Half an hour off the coast of Sanur is an island called Nusa Lembongan. The first hurdle to cross once I’d decided to visit the island was choosing which boat to take. Things we take for granted in the U.K. such as lifejackets and life rafts are not fitted as standard here. Should I risk the small local boat and hope for a calm crossing or pay three times the price to an operator with a larger boat and a better safety record?

I opted for the latter and went for Rocky Cruises.  I’m glad I did – the sea outside the reef was surprisingly rough and a smaller boat would have struggled. Even so, the boat ride got off to an unusual start. We all had to roll up our trousers and wade out to the boat. This is because there’s no pier or jetty. However much you pay, there’s no getting round the fact – everyone has to wade. Fortunately, the crew carry the bags aboard . It’s quite a sight to see them load three suitcases onto their head and wade out into the sea.

My first sight of the landing beach at Jungut Batu was exciting. The sea was crystal clear and the beach was pure white sand. Once off the boat, we were met by Kecho and Endra, the staff from the villa we had rented on AirBnB. They shouldered our bags and lead us a short walk up the hill to the villa.

Villa Aman is positioned on a hill looking over the bay. It’s a bit more ‘high end’ than our usual choice – since we only have a couple of days before Oscar goes back to Japan, I wanted to make it special. There’s a ground floor with a pool and a deck. Upstairs, there’s an open plan living space with a jaw dropping view. As I type, I am looking across the bay to the East coast of Bali and beyond to Mount Agung. I am pleased to report that there’s no sign of volcanic activity!

Lebongan isn’t quite the getaway from it all island paradise I expected – infact, it’s surprisingly busy, with lots of restaurants and hotels and guesthouses. However, as soon as you get away from the main tourist areas, you see a different, more rural side to the island. Labongan is best known for its seaweed production.

As a tourist destination, the main attraction is the surfing. There are three main breaks, all of them out on the reef – Playgrounds, Lacerations and Shipwrecks. The names give a clue to the kind of surfing it is!  A bit beyond beginners like us, I think, but all the same, it’s great fun to sit and watch the surfers waiting to catch the wave. I’ve noticed a few boards flipping up into the air – ‘dinging’ your board seems to be an occupational hazard when you surf the reef.

Diving and snorkelling are also big draws.  Yesterday, David and I took a boat out to the neighbouring island of Nusa Penida and made two dives on the South of the island (Oscar opted to stay home as he was rather sunburnt!)  Like Manjangan Island where we did out PADI Open Water qualification, the underwater scenery is spectacular. Unfortunately, the water was too rough to dive on the North of the island, where we could have spotted Manta Rays, but we still had an excellent time. It was great to put the lessons we’d learnt on our PADI course into practice.

There are very few private cars on the island, but there plenty of scooters and a few jeeps which act like taxis. Last night, just before sunset, we took a jeep to Mushroom Beach, a gorgeous beach about ten minutes drive away. We went to a restaurant on the sand called Bali Hai. It was lovely to sit and watch the sun go down. It’s the second spectacular sunset we’ve seen since we got here. Whether it’s this island, or whether we are beginning to move out of rainy season, I don’t know, but this is the sunniest and driest part of our holiday on Bali.

Sadly, Oscar is catching the last ferry back to the mainland this afternoon and will fly back to Tokyo tonight (David and I are here ’til tomorrow). I know I’ll be sad when we wave him off from the beach, but at least I can console myself with the thought that we’ll always have Nusa Lembongan.