Bali, Day 6: Under The Sea

Today's weather: mostly cloudy with a few drops of rain but still sunny enough for me to get sunburnt

I was awake at about 6:45 today, and feeling nice and refreshed after a solid sleep, I was up and about straight away. Today was our snorkelling day so I was a bit concerned to see the grey clouds and see some sprinkles of rain. At about 8:00 and headed down to breakfast at The Deck again. It was a other great breakfast and we'll most likely return tomorrow. We walked over to where we'd be meeting Captain Coconut and his boat and even though we were a bit early, he was happy to head off almost straight away. For our morning, we would be paying 500,000 Rupiah for both of us. This included Captain C taking us out to 3 different snorkelling spots, he had snorkelling gear for us to use and bought a bag of bread rolls to feed the fish.

Our first stop was Manta Bay, which is unsurprisingly where the manta rays like to hang out. It was a bit choppy going over but the scenery was beautiful and the weather had cleared up nicely. We boated by the cliffs of Nusa Penida island and watched the waves crash against them. We were a bit disappointed to see that the bay was quite busy and the other tourists were basically chasing the poor thing through the water. I even saw one put a GoPro not even half a meter from its face before it swam away. Aside from that and the inexperienced snorkelers swimming into us from all angles, it was quite enjoyable. It was amazing to see such a graceful animal in its natural environment.

Next we were off to Crystal Bay, also at Nusa Penida. It was just a short boat ride from Manta Bay and it was a gorgeous little bay with pretty coral and lots and lots of fish swimming around. Captain C got out his bag of bread and threw some bits in before we jumped in the water. We took some bread with us and watched the fish swarm around right in front of us. They were so bright and colourful. We happily swam around, diving down into the water and feeding the fish. The temperature was beautiful so before we got back into the boat, we threw our flippers and masks in and just had a bit of a float around.

Crystal Bay

We had one more stop to get to: the mangroves back at Lembongan. It was another scenic ride in between Penida and Ceningan. At the mangroves, the coral was not as pretty, but the fish sure were. Captain C jumped in the water with us this time with some more bread which he kept in his hands while the fish nibbled away. He actually caught a couple of them while they nibbled away unknowingly. We swam all around, up and down, seeing beautiful fish including Nemo.

Captain Coconut

It was nearly midday by the time we got back. We paid and thanked Captain C for our morning. We wandered back towards the villa, stopping at the restaurant Ware-Ware for lunch. It was a good pick. I had mushroom bruschetta for a starter, Sam ordered Lumpia which she said was better than Cafe Wayan's in Ubud even though she's never had them. We both ordered burgers and were very happy. It was a lovely spot looking over the bay. Our bill was about $30. We once again faced the stairs to heaven and got straight into the pool.

Once I was dried off, I decided to jump on the scooter and go for a ride. I was looking for the Point Resort where some people I knew were staying. I rode around for quite a while, turning left, turning right but I just could not find it. As I felt rain drops on my arms, I knew it was time to give up, but it was nice to ride around. I returned looking a bit redder than I was when I left.

It was time to relax and put my feet up. The clouds had rolled back over and the sky was looking quite ominous. We sat out on the verandah until the breeze coming through was actually making us shiver. We tossed up a few ideas for dinner and decided to head around the corner to Panorama Restaurant which has a killer view over the bay. As we were walking out, Janu instead suggested that we get delivery from Warung Pondok Baruna. He insisted that it was the best on the island with great food so we decided to give it a go, hoping that it lived up to the expectations we now had for it. Not too long after calling and ordering out food, we heard our doorbell and went out to collect it. We paid about $30 for everything; Soto Ayam (I was in the mood for soup), corn fritters, chicken satay, Babi kecap (sliced pork in sweet soy sauce) and Sapi Lada Hitam (chunky beef with peppers in a black pepper sauce). I loved my soup and the flavours in the rest of the dishes were nice but the meat was tough. It was a yummy dinner, but not great.

We spent the rest of the night in the villa just watching a movie. Tomorrow, we've got the morning on Lembongan before returning to Bali for the next leg of our stay. Sam has got one more night with me before going home on Friday night and Mum and Dad arrive on Saturday afternoon. I'm looking forward to returning to Sanur:)

 

Posted with Blogsy