The tiny, uninhabited island of Menjangan is situated in the protected marine reserve of Bali Barat National Park. It is known to be one of Indonesia’s best dive sights. Although it is just off Bali, it is actually a part of Java. To get there from Permuteran, we drove 7 or 8 kilometres to a small inlet and then took a boat from there.

It was a cloudy day and as soon as we got out of the protected bay area, we found ourselves heading into very rough waters. The boat, which was very flat and made from wood, was soon shipping water. We were relieved when the Captain decided it was too dangerous to go any further.

The next day, we tried again. This time, success! The sea was calm with not a wave in sight. We dived off a ledge to a depth of 12 metres and were treated to a tour of an incredibly diverse and pristine coral garden. Of course, there were lots of fish, too, often passing in big shoals, but the plant life was really the star with giant clams and massive sea fans (not sure ‘sea fan’ is a technical term but it’s the best I can come up with!)  A ‘Balinese’ style packed lunch was provided –  veggie fried rice and a couple of Rambutan, if you haven’t tried them, you must – they are delicious. A spiky red ball which peels away easily to reveal a single white fruit, not unlike a lychee, which we ate sitting round on the beach. In the afternoon, we moved round the island and did another, equally good dive.

As soon as we got back to Permuteran, we signed up to complete our PADI open water certificate. Our teacher was a lovely, laid back local called Kadek Suparma from YOS dive in Permuteran. For those of you who read our blog in Martinique, you may recall that we had to abandon our PADI diving course in Grand Anse after David had problems with his ears.

The following day, we went into the shallow waters off the beach at Permuteran with Kadek and did a few training exercises designed to up our confidence in the water. As a contact lens wearer, I was nervous about filling my mask up with water and then blowing it clear again, but I kept my eyes squeezed shut and it went okay. That evening, we spent a few hours swotting up on the diving theory, in preparation for an exam at the end of the course. It was all a bit ‘sciencey’ for me, with lots of charts and tables to learn, and I’m nervous I’m going to mess it up.

The next day, we set off for Mengangan Island again, and did our final two dives. In the morning we went down to 18 metres, which is the deepest we are allowed to go at this stage in our training. Unfortunately the visibility was poor, and we didn’t get such a good view of the coral. However, I found I was much more confident about moving around under the water and was starting to enjoy the sensation of weightlessness and stop worrying all the time that my eardrums/lungs are going to burst!

During our picnic lunch, we discovered what Menjangan means – deer. The island is home to the rare Java rusan deer. Apart from the deer, the island is uninhabited – except for sixteen Hindu monks. We saw a few deer but we didn’t see any monks.

After the dive, it was back to the classroom, to do our exam. David did better than me – and delighted in rubbing my nose in it, as usual – but happily we both passed!

It’s official., as of today, we’re qualified PADI open water divers – yay! We plan to do  some more diving as we continue our travels.

P.S. A second achievement of the day – we’ve completed Dry January without touching a drop!