Well, everything started because of this guy who shares the same birthday with me, asked me to go!
Weiyi, that's his name. My uni hall mate,level mate and even roommate.
"let's go Bali", he said. "okay, shall arrange"
He did all the planning and all I did before the trip was buying air tix.
All the trips and places that I have been to so far kept me excited and anticipated before going, but not this. Fortnight before the trip, I met a diving instructor at the MIDE.
I told him about my trip to see the Mola-Mola at Bali.
His first question, "how long have you been diving?", followed by "how many dives do you have?"
"less than 20" I answered, and he warned me to be careful.
Undercurrent, down current, up current, termocline, cold water, 300m are all the cachets of Crystal Bay, the pace where Mola-Mola can be spotted.
Went home and search for all the videos, trying to get some previews before going. And the advice given are exactly the same.
DAMN!
Off I flew! on the 15th July 2013. Reached the with RM30 in the wallet and a dead phone. I had no iteinary, nor any hotel name. And I waited him for an hour, luckily, he appeared.
Okay, so we went to Tulamben to see the USS Liberty shipwreck. All the way down to 30m to see the see fan. What a rich marine diversity! with the black sand from the volcano, it nourishes the coral, and i guess that it has higher density compared ti the normal coral sand makes the visibility so good! and here's the pic of the place.
It was a great dive. The locals' revenues depend on the dive spots. here, I witnessed the lady worked hard to earn some penny for living. it's the pivot that changes my perspective towards the society.
I have to admit that being born in a well doing family is purely luck. Because that's what you can't decide or choose. In religion, it depends on God, own God. But these people make do with the life, work for it, even though they are earning so little, they still strive for it. We cant say that they should go to do other businesses or better work, because given the background, they don't receive much education. here, we are talking about contribution to society, unlike those who are educated yet destructively harm the society. And I saw some young adults working as security guards at Kuta, the city of Bali, being so humble and so responsible. The pure thought of earning enough money to feed the family is what really touches me.
Back to diving, the 3 warm up dives were done. Geared up to Nusa Peninda, an island situated south of Bali. It was a bright sunny day. We went there by cruise not knowing that we will be diving at Crystal Bay before checking in resort.
"okay, suit up, we are going to see Mola-Mola", the dive master came to tell us, recognising the blue tag on our wrist, indicating that we took the diving package. "FXXX, this time GG!", Weiyi joked.
Hopped on the speed boat, off we headed to the legendary Crsytal Bay. I listened carefully to every single word the DM said, never been so attentive in diving before. He ended the briefing with "stay close, be very careful"
Looked at the sun, thinking that will it be my last sight of the sun. Descent.
2 DM, 7 Divers.
Suddenly, up current came. Mind blowing! GRAB GRAB and GRAB! hold on to which ever coral that is next to me. literally fly under water, with one hand holding to the coral. and if I let go, there goes my life. * or maybe not that serious since it's not down current.
That moment in my brain, Fuck it! I just wanna stay alive.
200kPa dropped to 70kPa within 30 mins. That's exhausting!
Nah, we ascent. Did not get to see anything, but yeah, I survived.
The next spot was drift dive. Nothing much except spotting a sea snake and superb lateral current. But I enjoyed. Went to manta bay next day.
Seeing the manta ray swimming towards you is amazing. the 2m wings gliding through the water effortlessly,like a creature I have never seen before. She swam pass me, like saying hello visitor to my territory, not welcoming you but i do no harm :)
Manta bay was satisfying, at least worth half of the money! but wait, we are going back to Crystal Bay again!
made a giant strike into the water, it' freezing! Dropped 4 degree to 24 compared to the day before when we were here. Up current again? or down current which is worse?!
Close to the coral reef I swam. Followed the DM like before.
Then, the moment of truth! He rang his bell underwater, showing us the Mola Mola hand signals. and 2, no no 3 he re showed.
Power fin, swam as fast as possible towards him.
There stayed 2 beautiful creatures which stay 300m deep for the rest of the life, and come up only once a year to clean up.
So elegant, the Mola-Mola stayed still, using the fin to fight the mild current, enjoying the cleaning by Emperor Anglefish. At the moment, I thought, who am I to this creature. How small am I compared to it, how weak am I to fight current compared to it. The humbling experience.
This is it! the exhilarating moment when you see it! man, this is a living dinosaur!
This makes the USD386 worth it! The topic about this experience never ends. We both kept talking n talking.
Oh well, not going to talk much about the remaining day in Bali except for the pool party with the Angmoh. It was a great experience to party with them, to see how crazy they are. and trust me, jumping into the pool in the windy night with no towel prepared is no joke! shivered like nobody business!
See! the people just jump from second floor!
Went to walk around Kuta beach on the last day, and that marked the end of my Bali adventurous diving trip!
MALDIVES will be my next stop!
