October 2008 Bali Komodo, Indonesia Trip Report Part 1 Hong Kong Our 2nd trip to Asia was a visit to Bali in October of 2008. This Indonesian island is known for its beautiful rice terraces, friendly people, Hindu temples, and great diving. We booked a two week visit, the first half as a scuba diving trip aboard the Peter Hughes Komodo Dancer and the second half as a land visit to Bali. The diving would primarily be done in the Komodo National Park. We found a fairly cheap flight for $800 U.S. on Cathay Pacific from the States, the only catch was the number of connections (3 on the way there, 4 on the way back). The flight from JFK to Hong Kong was full but the Cathay Pacific coach seats are fairly comfortable compared to some other airlines we have flown (Delta, you could learn something here) and they have plenty of on-demand video to keep one from going to crazy with boredom on the 16 hour flight. I think I watched every classic Faulty Towers episode they offered. When we finally land in Hong Kong the Chinese folks on the plane shove past everyone else in a hurry, they apparently don't believe in the line etiquette or maybe they were just fed up with sitting in one place for so long. I know I was! We decided to break up the trip spending the night in Hong Kong. At the Hong Kong airport we catch a red cab to our hotel, the Salisbury Y.M.C.A. Now I know that the words Y.M.C.A conjure up visions of dingy locker rooms and homeless people but this one in Hong Kong is actually a very nice hotel in a great location. Enjoying some dumplings in Hong Kong airport Our first order of business is to walk over to the famous Star Line Ferry where one can take a trip across the harbor for about 40 cents. If you saw the recent French movie "La Moustache", you will recognize this ferry as some of the last scenes were shot here. The skyline views are pretty over the top with the garish purple lights of the HSBC building standing out. We have a fine tasting Italian meal at the overpriced Grissini (An Italian restaurant located in the Grand Hyatt). It has some nice views of the harbor but I would have preferred to dine outside as the weather was quite pleasant. Outside dining may not be common practice in Hong Kong (or Asia for that matter as we hardly found any al fresco dining options in Japan a few years ago). We take a stroll around the city after dinner and notice that it appears to be under perpetual construction. We end up at the Kowloon Public Pier and join the crowds of folks enjoying the stunning views of the harbor. Curiously a small group of Chinese folks dressed in Star of David t-shirts walk down the steps by the water and start angrily chanting and cursing at the water. A native passerby tells us she cannot understand the dialect they are speaking. After about 20 minutes of this erratic display they disappear into the night. Hong Kong skyline as seen from the Star Ferry Part 2 Bali (Denpasar and Sanur) After grabbing a latte from the Starbucks across the street from our hotel, it's time for the 5 hour flight to Bali from Hong Kong. I had heard that customs process at the Denpasar airport in Bali was a nightmare and this turned out to be true. We waited for hours in a long chaotic line that was made even worse when one of the printers in our queue died and the official just walked away from it. It took some angry intervention from an English tourist to get our line going again. Be prepared to be patient in this line, you could probably read a good chunk of "War and Peace" while waiting in it. The driver arranged by Peter Hughes is waiting for us outside the airport and whisks us away to our hotel (again booked via the Peter Hughes staff) - the Mercure Resort Sanur. The guards at the entrance of the hotel search under our driver’s car with a mirror looking for bombs; this is (no) thanks to the terrorists involved with the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings. The hotel is quite nice and we get our first taste of the formality with which the Indonesians greet guests. We sit down and engage in a very formal dialogue with the hotel clerk, he has the staff bring us welcome drinks and then we are shown to our private bungalow. The first thing I notice other than the immaculately groomed hotel grounds is how unbelievably hot it is in this country. Our two story bungalow is quite nice. The lovely grounds of the Mercure Resort Sanur at night in Sanur, Bali We walk into town and are bombarded by offers of "Transport?" and "Taxi?" from the locals, something we will be very used to by the end of this trip (almost to the point where we tune it out completely). It is interesting to see the Hindu culture, such as the names of some of the restaurants such as Swastika I and II (in the 30's the Nazi co-opted the Hindu swastika and gave it a Western cultural stigma). I'd recommend dining at a great open air Italian place in Sanur called Massimo, they have very tasty wood-oven fired pizzas. It is interesting to watch the wait staff at Massimo periodically take a break to pray to the Hindu altar in the restaurant courtyard. I sample my first taste of the local beer called Bintang and give it a thumbs up. Our Lonely Planet guide notes that Sanur is sometimes called "Snore" due to the lack of clubbing nightlight, but that is really not an issue for us. That evening at the hotel I enjoy watching the bats fly overhead, they snatch insects out of the air. As the night progresses, the local stray dogs take over the hotel grounds looking for a meal. It is strange to hear a chorus of frogs in the night as you never hear these anymore in most North American cities. Part 3 Komodo Dancer The next morning we are taken through "rush hour" (more mopeds than you can imagine) to the port of Benoa Harbour to board the Peter Hughes Komodo Dancer. We are welcomed aboard by a long haired Englishman named Garry Beran, he will be our divemaster for the next week and also appears to be the defacto manager of the ship. We meet the rest of the crew and our fellow divers (two Americans and the rest are from Great Britain and Europe - several are members of diving club called Kendal and Lakes Dive Club, part of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC)). The Komodo Dancer The Komodo Dancer is a wooden sailboat built in South Sulawesi, Indonesia during 2000/2001, although I never see the sails unfurled during the entire trip. There are seven cabins and we have cabin # 4 on lower port-side deck. It is a bit smaller than the last cabin we had on the Galapagos Aggressor and not quite as nice. It has a set of bunk beds and a shower that either delivers scalding or freezing water. The AC unit works great and is located just above the top bunk, so plan accordingly (you may wish to pick the bottom bunk if you get cold easily). After each dive one of the crew is waiting for you with a warm towel and gives you a quick neck/back massage. Massage by one of the Komodo Dancer crew after a chilly dive Komodo Dancer Cabin #4, I loved reading this book after dives If you are prone to seasickness this might not be the boat for you, I've never been on a ship that rocked up and down so much. I took some Bonine for the first few days until I got my sea legs and had no issues for the entire trip. The remains of the first day are spent motoring out of Bali and cruising alongside the islands of Indonesia. The top deck only has a few chairs that are in the shade so I grab one and stay there for most of the day reading. Sundeck of the Komodo Dancer Dive sites Diving is done in one of two tenders, the "red boat" and "black boat". Dive masters are rotated between boats so you are not stuck with the same guide for the entire dive. For most dives you can choose to dive on your own or follow the guide. The exception to this was during some of the heavy current dives such as @ Manta Alley where they tried to keep the groups together for safety reasons. Several night dives were also done. Moyo, North Sumbawa Reef This was our first stop as we headed towards Komodo. We see our first of what will be many Lionfish on this dive. A Spotted Devilfish and Cornet fish are also seen, as well as very colorful coral. Analyzing Nitrox levels aboard one of the tenders before a dive Satonda Island, North Sumbawa Our first sighting of the very tiny Pygmy Seahorse, four specimens are found by the divemaster hanging out on a fan leaf. My wife points out the Yellow barred Jawfish. As we do our safety stop a Spotted Unicorn fish swims by. Rinse bucket for wetsuits on the Komodo Dancer Sand Chute (at Satonda Island), North Sumbawa This dive is quite nice, it is mostly a wall dive and we see a Black Tip Reef Shark swimming below us. We enjoy watching the Giant Clam open and shut its mouth. Did you know that Giant Clams can live up to 200 years?! Lots of anemone on this dive, including the Magnificent Sea Anemone. Our divemaster points out a cool little Magnificent Chromodoris, a type of nudibranch. I see what at first appears to be a silver bullet but is actually the strange Sailor's Eyeball (a type of algae that is one of the largest single-celled organisms on the planet.) Batu Tomba (an exploration dive of the East of Satonda and just west of Katupa Point). The Dive Master Gary calls this "Gary's Expedition, Where No Man Has Ever Gone Before". This is our first low visibility dive, the waters are quite murky. Here we have our first sighting of the iconic Clown Anemone Fish. A Giant Moray eel is seen hiding under a coral head. Gary the DM taps his stick on his tank and makes the "3" signal with his hand. I can't see any creature he is pointing at until their color changes and I see it is a group of three cuttlefish hovering above the sand. Their camouflage ability is amazing, if you turn away for a second you'll have difficulty spotting them again as they can have the same texture look as the sand. The DM later notes that there were four of them and they were probably mating if they were hanging out in a group like that. Clown Anemone Fish, this photo by fellow passenger Gary Davis Sailor seen in Komodo National Park, Indonesia Castle Rock @ Gili Lawah Laut (Komodo National Park) Due to rough seas we were a day or two late getting to Komodo National Park. Gary seems anxious to get an early start to diving as there are other dive boats in the area. However getting some of the guests out of their bunks is not easy! The clichéd way to describe this dive is pretty apt, it is like diving in an aquarium. There are loads of colorful fish everywhere. Blue and Gold Fusilier, Black-Barred Squirrelfish, Giant Trevally, and Iridescent Bluefin Trevally are seen all around us. A pair of Dogfish Tuna eye potential prey. The beautiful Merten's Sea Anemone is admired, watching this anemone undulate reminds me of the movements of an octopus. Our first sea snake is seen - The Banded Sea Krait. This snake can hold its breath and search for tiny Gobi fish to snack on while swimming along the bottom. Other fish follow the snake hoping for some leftover scraps. These snakes are quite venomous so we keep our distance. I also watch the fascinating Gobi Shrimp. A pair of these shrimp share a burrow with a small Gobiid fish. The fish acts as a watch dog for the nearsighted shrimp, in turn the shrimp maintain the burrow. A Bumphead Parrot fish and lots of Moorish Idols are seen, as well as the Yellow Margin Triggerfish. A fabulous dive. Lighthouse Reef, Gili Lawah Laut (Komodo National Park) The current is ripping on this dive and I wish I had brought some gloves or a reef hook for this one. My wife sees a huge Humphead Wrasse (males can be up to 6 feet long) at a depth of 105 feet. As we pass by a pair of Titan Triggerfish, one of them lunges at my wife's face and continues to attack as we swim away. Apparently the fish were nesting and are notorious for attacking divers. As we have never done in the Indo-Pacific we were unaware of this but the English divers smiled knowingly when we told them about this later. Be careful to stay very clear of these fish as they have a quite a set of sharp teeth. I also see a small school of Humbug Dascyllus (a Three-Stripe Damsel) hiding in some branching coral. Crystal Rock @ Gili Lawah Laut (Komodo National Park) Several more pygmy seahorses are seen and the photographers in the group swarm around them like a scene out of Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". Under a coral head the DM shows us a White Tip Shark nursery, with several pups hiding under it for protection. I have to demonstrate some superb buoyancy skills and stand on my head to see them properly. The dive plan for Crystal Rock site Night Dive @ Spanish Steps (Gili Lawa Darat) This dive begins in a light rain as we board the tenders. Swarms of tiny worms follow every motion of my dive light. I see our first Crocodile Fish laying on the sandy bottom, other than that the usual crabs and a random Black Blotted Porcupine Fish are seen. Batu Bolong (Current City) in Komodo National Park Garry claims that this is Peter Hughes’s favorite dive site in the world, and the topography reminds me of a tiny Darwin's Arch (in the Galapagos). A fellow diver points out to me the white swirl of a nudibranch's eggs. I see Bubble Coral for the first time, it resembles grapes. The DM later tells me this dive is usually notorious for it’s up and down currents. Tatawa Besar East (Current City) in Komodo National Park A drift dive that shows us our first turtles (many are seen). Tatawa Kecil (Current City) in Komodo National Park The current kinda puts a damper on this dive as we have to keep switching direction, this is not too fun if you don't have a reef hook or gloves. I witness a Titan Triggerfish attack a fellow diver as he accidentally swims right over its nest, but thankfully he is o.k. Garry takes a boat out to see if there are any Giant Mantas in the area but comes back with no sightings. Night Dive at Mauan Arena, (Current City) in Komodo National Park This is a fun dive, we see lots of Anemone Hermit Crabs - these crabs will find a small Anemone and lightly tap it until it comes lose and then "wear it" as protection. One of them appears to feeding its anemone friend by handing bits of food to it with its claws. A sluggish Forskali Slug is seen as well as the Decorator Crab. One of the best dive sites of the trip, Manta Alley in Komodo. Lots of Giant Mantas under these waters! Banana Island, Nusa Kode A chilly dive but we see lots of Star Feather Dusters free swimming around us, plus the interesting Sea Apple. Southern Komodo is about the only place you can this apple-like Echinoderm. Night dive, Cannibal Rock, Rinca Komodo A young Cuttlefish is seen zapping forward to snatch an unsuspecting fish. Lots of Sea Apples are feeding themselves in the current. A Decorator Crab is hard to make out in the sand. Near the buoy line a Reef Octopus does not enjoy being surrounded by dive lights and slinks away into the depths. Manta Alley West, Langkoi Gary advises that this is most likely spot to see Giant Mantas due to the strong surge and current. This is one of the more difficult dives of the trip due to the previously mentioned surge and current. Supposedly the current will take you out to the Indian Ocean out to Australia if you are not careful. Scary stuff. As we drop down we briefly glimpse some Mantas in the distance but they disappear quickly and I figure they are easily spooked so that is it for the trip. But soon they reappear and are soaring all around us. There is a channel where you can basically swim right next to one and sway in the surge with it. Seeing these huge creatures is one of the highlights of the trip. We end up doing two dives at this spot and see lots of Mantas both times. Fabulous stuff and a fitting last dive site for the trip. Giant Manta @ Manta Alley West, Langkoi, Bali. This photo by fellow passenger Gary Davis Island Visits At Gili Lawa Darat, Gary leads some of us on what he calls a "Three Humped Camel Hill Forced March". This involves many grumbling divers struggling up a steep incline, but the views of the harbor below are fantastic so I'd recommend going for it. Not much wildlife is seen on this dry island other than a few White Bellied Fish Eagles soaring in the sky. A survivor of the forced march on top of Gili Lawa Darat in Komodo Some of the passengers of the Komodo Dancer may be considering a mutiny after the Gili Lawa Darat death march in Komodo National Park, Indonesia While the ship is anchored at Rinca, Garry recommends that we wake up at 5 a.m. to see if we can spot any wildlife on the nearby shore. Only two of us take him up on this, but are rewarded with a sighting of a wild pig and our first view of a Komodo Dragon. Garry is nice enough to take myself and the fellow British passenger to the beach in a tender so we can get a closer look. It is much more rewarding to see the dragon here in the wild then the semi-tame ones we later see on the island of Komodo. As you may know, the Komodo Dragon bite is full of deadly bacteria, so keep your distance and use a telephoto lens to take photos of any you see! Back on the Komodo Dancer an American judge in our group tells us he spoke to his wife via cell phone and the news of Sara Palin's $150,000 wardrobe 2008 election) amuses everyone. A Komodo Dragon seen on the beach of Rinca, Indonesia We are taken to the actual island of Komodo for a quick tour. The guide carries a wooden stick for defense in case of any Komodo dragon attacks but the only ones we see appear to be rather tame ones in the village. Of more interest to me is some of the birds you see on the hour long trek around the island, such as the Green Imperial Pigeon, Green Bee-eater, Drongo, and Yellow Crested Cockatoos. There is also a market in the village where you will be bombarded with offers to purchase wooden carvings from the natives. My wife picks up a pearl bracelet here. Demonstrating the Komodo dragon repelling stick on Gede, one of our divemasters from the Komodo Dancer So after a great weeks worth of diving it was time to fly back to Bali for the land based portion of our trip, see link below to continue reading... On to Part 2 Bali Land stuff Trip Report Index