Scuba diving in the warm, crystal clear waters of Gili Trawangan, was simply superb. The course took just 3 days and we were under by Day 2! My dive buddy was 32-year-old Mark from Scotland and our instructor – Swedish-born Ronnie. Ronnie was fantastic; a high-school drop-out from a poor family who left home at 16 to follow his own path in life. He is self-taught in several fields and is clearly very intelligent. Once he found his way to Gili T 6 years prior, he logged over 2,000 dives, making him very adept at depth. He is also very patient – an appreciative trait for a diving instructor to have.
Scottish-bred Mark brought a calm and relaxed disposition to the team, and was a great buddy to learn with. His fiancé originally joined us, but once her asthma flared up, she thought it best not to risk death. It hindsight I actually think it was better that there were just two of us newbies, as a larger group would have taken longer to get down and under.
The course itself was amazingly chilled. You have the option to start whenever you please, and can choose to do it over either 3 or 4 days. On Day 1 we went over a bit of theory (which really just involves watching some training DVDs) and then straight into the pool with full Scuba gear! The exam was just before the final dive (which we both aced with 98%).
I love the feeling of being able to breathe underwater. As a child I was constantly trying to figure out how to achieve this. The closest I ever got was sitting on the swimming pool floor covered in rocks with a bucket over my head.
Communicating underwater using sign language is also huge fun. More so is achieving neutral buoyancy (weightlessness), which essentially allows you to gently fly / glide through the water with minimal effort. On top of all that is the abundant marine life! Indonesian fish do not yet consider humans as natural enemies, meaning that you can glide right up to them and have a staring contest. This happened with a White-Tipped Reef Shark, several turtles, Moray Eels, Clown Fish, Angel Fish, Trigger Fish, Parrot Fish, Wrasse, octopuses and many, many more. Unfortunately I wasn’t lucky enough to see any Cuttlefish or Giant Manta Rays cruising in the distance. Maybe next time.
And the corals! Nearly the entire ocean floor was decorated in these ancient coral forests of varying shapes, colours and sizes. You could camp under some of them they were so massive. I have never seen anything quite like it.
We logged four different dives during our course, with each one being in a different underwater environment. Scuba skills are practiced throughout and I really feel well-taught and ready to take on the icy waters of Cape Town! I’ve heard legends of a shipwreck off the Capetonian coast which rests at 18 meters (which is how deep you can go with an Open Waters qualification).
Exploring wrecks is something else. We saw one on our final dive – this huge, ship-shaped figure, which slowly came into view as we glided closer towards it. Big gaping holes indicated its fate, and its surface has been claimed entirely by the ocean. It was quite spooky but brilliant. Unfortunately, exploring the inside of wrecks requires specialist training.
I still can’t believe that this was my second to last night in Indonesia. I was in proper holiday mode, so decided to spend my last few days beaching, surfing, reading and sunset gazing. What an experience it has all been.
Next: Indonesia 2013: Happy Ending
Previously: Indonesia 2013: Land of the Lotus Eaters
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