’t as bad as the monsoon dive I did in Koh Tao but my insides did do a flip every now and again on this trip.
The swell is pretty tricky to dive for first timers. With the pointers David gave it was perfect… as you rock back, you’d stay still and as the swell comes around and pushes you forward you kick to propel. Easy.
The first dive was rather disappointing, as we didn’t see any manta rays here. But the dive site itself is rather beautiful with healthy coral and other marine life. We were assured that since they were not here, they would definitely be at Manta Bay.
*Talk about being very confident! It wasn’t even a maybe but a sure definite…
*it wasn’t as bad as the monsoon dive I did in Koh Tao but my insides did do a flip every now and again on this trip.
The swell is pretty tricky to dive for first timers. With the pointers David gave it was perfect… as you rock back, you’d stay still and as the swell comes around and pushes you forward you kick to propel. Easy.
The first dive was rather disappointing, as we didn’t see any manta rays here. But the dive site itself is rather beautiful with healthy coral and other marine life. We were assured that since they were not here, they would definitely be at Manta Bay.
*Talk about being very confident! It wasn’t even a maybe but a sure definite…
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
Close encounter with a Bamboo Shark
There are two dive spots that guarantee manta sightings. As mentioned before the second one is Manta Bay. The dive guides assured us that there will be Mantas there since we didn’t manage to see any at Manta Point.
Manta Bay is sheltered from the strong current but still our little boat bobbed in the water like a rubber duckie in a bathtub, rippled by running water. The boat captain decides to stop here as its rather calm, according to him, for us to have a safety stop and have lunch – safe to say my lunch stayed in its Tupperware till I got to land.
*If I had that lunch, I’m pretty sure it would have turned out to be fish food underwater.
The dive guide was right, there were manta rays at the second dive spot. And it was great to see so many of them just sunbathing on the surface of the water! This got the entire boat into an excited fit. And in we went after lunch to watch these magnificent beasts as close and safe as we could.
Manta Bay is sheltered from the strong current but still our little boat bobbed in the water like a rubber duckie in a bathtub, rippled by running water. The boat captain decides to stop here as its rather calm, according to him, for us to have a safety stop and have lunch – safe to say my lunch stayed in its Tupperware till I got to land.
*If I had that lunch, I’m pretty sure it would have turned out to be fish food underwater.
The dive guide was right, there were manta rays at the second dive spot. And it was great to see so many of them just sunbathing on the surface of the water! This got the entire boat into an excited fit. And in we went after lunch to watch these magnificent beasts as close and safe as we could.
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
Muffled screams of joy could be heard in the water from my dive buddy and me. She was as ecstatic as I was in the water watching the manta rays so magnificent, graceful and so beautiful swimming around us in circles. We must have spent a good half hour just sitting and observing them.
While the manta rays dazzled us with their presence we had a chanced encounter with a 2m Bamboo Shark! What a treat! As if the day couldn’t get any better, it did. As we were about to retreat back to the surface, both my dive buddy and I spotted a creature in the distance. Soon we could see this large manta ray, approximately 4 metres in length, swimming towards us. At this point documentation was the last thing either one of us could think of apart from just embracing and living in the moment of being in arm’s length reach from this beautiful creature. It gingerly swam above us as if to say ‘hey, no worries, you don’t have to move - I’ll just swim right above you’.
My heart skipped one too many beats at this point. It was simply epic, memorable, great, awesome – there is no one right word to describe it. It was certainly nature’s best birthday present ever! Having a large manta ray swim dead straight towards you and then just above you is an amazing feeling.
From the time we stepped a shore and till we reached Amed, I still had a squeamish stomach, a lingering chest cold and a ridiculously huge grin plastered across my face.
From the time we stepped a shore and till we reached Amed, I still had a squeamish stomach, a lingering chest cold and a ridiculously huge grin plastered across my face.
View the gallery for more photographs.
While the manta rays dazzled us with their presence we had a chanced encounter with a 2m Bamboo Shark! What a treat! As if the day couldn’t get any better, it did. As we were about to retreat back to the surface, both my dive buddy and I spotted a creature in the distance. Soon we could see this large manta ray, approximately 4 metres in length, swimming towards us. At this point documentation was the last thing either one of us could think of apart from just embracing and living in the moment of being in arm’s length reach from this beautiful creature. It gingerly swam above us as if to say ‘hey, no worries, you don’t have to move - I’ll just swim right above you’.
My heart skipped one too many beats at this point. It was simply epic, memorable, great, awesome – there is no one right word to describe it. It was certainly nature’s best birthday present ever! Having a large manta ray swim dead straight towards you and then just above you is an amazing feeling.
From the time we stepped a shore and till we reached Amed, I still had a squeamish stomach, a lingering chest cold and a ridiculously huge grin plastered across my face.
From the time we stepped a shore and till we reached Amed, I still had a squeamish stomach, a lingering chest cold and a ridiculously huge grin plastered across my face.
View the gallery for more photographs.
Photo credit: Jurgen Pfalz
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