The day I decided to go down (at Nusa Lembongan)

In an archipelago with more than 17.000 islands there must be another island that suits me better than Bali. After some research, I followed my friend Isa’s suggestion and I went to Lembongan.

Nusa Lembongan is a small island of 8 km2 in front of Bali. It’s just at one hour by boat from Sanur beach but this island- paradise is a world away from the hassle of Bali. Main activities in Lembongan are sunbathing, diving, snorkeling and sunset watching, this is really a cool place!

In Lembongan we are on the edge of Wallace Line, a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. Even birds observe the line and don’t cross it!

The purpose of my visit to Lembongan was diving. I had never been interested in diving but I was so bored in Bali that I needed to do something useful, a kind of routine for my last days in Indonesia. Again, I followed Isa’s advice and I joined a diving course at Two Fish (tested by herself in the past) to get the certification.

During my first days in Lembongan I did not move much from Jungutbatu Beach. My daily schedule was something like this:

– super healthy breakfast at Bali Eco Deli, my favourite restaurant at only 1 min walk from my bungalow;

– diving course at Two Fish (5min walk) from 8am to 5pm with Marieke, my dive buddy, who was much more motivated than me;

– back to the bungalow, quick shower and dinner (1 to 10 min walk) and chat with Krystine, my roommate, who was there also for diving.

The first day and a half  of the diving course was spent between books, videos and the swimming pool. Did I really need to change my way of breathing, communicate and even swimming to watch one fish or two in the ocean? The exercises in the pool did not help my enthusiasm either: after 5 minutes in the water I needed desperately to switch into my normal breathing, so tiring! 🙁

On the third day we took the boat early in the morning direction to Crystal Bay (in front of Nusa Penida) for our first two dives in the ocean, I was so stressed!

But when I jumped into the water everything went smoothly, I did not have problems to equalize properly (Marieke, who was doing much better than me during the previous days, needed 15min to go down because of her ears) and I really enjoyed exploring the ocean with my own eyes, it was fun! At the end, our first dive took 50 min and went 12 m deep. The hard coral reef starts at 5m, has a white sand base, and is covered with anemones and soft corals. Marine life includes angelfish, sweetlips, frogfish, banded sea snakes and many Moorish idols. Occasionally one can see Wobbegong sharks and Manta rays but maybe it was OK for me not to see any shark during my first dive, lol.  These first two dives were an unforgettable experience and I hope to repeat soon!!

During my last day in Lembongan, already with the Scuba Diver Certificate in my pocket, I rented a bicycle to explore the island. Endless white sand beaches with colorful boats, a beautiful mangrove forest (1/4 of the island’s surface) and some villages and temples were in the menu that day. A yellow bridge links Nusa Lembongan to Nusa Ceningan, an even smaller island much less touristy than its neighbor where nearly 95% of its community are seaweed farmers.

I enjoyed my stay in Nusa Lembongan and I was in peace with Indonesia again, this country is much more than Bali. Now it is time to go to Singapore, can’t wait!! 🙂