Sanur, Bali

Sanur

So I got a hold of a friend of mine who lives here in Bali that went to Uni in California with me and more recently joined on a live aboard surf trip out in the Mentawi Islands and even that wasn’t so recent maybe 2012. I asked him if he was going surfing anytime soon and if I could tag along and take photos. He said yes and we went out the next morning. Until then I decided to go visit a friend I made a few years back at Barb’s Sports Bar in Sanur and said hello and had a few cold ones with the Aussie expats that frequent the place. Always a smile and always the coldest beer in Indonesia, bar none.

At an ungodly hour of 445 am we met and off we went to Sembangan Beach on an island that is close to Bali and crossable by a bridge. We were the first people there and off they went and I found my spot close to a key between a right break and a left break and as the day went on the waves grew into double over-head and I just clicked away.

More surfers showed up shortly, took a quick look out and went to wax their boards. I was later joined by a couple other photographers that really didn’t seem that interested and were waiting for something bigger but it didn’t come that day.

A couple of acquaintances from Lembongan passed through on separate occasions and we went to Lingi Longa Bar and listened to music. It was a great place to meet people and get your Rasta roasted. Music carried on into the night and fun was had by all.

I spent most of my days writing in the mornings or all day and usually done with it in late afternoon. There are lots of things to do around Sanur and for me it’s better than Kuta but anybody who hangs out at all on Bali pretty much know that.

I joined up with a woman that went to my same high school that I hadn’t previously met and of course we had mutual friends and knew family names and all that. She seemed to know Bali pretty well and decided to take me off the beaten path. There is touristy hot springs on Bali up near the volcanic crater lake and then there are hot springs at the edge of the crater lake where mostly Indonesians go. This was a treat and we got to hear a lot of stories about some of the crater villages that appear to have no roads to them.

My time in Indonesia has come to an end and now it’s time to prepare for something not so entirely different and yet is unique in place, logistics, and people. The next big adventure is the Sardine Run off the coast of South Africa where the sharks converge for a feeding frenzy of sardines. Tuna, Whales, Seals, and Sharks all join in a timeless journey to the tip of Africa for a feed. If we are lucky we’ll get some good camera work and some stories out of the deal. I’ll show you.

www.davidcdagley.com

http://sbprabooks.com/davidcdagley/

Go to my site listed below for more travels:

www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com

Lembongan To Sanur

Lembongan and Sanur

The Mantas and Blue Spotted Rays have moved on. When the Mantas were at Manta Bay and Manta Point the water was murky with algae and plankton and the seabed was covered in small groups of Blue Spotted Rays all over the place, then nothing. The swell picked up and it was difficult to get back there but from what I’ve heard they have all gone for now.

We dove on the north side of Nusa Penita for my last two dives, sites I had already been on but this time strangely there was no current and Wakary, our dive guide went into ‘little stuff’ mode and we managed to see lots of Nudibranch, Scorpion Fish, crab of all sizes and all within maybe 100 meters. The water was too warm to bother looking into the blue for much. A large tuna did grace our presents but that was about it for the big stuff. Again coral bleaching is on the rise but not where we were diving and looking around.

Both dives were about an hour each and everybody had a good time searching versus drifting. Of course the clown fish put on a show of protective defiance even at their meager size they get in your face as if to rough you up.

When all was said and done we headed back to Big Fish Diving and washed our gear and hung it up to dry. I was done with Lembongan for now except for my adopted Manta. 

If you want to see Big Dipper's online profile, please go to http://mantamatcher.org/individuals.jsp?number=INNLP0397A.

  

Here are some of the websites and social media pages you can have a look at if you like;

Global MMF website: www.marinemegafauna.org

Global FB page: https://www.facebook.com/MarineMegafauna/?fref=ts

SE Asia FB page: https://www.facebook.com/MarineMegafaunaFoundationSEAsia/?fref=ts

I had dinner at Mickey’s Sports Bar with a stack of Australians watching the first Game of Origins, a footy match of all-stars that play they heart out for a match and then return to their squads and then again join up a few weeks later for the second match and again for the third a few weeks later. It’s good fun. The only segment of Australians that don’t seem to care one bit are all from Victoria.

I had a couple quiet ones with my Finnish friend and a woman I just met from South Africa and that was the end of my time in Lembongan. I’ll be back but not until next year. I have a lot on my plate at the moment and it’s going to take a while to clear.

I took the morning ferry to Sanur, just across the strait and am sort of hunkering down the best I know how. The second day here I went diving at Tulamben, The Liberty wreck. It was a nice dive but the visibility due to the swell was less than expected, maybe 10 meters.

We did manage to see a couple turtles, leaf fish, Scorpion Fish, Banded shrimp, a dwarf Frog Fish, Garden Eels, Mantis Shrimp, and a Pigmy Sea Horse among other aquatic creatures. All in all it was a nice day with All 4 Diving and four folks from Switzerland. www.all4diving.com. Sanur is bigger than this blog so it’ll be addressed in a couple days after I get some good shots of the surfers here with the swell once again on the rise.

www.davidcdagley.com

http://sbprabooks.com/davidcdagley/

Go to my site listed below for more travels:

www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com