Safety stop on the Liberty Wreck
I’ve recently returned from our Bali & Komodo Safari which took place between 20th September and 5th October, it was a great trip with plenty of manta sightings, reef sharks and varied macro life followed by some of Bali’s highlights above the surface and of course the trip wouldn’t of been complete without going to see the Komodo Dragons on Rinca Island. I was joined by a group of 10 other divers, all but one had been with us on tour in various other locations throughout Indonesia and Philippines.
We started our diving around the east coast of Bali, sites like Blue Lagoon and the recently discovered Jetty dive don’t offer the best reef diving to be found around the island but more than make up for it with critters and marine life variety. The Jetty is a short boat ride from Padang Bai and is one of the best muck dives you’ll find anywhere. Our first dive was a little bit tricky given the surge that rocked us back and forth but there was plenty to keep us entertained – from big frogfish to the rare paddlflap Rhinopiah (pictured below by Andrea Harvey) and Gunards.
Paddleflap Rhinopiah by Andrea Harvey
The following day we made our way to Mimpang and Tepekong – two islands that are positioned directly east from the town of Candidasa. These two rocky islands can be prone to some pacey currents it’s best dived at high slack which conveniently worked for us. Our first dive was at Mimpang which saddles in a number of areas and actually looks like 3 separate islands at high tide. Conditions were good with 20+ visibility and just a slight drift to help us along the way. We saw plenty of white tip sharks, turtles and schooling snapper, in the deeper sections big Gorgonian fans adorn the reef. Mimpang has a number of sections so we opted for a 2nd dive rather than heading over to Tepekong which after a quick inspection looked like it wasn’t going to offer favourable conditions.
Mimpang Island (Right)
More from this blog post coming soon.
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