Another new diver still wet behind the ears (literally) from finishing his SSI Open Water Diver certification. Mr Victor joins the Brethren of NW Bali and a greater portion of the world opens up to him. Congratulations Mr Victor.
Another joins the brethren
Or in this case continue to learn to dive.
Norbert and Nieke Wagner from Germany had previously done their SSI Scuba Diver course back in 2015 with a couple dives in between. But they chose to join the Sea Rovers Brethren to complete there SSI Open Water Diver course. Easy done, just get online, finish the theory, bit of a refresh and some new skills and finally 2 dives out at Menjangan Island, plus the final exam. Which was passed with flying colours.
Well done guys.
And if you’re wondering why our Wayan is in the photo while the captains name is on the cards. We’ll that’s because we were team teaching this time.
Your names on the next one or two even Mr Wayan.
Show yer colours, strike fear and envy into all that peek over your shoulder when you fire up yer smartphone with Pirate Flag live wallpaper.
Buy it here on Google play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app4joy.jolly_roger&hl=en
And you can download our custom flag image below. Come on hoist the Jolly Sea Rovers! Garr!
Simon and Kate are regular returning brethren to the NW Bali coast, but this is the first time we have persuaded Kate to put away her snorkel and Try Scuba diving here in Pemuteran. She did it, whether she does it again is up for debate. But she can proudly say the she Tried Scuba, and though she still prefers snorkeling at least she tried. And for that we applaud you young lady, well done.
The simple fact is diving isn’t for everyone. But if you don’t try you’ll never know. And what better place to try than Pemuteran Bay in NW Bali. Calm seas, mild currents plus an abundance of fish and coral to look at.
So come on up to the North, where the Pirates live and give it a go. You know you want to.
And Bali continues to be on high alert, we continue to look at fish. Not much else you can do, everybody is just waiting to see what happens.
For those planning to come, keep planning just be flexible. Remember the Icelandic eruption, it effected flight across Europe. You may have to land outside of Bali if the airport gets closed due to ash. But there is an Airport just across the straights from us in Banyuwangi East Java. Its actually closer than Denpasar. Same goes for those in Bali, There are plans in place for get you home if the airport closes.
For me, I’m here, waiting to see what happens. Be assured though that the Pirates of Pemuteran are all safe and well. We’ll keep you up to date if anything new happens.
Meanwhile this has been a good source of info, bit sensationalised on occasion but not the worse I have seen http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/859280/Bali-volcano-update-Mount-Agung-eruption-latest-seismic-graphs-news-maps-warnings-live
You may have heard in the news that Bali is under highest alert for a volcano eruption. Mount Agung is 60 miles/96.5 km away from us here in Pemuteran with a range of mountains in-between, so we are safe here.
They have evacuated over 10,000 people from the area close to the volcano. These are some of the poorest villages in Bali, and many in our diving industry are affected too because Tulamben is shut down and reports from Amed state that many of the tourists have left (even though Amed is outside the evacuation zone).
Here at Sea Rovers, it’s business as usual. If you are traveling to Bali in the next few weeks, keep a close eye on the news and stay in touch with your airline or travel agent.
If you want maximum bottom time, a shore dive is the way to go. No set schedule to follow, little to no current to worry about, easy to navigate and nearly impossible to get lost. My friend Linda was visiting from Texas, and we got to talking about what our longest dive was. Both of us had several dives that went longer than 2 hours, but we decided to challenge ourselves to make it to 3 hours.
To accomplish this, we needed to stay relatively shallow and not do too much swimming. Mucky Pirates Bay here in Pemuteran is perfect. You can spend an entire dive exploring under the pier. There are also nearby mooring bases and piles of debris that have their own little ecosystems—a macro photographer’s dream.
After helping us in the water with our gear & cameras, we told the Sea Rovers shore support crew not to expect us back for at least 2.5 hours (I don’t think they completely believed us, but they smiled and waved us on our way). It was low tide and there was limited visibility, so it was a good thing we didn’t plan to venture too far from shore. Because of the particles in the water, the dive wasn’t particularly fruitful photographically. We saw several morays, pipefish, lionfish, and the usual cleaner shrimp and anemone crabs. But here is my favorite shot of the day
Here’s the proof – 30 feet (10 metres) for 180 minutes
So, if you love long slow dives with lots of interesting critters, be sure to check out Mucky Pirates Bay with the Pirates of Sea Rovers. Maybe you too can log your longest dive ever and beat my record.
The starry moray is one of my favorite eels because of the bright yellow eyes
While shooting the shrimp, the moray suddenly stuck out his head
One of several lionfish under the pier
One of many pipefish we saw
Look for these in anemones if the clownfish will let you get close enough
Huutan & Samy getting presented with there SSI Deep Diver Specialty badge by Wayan. Not only is this there first time deep diving but it is also Wayan’s first time teaching SSI Deep Diving Specialty to students.
So congratulations to everyone is in order. Well done guys.
But now it doesn’t need to be so lonely, a mangrove can have friends visit and at the same time enjoy one of the newly installed ‘Selfie Swings’ of Pemuteran. Because, why not?
Easy to find at the entrance to Pemuteran Bay, just by Pura Dalam and the Glass Houses. Its also a great location to romantically swing and watch the sunset. Course there are only two so you might have to wait your turn.
The second swing is further down the coast above, and on land, next to the ‘Underwater Temple Garden’ a leisurely stroll along the beach to the small hills West of the Bay. You’ll find it at the point of the peninsula.
So lets see those twitter/instagram/facebook/G+ posts #selfieswingpemuteran
More newbies descend into the deep as Naomi & Sophie take their first breath of pure dry filtered air on their SSI Try Dive course with Captain Paul.
The two new fishies dived into ‘Mucky Pirates Bay’ all flappy and excited but returned more excited but less flappy as they learned the ways of the SCUBA on their SSI Try Dive.
So why don’t you come on down, learn the ways of the SCUBA with the Captain and Sea Rovers crew? Come on you know you want too 😉
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