It’s been a busy 3 months and there is a lot to report from marine life sightings to resort developments and our latest Pro news and even a presidential visit! Here’s what’s been happening at your favourite Two Fish Divers Resorts and Dive Centres across Indonesia
Diving and Resort Highlights from Around Indonesia
Bali
Nusa Lembongan:
It’s been a busy time on Nusa Lembongan for dive training with courses for all levels from Discover Scuba Diving through to 7 Divemaster candidates and though May and June we had our PADI Instructor Development Course in which all of our candidates passed and became PADI Instructors in Bali – including two who are now based at Two Fish Divers Amed taking their Instructor internships!
The mola season is now on around Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida in Bali
We’ve welcomed onboard our team in Lembongan, two instructors, Valerii and Tom, whose linguistic abilities mean we can now offer in English, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and German!
Marine life sightings – especially big fish sightings have been incredible with the mola season now starting and we had a phenomenal dive at Sampalan on Nusa Penida where our divers were treated to hammerhead sharks! It was a beautiful sunny day, so visibility was good and we noticed them from a depth of around 20m, we dropped down to take a closer look and our divers were thrilled – and we have pictures to prove it – it was an epic Nusa Penida dive!
Hammerhead sightings in Nusa Lembongan were a huge highlight for these lucky divers
Of course, Nusa Lembongan wouldn’t be a tropical island paradise in Indonesia without its stunning evening sunsets, friendly locals and full moon parties where the whole island gets together to celebrate, dance and have fun at the beach!
Amed:
In preparation for what is shaping up to be a very exciting high season across Indonesia, our accommodation at Amed as been completely redesigned and renovated! Our rooms now offer even more comfort for a good night’s sleep after a day of diving.
We’ve been having incredible dives around our Amed dive sites and, of course on the famous WWII Liberty shipwreck in Tulamben. Following the PADI IDC in Lembongan, we are also joined by two new instructors who are getting to experience “real life” as a diving instructor during their Two Fish Diver Instructor internships!
The USAT Liberty wreck in Tulamben has been delivering some epic dives and marine life sightings
Are you thinking of becoming a diving instructor and taking your PADI IDC in Bali? Our next IDC in Amed will be in September and follows this schedule:
9th – 10th: IDC Preparation
11th – 24th: IDC and EFR Instructor training
25th – 26th: PADI Instructor Exams
27th – 28th: PADI MSDT Training
Did you know that all of our Two Fish IDC’s in Indonesia now include free yoga classes and introductions to freediving? Find out more here!
Sanur:
Our Sanur base has been as busy as ever taking divers who are staying in South Bali (Kuta, Legian, Sanur, Seminyak, Benoa and Nusa Dua) to all of Bali’s best dive sites including Padang Bai, Nusa Penida, Tulamben and Amed. We’ve had incredible marine life sightings at all locations from big fish through to an array of critters.
Our next IDC in Bali will be at our Sanur base and includes yoga and freediving
Sanur is perfectly located for exploring Bali and for travelling onwards to other areas of Indonesia including Nusa Lembongan, Gili Air and Lombok. It’s easier than ever to visit numerous locations with our “Four Square Safari“!
If you can’t wait for our Amed IDC we have our next IDC in Bali in Sanur in August – check the dates and find out more here!
North Sulawesi
Bunaken:
The last 3 months have flown by in North Sulawesi and on Bunaken Island we have been enjoying tropical sunshine, sunny days and DIVING! Our 3 dogs, Cosmo, Simba and Fixit have really got a dog’s life here on Pangalisang Beach and they sure know it!
In May the Bunaken IDC was in full swing with our Course Director Restuning Sandini guiding 3 Divemasters through the steps of the PADI Instructor Development Course, to prepare them for the Instructor Exam, the big wide world of diving and teaching the PADI way. Dive Manager Colin joined the IDC to continue his career up the ladder to Staff Instructor and to refresh and improve his own knowledge and skills. With crystal clear water, hundreds of coral and fish species and flat conditions most of the year, Bunaken is a paradise location in Indonesia for trying diving for the first time or becoming an instructor and every step in between.
Green turtle and hawksbill turtle sightings have been impressing our divers in Bunaken
Bunaken National Park was blessed with a visit from a family of Orcas in June, which we were lucky enough to spend our surface interval watching and following. We often see Dolphins while we are out diving or on our early morning Dolphin tours and Whales are occasionally spotted in the park as they migrate north or south following the seasons. Along with cetaceans and mammals, including Dugongs, the waters around Bunaken are a hotspot for Green and Hawksbill turtles. The last 3 months, on some dive sites, we have been seeing 10-20+ turtles during a single dive as they swim up for air in the blue water or try to find the best shelf on the wall to relax and rest. All of our guests this year have been blown away by the number of encounters we get each and every day. If you love turtles as much as us then Bunaken is the destination for you.
Jokowi, the President of Indonesia visited North Sulawesi and made a trip to Bunaken Island during his stay
July brought the President of Indonesia and the locals were buzzing when Jokowi visited Bunaken Village. With smiles and selfies, he spoke to many people about local problems and seemed sincere when he promised to come back soon. PADI Women’s day fell on the 20th and Tina was ecstatic to be teaching one of our office staff, Yuli, how to dive. Not only that but, with the help of Instructor Maia, Divemaster Trainee Heidi and Divemaster Wilfried, the other office girls and one of our guests all got to try diving in the pool, some for the first time ever! Well done to Nona, Gia, Suzi, Seli and Uta for giving it a go and thanks to the team for getting more women blowing bubbles.
Let’s hope the next 3 months bring more exciting events above and below the surface but you have to be here to see it for yourself.
Lembeh:
The last three months have been packed with exciting times at Two Fish Lembeh, from our new relaxing area through to critter hopping dives as we see some of Lembeh’s most iconic species hiding in plain sight. Marine life highlights have included mimic octopus, ghost pipefishes, hairy frogfish, an array of nudibranch and the rhinopias are back with not one but two individuals taking up resident at our dive sites!
An array of marine life has been in the limelight in Lembeh
On our house reef, mandarinfish have been spotted recently, even in the morning, as well as many nudibranchs and juvenile barramundi cods. With the artificial reef and the coral areas, we have a great dive site right in front of the resort.
Our relaxing area is proving to be a huge success with guests – this new area faces the ocean and features hammocks, sunloungers, beanbags and a book exchange library. It’s a great place for chilling out and watching the sunset with a cold beer or sundowner after diving.
Our new standup paddleboard is a great way to explore the Strait from the surface
The café area has been improved with comfortable seats and a new cocktail list featuring “Nudi Gin” (Gin Tonic with a hint of lime from our garden), “Frofishroska”(Lembeh´s style Caïpiroska) and delicious “Cuba Libre” for the after dive evenings.
For those who’d like to be active (or not) and explore the Lembeh Strait from the surface, we now have a standup paddleboard which is a great activity to enjoy in the afternoons if you are not diving or on dry days. Check out this blog for more information.
Our critters are not just found underwater in Lembeh and this month we have been woken-up by tarsier monkeys calling from the jungle! We´ll try to record them very soon.
Tariser monkeys have been calling from the jungle behind our Two Fish Divers Resort
On June 8th, we organized a Project AWARE Dive Against Debris to improve the quality of our House Reef and to send the data we collected to Project AWARE. We also had the pleasure of having Meera (who begun her PADI Open Water course in Bunaken and finished it in Lembeh) with us and also Heidi who began her Divemaster Internship in Lembeh before completing it in Bunaken.
Finally, we welcomed Virginia and Richard in May who have replaced Rachel and Gregor as Resort and Diving Managers – A big Two Fish Divers welcome to the team!
Lombok
Gili Air:
As the summer months approach us, here on Gili Air, it is beautiful and sunny – just as it always is throughout the year. This year in March, our Two Fish Divers dive center hosted our very first PADI Instructor Development Course with our newly anointed Course Director, Unieng, the first female Indonesian to achieve such a prestigious level of teaching in the PADI system. Big congratulation to our two new instructors, George and Phil – welcome to the world of DIving Instructors!
Our Two Fish PADI IDC in Gili Air was a big success
Did you know that Gili Air is a very cultural island as well as a diving (and turtle) hotspot? In May, we observed the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and our entire Gili Air team supported our local staff by observing the month-long fasting also known as Sawm. Fasting is a challenge when you are diving every day, but together we supported one another to uphold this religious belief.
Turtles are one of our favourite sightings in Gili Air and they are not in short supply!
In June, we celebrated the month-long Menggawe Festival which pays homage to local crafts, traditions, culture and foods which are indigenous to this region. It was incredible to experience the sounds of the drum parade, the intensity of traditional stick fighting, and the spiciness of many local foods prepared by the local chefs. Other events included the Gili Air Triathalon and ending the celebrations was a 24-hour beach party with live music provided by international DJ’s.
South Lombok
Hammerhead season is here!! We are currently enjoying epic dives at our dive sites in the Belongas Bay region. The Magnet and Cathedral dive sites have been delivering excellent sightings even though the season is just getting underway. Have you dived with hammerheads? Find out more about our exhilarating hammerhead dives here!
For those who are keen to explore the stunning South Gili’s (or secret Gili’s), the sites have been packed with critters, reef fish and passing pelagics – this is a showcase of the sheer diversity of Mother Nature.
Great and schooling scalloped hammerhead sharks are a highlight of Magnet in Belongas Bay
We have also been busy with the launch of our new boat!! Our new fiberglass dive boat is purpose-built and fitted out with comfortable seating and plenty of space so you can travel to dive sites in style while relaxing along the way!
As Lombok’s reputation as an incredible holiday and diving location continues to grow it’s now even easier to get here with new boat services from Bali and Air Asia are now flying direct from Perth Australia! Check out how to combine diving in Lombok with other areas of Indonesia with a Two Fish “Four Square Safari”!
As you can see, it’s been an action packed 3 months at all of our resorts in Indonesia and our diving continues to flourish year after year. As the most popular time for diving in Indonesia approaches we are geared up and ready to welcome you to all of our Two Fish locations and look forward to meeting you soon.
For more information about any of our Dive Resorts and Dive Centres, or to make a reservation, please fill in the contact form below and we will get right back to you.
Happy diving and we look forward to blowing bubbles with you in Indonesia!
