Underwater Storm in Nusa Lembongan?

The short video above was taken in Sakenan, a dive site in Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia about ten days ago. The current was very strong that day! As soon as we descended, we basically had to crawl from one point to another. Omigod!! I could even feel the strong current ‘slapping’ on my face from time to time. Wow, that wasn’t an easy dive!

The three of us (me, the dive master and an Indonesian friend who works in The Netherlands), had to hold on to big rocks all the time and tried to move from one big rock to another rocks slowly, following the current. There’s no point to swim against it because we’re just going to waste our energy and air consumption.

If you watched the video, you might notice how strong the current was. Sorry if the video was unstable, because I recorded only using one hand, while the other hand holding hard to a big rock in my left side! That time, I was basically “hiding” behind that big rock, waiting until the current got calmer. But… errmm… it never happened!

Sakenan is actually a nice dive site, despite the exhilarating current rides. Thus, it’s recommended for experienced divers. The corals are rich and can be enjoyed in a shallow depth, too. Meaning? It’s great for snorkeling!
Honestly, ten minutes being underwater in Sakenan, I thought, “Ok, this is a bit dangerous. Maybe we should ascend soon”. But, we survived :). We dove for more than 50 minutes, however, we stayed in a shallow area. I couldn’t really pay attention to the small critters, because the three of us had to deal with the strong current. At the end of the dives, we were practically only drifting.. along with the strong current! It felt like flying above miles of beautiful corals. Very nice, indeed. A mixed sensation of adrenalin pumping and enjoyable sightings.

Just before the safety stop, the dive master popped out the sausage, so that our boat would know our location. On the boat, the dive master from Bali Marine Sport asked me, “How was the fly?” “Amazing. Thank you”, I replied with a big smile on my face.

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