The second leg of my Divemaster journey was spent in the South Lombok location. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I got there, most of what I had heard about the location had certainly given me a bit of trepidation about making it my second choice. It seemed like every time someone mentioned South Lombok it was: “it’s really slow there right now,” “it’s extremely remote,” “the dives are really intense.”

As it turned out just about everything I heard about the area ended up being the truth, but I think most of it was true in a positive way. The remoteness really gave me an opportunity to see a more rural side of the Indonesian culture, and the intense dives gave me an opportunity to work on my dive skill, and experience a more technical dive environment, as most of my diving history had been done in fairly benign conditions.
The slowness was a bit of a letdown for me, obviously since it was low season for the center, there wasn’t a lot of customers for me to guide, but it gave me a chance to work on the more studious areas of my divemaster program. I would love to go back during their busy season and experience it all again, but the chance to dive in Belongas bay was an enlightenment for me.

All in all I really enjoyed my time with Jake and the South Lombok crew, diving, relaxing, eating great food, and watching spectacular sunrises every single day. The next stop is Lembongan, and although I will miss the guys in Lombok, I’m looking forward to seeing a glimpse of civilization again.