Where's your Mola Mola's, Lembongan?

 After one night in Sanur Beach I took an early public boat to the Nusa Lembongan island just 30 min off the coast. And noticed, I'm for sure not in Malaysia or Philippines anymore. The homestay owner couldn't tell me where to buy a boat ticket or if the take off place is in walking distance. So I took a taxi, who tried to rip me off with the price. And actually had no clue where to drive to. In his opinion I should have known. Argh. He asked the way for a few times and clearly got wrong directions but still followed them. At the end I started asking the way. A direct way would have been just a few kilometers, but we drove around for maybe half an hour. Grrrh. And of course the driver wanted to have more money exactly because of that. Well think again! And now I stop complaining.

Next negotiations were with the boat agency, as the shown price is never the end price. I got a pretty ok deal and also got into a boat which left immediately. And there I was, in the Mola Mola and Manta country!

I had exchanged a few emails with Two Fish Dive shop in advance, checked it out, liked what I saw and booked dives immediately with them. Their accommodation was a bit too expensive so I stayed in a small & really nice home stay almost across the street. Good choice! Got a really cosy bungalow for small money and the staff was extremely nice.

So, diving! Mantas! More Mantas! The whole idea of going to Lembongan was finally to see those magnificent huge creatures moving gracefully in the ocean. At Manta Bay we saw 4-5 different ones, but the sea was really rough and visibility quite poor. I also lost my buddy & DM for a while but we found eatch others on the surface again. The next day we went to Manta Point. I had to swallow some anti sea sickness pills as I had some beer & arak the evening before and the waves looked too huge for a half-ok stomach. All went well (not a sequel to Moalboal) and this time we enjoyed the Mantas during the whole dive. How much can you smile in the water? A LOT!!! I had to do a really corny american “WOW” on the surface after the dive. First time for everything.

I also went twice to Chrystal Bay hoping to see Mola Molas but they were hiding :( Nice spot, but nothing compared to the Manta madness.

Except diving I did jumping (video coming later...). Two South African dudes were going to jump from a 13 m cliff and hell yea, me too! The place was closing, but this time it was quite good as now we didn't have to pay the 50 000 rupiah fee. Doesn't matter that they had pulled up the ladders as you can actually climb back. Nice jump. Was I scared? Hell yea! From there we drove to another jumping point where you have to aim to a small round sandy area between corals. Easy, easy! Even in low tide. What a fantastic day! First the mantas, then jumping and a party in the evening. Which wasn't really my cup of tea but a day is always good to end with cold beers and good company.

Poser.

The captain is a disaster.

End of the diving in Lembongan for me. Next day we went to the mangroves, tried to steer the small boat with not so much success but got good laughs. In the afternoon we went back to the jumping spot again as an Irish wanted jump & loose his camera in the ocean. Mission accomplished successfully!

Lembongan was really good fun. Lovely island, fantastic smily locals and I met some great people.  Now some wreck dives in Bali before I head to Java.

Trying to try out the sea weed.