Diving in the Gilis
Ever since I did my PADI Open Water in Ko Tao back in 2005, I have been obsessed with diving. idc bali The feeling of total freedom and calmness when you're below water is paradise for me, and now I just can't get enough of it. That's why I knew that the Gilis were a must for my latest visit to Indonesia. I had heard of the tiny island of Gili Trawangan from a friend who'd lived there for 6 months, working as a dive master. She had firsthand experience of the brilliant diving in this area and that I just needed to talk to her for five minutes before I was convinced.
Since I was going with my sister and another friend, both of whom hadn't dived before, she recommended that people went into Big Bubble Dive as the classes are small, and the instructors are friendly. The Gilis are the ideal place to learn to dive. The atmosphere is nice and comfy, with a great deal of divers of various levels of experience. You are also certain to observe a huge range of fish on each dip, and a lot of the dive sites are shallow enough for training dives.
There are 16 dip sites situated around the three Gili Islands; Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. You may reach all of the sites by Jukung boats and the traveling period is no more than about 25 minutes. This means that you don't have to spend half your time travelling to get to the dive site! This really is a big plus point for me since I have a tendency to find a little sea sick, particularly after a dive, as a result of salt water invasion of my nose.
I have done a total of 8 rebounds, and each one was totally fantastic. I saw loads of amazing items including cuttlefish, octopus, black tip reef sharks, boxfish (my personal favorite), pufferfish and turtles, to mention but a few.
On my last dive, I was due to friend with my recently qualified sister. idc bali However, one of the Dive Masters suggested that I go with another group to do a more experienced drift dive since it was, in his view, the best dive site in the region. This is the most spectacular dive I've ever done. I was fortunate enough to spot a gorgeous, two metre long bumphead parrot fish. This fish has been unbelievably incredible to watch, polished deep green in crystal clear waters. This dive was truly the highlight of my entire trip.