Advertisement
Published: November 19th 2010
The speedboat roared away from Padanbai harbour, leaving Bali behind as the guttural roar of our four engines left a long trail of white foamy water in its wake. The lower, internal compartment of the small speedboat was full and so I had to endure the top, outer level for the journey.
The outer level was nothing more than the boats roof which was open to the blazing morning sunshine. My backpack had already been whisked away and stowed in the hull, along with my sun cream. By the time I reached Gili Trawangen I resembled a tomato with blond hair that had spent an hour and a half in a wind tunnel.
The journey was exhilarating as the boat skimmed the waters surface, bumping over the deep blue sea at incredible pace. The Gili Isles are booming because of this transport connection. Previous ventures here were met with a more challenging journey through Lombok’s coastal road involved multiple buses, touts and ferries to reach.
The Gili Isles are three small islands speckled off the coast of Lombok that are a haven for divers, surfers, snorkellers and sunbathers. Each island offers something different to travellers and I was
Dive Boat
Enroute to morning dive spothoping to experience the full spectrum of what was on offer.
The speedboat dropped anchor at Gili Trawangen (Gili T) and the appeal of the islands was immediately evident. The waters were gloriously translucent reflecting the clear blue sky above. The white sandy beach rose inland to a thick forested core with coconut palms aplenty. I was only going to spend one night on Gili T, the busiest of the three islands, before heading to Gili Air the following day. Hopefully giving myself enough time to recover from the sunburn I had recently acquired.
The unlikely highlight of Gili T was the fabulous restaurant I found on the beach. It was a locally owned buffet-style place that was very simple in style. Emphasis here is the fabulous fare that is served up by a grumpy old Indonesian lady. She first lumps a large amount of rice onto a plate before delivering generous helpings of delicious home-cooked food around it including pumpkin coconut curries, chicken satay, and a variety of vegetables including a sumptuous eggplant dish.
The shuttle boat took me to Gili Air the following day, cruising past the deserted Gili Meno before docking. I was swamped
by touts as soon as I set foot onto the sand. One of them offered a good deal on a bungalow so I went traipsing off with him heaving my bag in the sweltering sun. He claimed the walk was 8 minutes, this turned out to be more like 20 ensuring I was an even slightly redder shade of red on arrival.
The bungalow was simple but, as I had now discovered, too far from where I needed to be located. I was here primarily to dive with Dream Divers who were based on the other side of the island. Much to my new friends distaste I left to make the hot and hard walk around to the other side of the island, a commute I didn’t fancy doing every day.
I finally found some great bungalows behind the dive shop which was very simple, consisting only of a fan, bed and grotty bathroom with a pipe protruding from the wall providing a salt-water cold shower. The bungalow was set in a beautiful grove of coconut palm trees which I could enjoy from the hammock on my veranda. I even had two enormous (at least 20cm) gecko’s and
a cockroach for company. I was hoping the former would at some point snack on the latter. The banana pancakes and Lombok coffee each morning were the icing on the cake of this delightful place.
Gili Air is much quieter and relaxing than Gili T, which is why it was so appealing and the reason I chose to base myself here for the next few days. I checked in with Dream Divers, with whom I would be diving and undertaking my Advanced Open Water with. I had a thirst for deeper, more technical diving and this was the perfect place to begin to build on my underwater experience. This would include deep diving, drift diving, underwater navigation, night diving and peak performance buoyancy.
The waters surrounding the Gili Islands are a haven for marine life and are teeming with a mind-boggling array of fish, coral and reptiles. The dives were incredible and easily amongst the best I have encountered.
My deep dive to 30 metres (100 ft-ish) introduced me to shark depth. We dived down to an area that is known to shelter them and it wasn’t long before we encountered some. Soon we were being circled
by four sharks that were about 1 metre in length and got pretty close. My heart was thumping and I was burning through my air at quite a rate.
The deep dive also checked my resistance to nitrogen narcosis, which can have narcotic effect on the brain at deeper depths. My brain held up ok though, although I was curious to experience this effect which makes the fish talk and the coral glow!
I worked on peak performance buoyancy next which is basically a way of swimming and breathing underwater which will expend the least amount of energy, and thus air meaning you dive for longer. This was great as dives that usually would only last 45 minutes for me were lasting for nearly 80 now.
Following this was my drift dive. This technique used the underwater currents to take me past dive sites that require more experience as the strong currents make staying together as a group more challenging. This also requires the back-roll negative buoyancy entry which entails descending straight away after entering the water, which is fun in itself.
This dive was awesome for other reasons as well. It was my first experience
of swimming with the giant turtles that feed on the coral off the coast of Gili T and as we hit the deeper depths we encountered more sharks. We found a baby sheltering under a rock, a large-ish white-tip shark and a very large black-tip that was about 3 metres long. Fortunately it chose not to take us on as it powered through the water just a few metres in front of us. It was an incredible sight.
If my underwater navigation was anything like my navigation of OS maps in the Scottish Highlands I was in for a real struggle as communication is much more difficult. This process involves using kick strokes, underwater topography and compass bearings to find your way. Navigation is kept to simple reciprocal headings and squares using the compass and lubber line to set bearings and turns. I completed this successfully and enjoyed the rest of the dive by a wreck called the Bounty. This area teemed with an enormous array of marine life and large schools of fish that was fabulous to swim with.
My final dive was a night dive which was spooky. This took place just off the coast of
Gili Air and added an eerie edge to the underwater experience. When the sun sets the water becomes as black as night with the beam of a flashlight being the only means of seeing where you are going. Many different types of coral come out to feed at night which makes for a colourful experience. The flashing illumination of plankton in the water, flickering to life at the swish of a hand added to this wonderfully.
The night dive capped the final specialism that makes up the Advanced Open Water which I celebrated completing with a Bintang. The following day I embarked on my final dive which was purely recreational but one of the best as I was able to swim with and closely observe many turtles gliding elegantly through the clear water.
Other than the diving I also hired a bike one day to cycle round the island. The cycle was more challenging than I expected as, although the track was flat, many parts consisted of deep sand which was impossible to cycle through. I made my way slowly round the small island though which introduced me to deserted stretches of beach punctuated by fishing boats, small
guest houses and bars. I reached the western side of the island in time for sunset which was a stunning site.
The locals here have been very friendly and add to the relaxing ethos the island exhibits. I have been invited here to stay with a local family in Mataram (Lombok’s capital) and was invited to a Muslim wedding that was taking place on the island. Everyone seems to know everyone in this sparsely-populated place and it was a real honour to attend.
The wedding was in its third day and I enjoyed the evening’s antics for an hour or so. This involved the happy couple dressed in full costume whilst multiple groups of girls performed rehearsed dance routines in front of them as various people made speeches in between dances. Being the only Bule (foreigner) there I didn’t understand a word but it was great fun to watch.
I finished my time here unwinding on beach side restaurants with Dan Browns Masonic conspiracies for company whilst taking in the sublime views of my next challenge, which would be a complete contrast to the last few days. Gunung Rinjani looms large over the Gili’s from Lombok and,
if all goes according to plan, I should be standing on the summit looking back down on this beach within the next few days.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.113s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 62; dbt: 0.0782s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Mum and Dad
non-member comment
Tomato red like Ollie!!
HI Mike, you did make us laugh with your description of your sunburn but not funny really - more likelihood of Oliver not you to do that but he would have made sure he was burned all over (don't any of you take my advice about suncream!!! It appears from this blog that you found the perfect island out of the three to undertake your advanced diving course and at a brilliant price. What great value particularly after reading all that was involved. I did like the sound of the Gili T restaurant especially the pumpkin coconut curry and eggplant dish - sounded yummy! As did the banana pancakes. You always seem to land on your feet as far as food is concerned. I liked the photo of the bungalow but not of the bathroom and certainly would not have liked the geckos or the cockroach - yugh!!! The diving sounded awesome Mike and the photos are all incredible and stunning bar one or two, i.e. bathroom and some lazy person on a hammock. Only joking as it is nice to see you relaxing. Have fun and relax when you can. Speak soon. Love Mum and Dad.xxxxxxxxxx