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[Handyman]

I was in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia on vacation from February 13-19 and decided in advance to do a couple of dives. I didn't bring my gear, or camera housing, but before I left the states I did a little research on dive operators, mostly based on the best, clearest website and chose Waterworxx to dive with. You might want to check out their site www.waterworxbali.com. I found the site to be excellent, describing all the different dive sites they operated at, and times to get there, cost of dives w & w/o equipment, skill level, what you would see, etc. Very complete. It is operated by Wolfgang and David. I contacted the shop located on the East coast of Bali in the port of Padang Bai, by e mail, a few days before I wanted to dive and they responded quickly, gave me the locations of their next two days of diving, the costs, and the cost of transfer fm my hotel in Ubud to the dive shop ($30 round trip). I chose the Nusa Penida dives and we emailed back and forth to set up arrangements. They asked pertinent questions like how many dives I had and the last time I had been diving. The driver arrived on time, delivered me to the dive shop where I filled out paperwork, got set up with equipment, stowed my pack, and walked across the beach to their dive boat. Diving with me was Scott, from portland, and our divemaster, whose name escapes me (never really had it as my hearing aid was on shore). Our briefing was in the dive shop, and there were two Austrian filmographers, Sven & ???, who had their own dive guide. It took 30 minutes to cross to the island of Nusa Penida and we got our gear on and dropped in the water together at the dive site of Buyuk for a great drift dive around 20-25 meters in a moderate current. Lots of tropicals, large schools of them, and an occasional turtle. Our dive guide was very good, keeping an eye on us and pointing out things as we drifted by. The boat picked us up quickly and when the other divers got aboard we were fed a prepared Indonesian meal...very good, and water as we waited out our surface interval by moving to the next site, S.D. , a little further down the coast. Well, this dive was amazing, one for the acres and acres of rolling hills of stag horn coral, as far as you could see, with all the schooling tropicals associated with it, The current was brisk, as was the water temperature. I was quite surprised how cold it was, and I was wearing a full 5 mm wetsuit, but after 4 or 5 minutes of awe at the coral that totally covered the rolling hills at 25 meters and the amount of life, I forgot about the cold and enjoyed the show. I've never seen so many unicorn fish, I even saw a silver one, and a coronet fish that was at least 4-5 ft. Clouds of fish.

After surfacing we relaxed on the trip back to Padang Bai where hot tea or coffee was available and rinse tanks and showers. David described the dive as one of the best in Bali because of the cool water and nutrients it brought kept the reefs very healthy. He suggested that if I was interested in diving to see the Mola Mola, or sunfish, that the best time is usually the middle of October, as September through the end of October is the 'season' to see them, but it's very crowded until mid October. I'm going back, gonna schlep my equipment and my camera (but it will be a dive vacation) and dive with them. They can set you up with a place to stay in town, and help make all arrangements for transfers.

Bali was amazing. So very different. I spent most of the 6 days wandering around Ubud, taking in the sights, the smell of incense in the air from the offerings to the spirits, the dancing, the people, the food. It is the most unique place I have visited, and I already long to return. It is crawling with tourists IMHO, and this was the slow season, but fortunately few can breathe underwater.