Gili Trawangan, Lombok (May 25-now): SCUBA

So on the way to Gili T, I met James, Andrew, and Frauke. We got to know each other a little on the ferry over, then I suggested that we try to find a place to stay together to get a discount – more rooms = cheaper rooms. They agreed, and after two hours of waiting in Lembar harbor, followed by a half hour bus ride, followed by another 45 minute boat ride (this time in a pontoon boat – it was great getting off the last bus and walking down the beach to get on the little wooden boat!), we arrived in Gili T.

The four of us then walked down the dirt road, looking for a place to stay. There were several touts trying to get us to their places – the island was pretty empty, it seemed. So we looked at a few different places, but ended up going back to the first place we saw – Donau Hijau – because it was the cheapest, even though it was falling apart a bit. My room now has a major problem with black ants. And the walls are coming apart a bit. And the mosquito net over my bed is full of holes. Oh well, I’m saving money.

After finding Donau Hijau, we went out for dinner (I had an excellent grilled snapper at the Beach House restaurant) in the rain, had a few beers, then saw a little of V for Vendetta (several bars here show illegal copies of movies on various sized screens – you just have to buy a drink to watch), but it was a horrible copy, so I went to bed.

Next morning, Andrew and I set out to look at the diving options in Gili T. We didn’t go far. As we walked into the first place (Blue Marlin – right next door to Donau Hijau), we met Bob, who would become our Open Water certification instructor. Bob was friendly, the place seemed very professional and came highly recommended from the guidebooks. We were sold. $325 later, we were on our way to PADI certification. The course involved watching some horrible videos, studying the PADI book, quizzes and tests, pool work, and 4 open water dives. Putting on the SCUBA gear and breathing underwater for the first time was amazing. I have always loved the water, and being able to just stay under for long periods of time without worrying about coming up for air was a perfect experience. The first open water dive was even better. We had perfect visibility, and we saw all kinds of sealife – turtles, lionfish, sea snakes… I loved it. As we progressed, it became much easier to navigate down there – neutral buoyancy is a good thing. Each of the dives was special in its own right – we saw sharks, nudibranchs, I’ll have to fill in more from my dive log later. The first two dives were to 12 m, the second two to 18 m.