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Prue's travels
What an amazing finish to a wonderful journey. Since we left Probolinggo and the mysterious mountain ranges of Bromo we headed East to Bali via a 15 hour crossing. We made it to Tulumben by the afternoon and did an afternoon dive at the liberty wreck. This wreck is phanomenal! I dived it on the previous Jaya trip I did and loved it.. and this time it didnt dissapoint.
Up early the next day (18th of May) we jumped in for an early morning dive at the wreck (ribbon eels, humpheads, crazy cool nudies, pigmy sea horses and all teh colours of the rainbow!). After breakfast we jumped in at another popular divesite in tulumben called the drop off... sharks, juv. oriental sweetlips... and the deep blue water shouldering a steep reef looming on oneside of you. Slowly cruising at 30m your glare out into the distance hoping any of the big pelagics swim by... Lunch time and a beach stop at ahmed... then night dive back at the wreck! This wreck is alive. Alive with colour, flashlight fish, bioluminecence, and marine life. Humpheads, ornate ghostpipe fish, giant morays, electric clams, decorator crabs and dozans of weird crab and shrimps! hmmm 3rd best night dive EVER maybe????
On the 19th we arrived at Gili Trawangan for a beach day, which ended out being a beach night aswell :) skype session, wine, beers, yummy food, massage, pizza, pasta, tequila shots, rum shots, more beer, dancing, sheesha pipes.... the list goes on! always fun to have a day on land causing a rukus.
So east we are heading once again, and on the 20th we hit moyo island. Hajji's wall and satonda bay were the dives we did. 35+m vis.. gorgeous wall dive.. sharks and pygmies were the highlights!
The next day it was the 21st and today was where it all started. Thanks you Sangeang.. You are amazing! The actual isladn contains a huge active volcano which affects the underwater marine word. The sand is place, the water is warm, the coral is vivid and abuntant and there is a pretty cool phenomenon in which the volcanic vents are leaking out of the black sand around the base of the volcano - UNDERWATER. It forms a garden of warm bubble, hense the name of the dive site: BUBBLE REEF! Well well well.. free swimming orangutan crabs, rough nose ghostpipe fish, winged pipefish, 2 white leaf scorpian fish and a juv. painted frogfish (thanks to jo)!!!!!!! f***ING AWESOME! pigmies too.. this dive site has everything... sooo many nudies... and the list goes on! gorgeous!! top 10 list of dives for sure! Other dives that say were at Sergios wall and another back at bubble reef. wow! MUST SEE!
22nd and heading East again we made it to Banta. 4 dives this day. Highlight was finding my very first frogfish! yep. and it was maybe 3cm big and it was a juv. painted frogfish. so so cute! oh and BANTA is the infamous island were the dive site BANTA IN DA HOUSE is. Last jaya trip i named it this cause it was wicked! Great for a night dive.. and that night it didnt dissapoint!
23rd we made our way into the Komodo national park. 1st stop Gili Lawa laut. This particular island is reknown for Crytal Bommie; a current junkie style dive site bringing with it big fish action! Today's morning dive didnt dissapoint! Sharks everywhere, GT's going crazy, Antheas getting knocked around my the current, Huge napolean wrasse gliding with ease through the ripping currents. HMMMMM yum! i love this kinda diving! After we dived sabayor then ended the day at karang makassar aka Manta moon walk!!! mantas galore. awesome day! After all those mantas it was beer oclock and ended up have tipsy chats with dorathy (a 68 year old adventure hungry women). Up until now we hadnt connect too deeply but my the end of the night i was in awe. She is a phenomenol women who has been around the block 4 or five times! Cheers to you Mate and if i could be half as cool as you at your age and had half as many adventures as you have had i will be a fulfilled women. Thanks for your wisdom and stories :)
24th was a sweet day! castle rock (crazy current with big sharks and big fish), the cauldron (big currents and rollercoaster style diving), finished up with the passage (big currents, labrynth like maze and big fish!). Oh and today we saw a pure white manta on the surface! Yep. Only white. no black markings and it was cruising around the boat for ages. lucky us!
25th was back manta on the moon (karang makassar)where 20 or more mantas played with us at different points on dive getting so close i could almost kiss them. NW: rocking white stipes to a manta lures them closer! Oh yeah and dugong sitings! can this trip get any better!! Oh yes it can... BATU BALONG.... heaven of the underwater world. It is a wall dive with gorgeous coral, awesome hunting fish, sharks, ballistic antheas and turtles everywhere.. Wait there is more... NIGHT DIVE OF THE YEAR! yep. 6 idean ocean walkman (my very first), blue ringed octopus (my very first), pleurobrach (very first), ornate ghostpipefish, so many free swimming orangutan crabs, weird shrimps, cool crabs, baby cuttlefish, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i cant say anymore... BEST DIVING EVER!!
26th.. End of the journey - arrive at port of labuan Bajo. Beers and pizza tonight.. maybe a dance at paradise bar ;) we will see. Im here for a few days then BANGKOK to start the next adventure.
Thasnks wicked family for an unforgettable adventure. To the crew who drove us, cooked for us kept the ship is ship shape and runny smoothly - thanks so much! and to my mates ricky, amanda and JO i f***ing love u guys! You are such professionals and wicked is damn lucky to have each one of you. WICKED SEE YOU SOON GUYS.
10 out of 10. Wicked diving is it.
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until next time.
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