To Bali Again (part III)

So finally all the courses has ended! Congrates to me and Billy! :p But the dives hasn't last yet, we've planned to have at very least 10 dives on this trip. So after we all done at Tulamben, we went straight back to Amed: having surface interval, seeing Izan, having our lunch, resting for a lil while.

The next dive was at Japanese ship wreck, Amed. We've been there before on our previous trip for two dives: one was on a rainy evening and there were current so the dive was short, and the other was on night dive. I love wrecks, and I was still curious with Japanese ship wreck. I met an octopus there before and a baracuda while we were night diving. So I guess we should go back there again, and enjoy its beauty for longer time at day.

Our guide was Pak Nyoman. We had a deal to leave the hotel at 2 and Pak Nyoman was on time. It was raining, visibility wasn't really good at about probably 7-10 meters but there wasn't any current. We dive for maximum 17 meters deep since I just dove to 40 meters in the morning. U see, this is exactly the reason why I need a dive computer, I'm glad tha I finally decided to buy my self one!

I will give you a short explaination...

When we dive to the deep our blood aren't just absorbing oxygen but also nitrogen. The deeper we dive the more nitrogen we had in our blood, thus we need longer surface interval before starting another dive and we need to count how much is our decompression time last. If we don't have a dive computer we actually still can have a safe dive by counting it on a dive table, but seriously that's sucha lazy thing to do! :p

I never count my deco time before, I'd just trust my dive master/guide. Ha ha... but don't copy that, that's one example of diving error! Now that I have my own dive com, I now really understand how clumsy I was just by trusting the dive guide for my own safety. It happened on the next day...

The next day we went for another three dives, all are jukung dives. Jukung is the local's fisherman's boat. The boat is very small, only fit for four people I guess. I never ride a jukung before, so then I finally try it! Yippy!

on Jukung.

The first dive that day was at jemeluk, Amed. Maximum depth we reached was 29.4 meters. We actually already told our guide to keep our depth to 25 meters max, but I guess the beauty has dazzled us to go deeper. My deco time is shorter then Billy's or our guide's. Yes, it's because I dove deeper on the day before. After some while at the deepest level I realized that I only have 1 more minute left to be on that level, thanks to my dive computer! Ha... you see, buying a dive computer is soooo worth for my safety! So then we ascending to minimize our depth.

The first and second dive was fun. The second dive was at Pyramid, Amed. But the third dive wasn't very well. Since we dive quite deep on our first dive in the morning, my deco time gets even shorter plus there was time when we need to swim through a current. So I gotta split my concentration for my deco time I have last, and how to keep up with our guide through the current. Huh! I don't really like it. When I dive I want it to be so relax so I can enjoy every single thing I see at the deep. :p

the pyramid

And before the last dive, our guide has forgotten to bring along our weight belts from the previous jukung. Yes, we use different jukung on our last dive. Don't blame us, he told us to leave our belts and he'd take care of it. Then he asked us to set up all his equipments for him while he picked up our belts... Hah, that's the first time on our history that we have to set up our guide's equipment! Our dive guide seemed so hasty and we don't know for what reason.

And at the end of the dive when I was still at about 10 meters deep, somehow Billy has only last 30 bars oxygen. I was too focus to get a picture of a tiny crab hiding in a coral while Billy and our guide was already having their 3 minutes five meters stop. Ha?? So then I ascend, and there goes my dive com protest for every time I ascending too fast. Everytime I ascend faster then 10 meters/minute it goes beep beep beep!!!!! And when I was having my three minutes stop at 5 meters (while Billy and our guide was already at the surface), there goes the buoyancy problem :p

Somehow when I'm higher then 5 meters deep at the end of a dive I get veeeeeery easy to come up to the surface and be positive buoyant. It feels like there's a magnet that pulling me up. And that is what happen on our last dive. I haven't complete my three minutes stop yet but oh... I was already at the surface??? As the result, I got a quite annoying headache just as I get in the jukung. Bah!

I think my headache is because I haven't complete my three minutes stop, while our guide thinks it's because we have fought a current. I don't know which is right...

So there, our dives has finally end. And next thing to do is to pay all fun dives we had to the dive operator. Apparently Billy didn't bring enough cash while they only accept cash. Billy purposing an idea to pay them tomorrow after we get more cash at the closest city that has an ATM. Somewhat our dive guide really insist to get his cash that evening, and he even proposed if we can lent money from the hotel we're staying and pay them back with credit card. He even called our dive instructor who's also the hotel owner for such idea, but of course she disagree with it.

It was so humiliating! We definitely will pay, why wouldn't we?! They should have credit card machine, since we're not paying them as if we're paying for food or what. Thumb down for such service. The next chance if we go back to Amed for fun dive, we will use other dive operator. Period.

Meanwhile, I will let you enjoy some of my shots I managed to take during my dives....

hello nemo!

lion fish

lil grumpy shrimp

blue ribon eel

porcupine fish

big old coral

stone fish

timid lil crab

To be continued...

To Bali Again (part II)

So we arrived at Bayu Cottage, Amed around 3 PM. It was the same place where we stayed for the previous trip. It's a small hotel with 6 rooms, owned by our dive instructor Mbak Unieng and her Dutch husband Marcel. The place is nice, every room has a straight view to the sea (my love!). They always give welcome note for every visitor, not only welcome drink. Since it was our second time there so they wrote us "welcome back to Bayu Cottage... for Billy-Diana-Izan".

Somehow all the waitress there remember us and especially Izan. When they help us to unload our bags from the car, they all said hi to Izan in a very warm way as if they just met him yesterday. I'd like to give thumbs up for their hospitality. It feels like staying at family's house. :)

What also good about Bayu Cottage is that they have TV cable, So Izan wouldn't get bored when we leave him for diving... Ok now, enough about the hotel!

We didn't came to Amed just to dive but also to take some specialty courses as I told you before. After loooong discussion while planning the trip, finally we made up our mind for what specialty we want to take. Billy toke digital underwater photography, which I think is good for him since he likes (and understand well) photography. I toke peak performance buoyancy, which I think is good since it will be the first dive with my all new equipments (hoohoo), and deep dive specialty cause I think it will be very useful.


>>with my dive instructor and her 60s year old Dutch girl friend at Tulamben.


Billy has no problem at all with the course and his all new equipments. He used the same weight as he used to, his buoyancy was good. He just need to take some pictures with our instructor's camera and at the other time later they will discuss the result. It looks fun!

While me... my buoyancy was totally awful on the first dive. I used to use 3 kilos weight, but when we start to descend somehow my feet are more buoyant then my head. I couldn't descend unless I wave my feet to go down, and then I have to hold on a rope to keep being on the water or else I would straightly ascending. As my instructor find out my problem she then ask for one of Billy's weight and try to put it on my BCD pocket... but she couldn't find my pocket, and silly me I didn't remember where all the pockets I have are!? Well, it was my first dive with that BCD. :)

Long story short, we cancel our first dive to get me more weights. Oh wait, before we back to the shore, my instructor has finally managed to put one more weight from Billy to my BCD but I was still positive buoyant. At the end I have to put 5 kilos weight to get a neutral buoyant. It wasn't a problem when being underwater, but it made me so difficult to lift my self to the shore at the beginning. Oh I was so lame!

The problem is on my divesuit. It's as same thick as Billys' but with different fabric. Somehow my divesuit keeps more air then Billys' and it needs to take quite some while until all its pores are filled with water, before that I became more buoyant. So next time I should soak my divesuit overnight before every first dive! Lesson learned!

The next dive went well. Peak performance buoyancy (PPB) specialty course needs 2 dives, digital underwater photography takes 3 dives, and deep dive takes 4. So my PPB course ended that day after two dives at Amed.

The next day we went to Tulamben for two dives, and I began with my deep dive course. Preparing my self for deep dive course, I finally decided to buy a dive computer. It wasn't just for the course, it's for my every dive since that time and later on. But being "gaptek" at first I didn't really know what is important to see on a dive computer. I thought dive computer is like a robot that will tell me when to do what. Yeah, fool! Later on review my instructor told me that that is one example of diving error.. ha ha!

>>Mares Nemo Sport dive computer


At the third day we still toke 2 dives at Tulamben, but on different spot at each dive. Ah I forget to tell that on the day before at Tulamben, it was then my regulator's turn to give me problem... it leaked! Blah! Enough said!

On the third day I managed to reduce my weight to 4 kilos...errr... maybe it was at the second day?? But anyway... on the third day, the 5th dive, I descended to 40 meters deep, the limit I can get after taking deep dive specialty. IT-WAS-AWE-SOME!!!

I can shorten my story about my deep dive course with this... It's from my instructor's blog telly about my course. :)

to be continued...

To Bali Again...

Hi...

This is a hello from Bali. We're tripping back to Bali since last Thursday, it has been almost a week now. How should I begin? :)

Every trip must have a reason, plan, preparation, and the story of the trip it self, right? SO I will start from our reason. It's the sea, my love number four after Billy, Izan, and my family. ^^

We want to enrich our dive log, and also to upgrade our level in diving so we toke some courses again. Billy is now a rescue diver and I'm an advance diver but we plan to keep upgrading our ability for the sake of our safety and who knows maybe one day we can make profit from what we love? he he he... So on this trip Billy take digital photography underwater specialty, while I take peak performance buoyancy and deep dive specialty courses. Uhm, lets first cut about that, I should continue to tell ya about the preparation.

We bring along Izan with us (of course) so the trip must be well planned! Billy is the director for technical plan, and I'm Izan's manager so I should make plan for everything about him. :) And just like our previous dive trip, we also bring the nanny to help us taking care of Izan while we dive. Let me tell you, bringing the nanny along on a trip is reaaalllyyyyyy lighten your works! Ha ha... But of course it will cost you more.

Before we go I already prepared Izan's meal for the whole trip. I want him to eat my cooking only so I kinda make some home-made instant meal, if I can call it that way... It's basically just like what he used to eat at home: a soup of blended meat/chicken/fish and corn with chopped various of vegetables. What's different is that I didnt pour water on those meals although they're already cooked, and pack them on plastic clip in one for each day and freeze them. So everyday on the trip I only need to put the frozen meal on slow cooker, add cheese and some water and recook it! It's home-made instant meal!

And packing... huh! Packing is the only thing I don't like from a trip. But somehow packing this time is a lot easier. Comparing to our last trip to Bali, we brought 2 big suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 fin and snorkel bags, 1 camera bag, 1 stroller, 1 cooler bag, 1 diaper bag, and a small suitcase for nanny, pfft! No, we don't want to bring too much stuff like that anymore! And since I discover a pouch that can be used for keepng our clothes pressed and very easy to manage, I finally made to pack Billy's, Izan's, and my cloths in just one big suitcase. Awesome! And instead of bringing cooler bag and diaper bag, and we also still need to bring Izan's sand toys, I just put them all in one backpack. Billy still need to bring another backpack for laptop, and camera bag is a must. And since we already have our own dive equipments (woohooo) we put them all on a huge dive bag. So on this trip we're bringing: 1 big suitcase, 1 huge divebag, 2 backpacks, 1 camera bag, 1 small suitcase for nanny, and Izan's carseat. We think that carseat is al ot useful then stroller, beside it's also about safety. SO there, and I become one happy lady! ^^

>>my lil champ helps me pack


The flight was on Thursday morning 6.30 AM. We needed to leave the house at dawn. Billy (as always) has prepared everything: taxi, ticks, rent car, hotels....everything! (Yes, I'm a very lucky wife!^^) The flight was fine, Izan didn't get cranky at all. He was asleep during the flight, woke only before take off and after landing, he kinda knew when is the right time to wake up. :)

>>at Soeta airport


The car we rent is Suzuki APV, without driver. They already waited for us as we arrived at Denpasar. We bought meals from McD at the airport for breakfast, then went straight to Carefour to buy diapers (for easier packing I rather buy diapers at Denpasar instead of brought from Jakarta), milks for Izan, drinks and snacks for us, and finally headed up to Amed. This time we toke different route. It was like a dejavu, everything was set pretty much like the previous trip but better!

>>our trip map


Will be continued... :)