Capturing the Moment

Clown Anemonefish Mr. Han We got the tour of the boat from Cristina, our Italian dive instructor, and our other dive guide, a local guy named Nelwan. Because of weird weather for the season the news was that the South of Komodo was bad viz while the North was good, which may be due to El Nino. Since this is contrary to what normally occurs at this time, we decided to change the itinerary and head towards North Komodo. Cute little flatworm      The decision proved best when we arrived at our first dive site on an island just North of Kanawa, where we stayed last time. We were met with clear, blue water. We did two dives in the area then found a fun little cove to anchor the night for. Before sunset we jumped on one of the small boats and took a short hike up on top of a hill of a small uninhabited island to a great sunset overlook. Kristina busted out some beer and we all soaked up the changing colors. When it comes to sunset in Komodo, they only hav...

Amalia Highly Recommended, Uber Scuba While this entire trip to Indonesia has been an adventure, the time has come for the adventure within the adventure. Heidi and I are all booked on a 5night/6day boutique scuba liveaboard. We will be sailing on the newly built Amelia, with Uber Scuba out of Labuan Bajo. I have only done one other scuba liveboard trip which was on a very modern looking motor yatch out of Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef. You can read about that here . I was excited to see the Amalia and find out what diving and living was going to be like here in Komodo. Ready to take the Plunge My Corner of the Dive Deck   We could immediately see the care that went into building Amalia with beautiful wood finish everywhere. The back deck where we first stepped on board was all set up for diving. Each person had their own area with name written above, and box below for dive computers, watches, etc. There was also a very ingenious system built into the di...

 For our last Bali adventure with Ed and Jamie we headed inland for a little culture, beautiful rice terraces, monkeys, good eating, and shopping in the art town of Ubud. Heidi and I had been here back in 2014 and even though it is away from the surf and dive scene we still had a great time. The massages are cheap, think $5 for an hour massage, there is a great walk set up through the many rice terraces that surround the town, and the center of town is a vibrant spot filled with art, shops, shrines, and restaurants.  The lack of rain could be seen in a lot of the dry rice fields although there were still a couple places where the fields were lush, green, and picturesque. We saw lots of ducks and skinks in the fields but no snakes like last time. By the time I morning walk was done the sun was beating down hard and hot. Heidi and I escaped it by heading to the pool while Ed and Jamie continued into the Monkey Forest where they had some very up close encounters with th...

Widia Homestay Jungut Batu panorama    Nusa Lembongan is a small island off the coast of South Bali, only 8 sq km in size. It is connected to an even smaller island of Nusa Cennigan by a rickety bridge just wide enough for one motor bike. This works out nicely here on these slow paced islands because motor bikes are the only traffic, save for a few work trucks. The water is famously clear, so snorkeling and diving are usually the order of the day. However, when the surf is up Nusa Lembongan has some famous waves from the rights of Shipwrecks and Lacerations to the left and Cennigan Point.      There are few little towns with the largest being Jungut Batu. This is where the ferry from Sanur dropped us off. Rocky Fast Boat ferries run multiple trips daily and jet across the Badung Strait in about half an hour. The Hindu culture of Bali continues on Lembongan. There seems to be shrines and temples around every corner. Even then entryway to people...