Far from winding down at the end of the year, Two Fish Tech instructors Jake and Yvonne have been busy looking for new tech dive sites off South Lombok … and they had a belter of a week with plenty of pelagics spotted and new reefs dived.
Mola-Mola, schooling pelagics and eerie underwater landscapes
Checking out the stunning sea cliffs towering above the Outer Sekotong reefs, few divers would not get excited about what lies beneath. The incredibly shaped rocks continue and there are large boulders strewn across the sloping reef which continues to 50 m and then drops further.
The highlight, however, are the pelagic species turning up here between 30 and 45 m (and likely deeper – we have yet to check that out): whilst the Mola-Molas (click to view the video) were definitely the main act of this trip, there were also plenty of tuna, giant trevallies and olive sea snakes to be seen.
And, when there are breaks in between the action in the blue, it’s time to check out the soft coral topping the boulders. These reefs are undived and unspoilt, so the coral is in great condition.
Tempting swimthroughs
A bit of trim and buoyancy practice anyone? These swim-throughs are a perfect playground. Taking a look at the rock formations above the water and the boulders below, there may even be more of a cavern system here. The swim-throughs we
explored are large enough for tech equipment and just about small and windy enough to make you think about propulsion techniques.
Endless potential for CCR divers
All of our exploration dives yielded close encounters with pelagic species … and they were done on open circuit, in Sidemount configuration. Imagine the encounters CCR divers could have here! As untouched as the reefs are, mola-molas, giant trevallies and sea snakes did not seem disturbed by divers’ bubbles at all. But take away the bubbles and there is a real chance of having not only close encounters, but also close-up photographs.
When can you join us?
These reefs can be easily reached from our Sekotong base and are perfect to dive during low season. Our next tech trip to the area runs from 17 to 21 March 2019 and combines can accommodate both open circuit and CCR divers. We can also start another trip after 24 March. After that, we’ll be going back for tech diving trips in November 2019.
On each occasion, we will be starting on Sekotong’s inner reefs with ‘shakedown’ dives, before moving on to the Outer Reefs for at least two days and then also diving Belongas Bay’s unspoilt pinnacles. Five days will simply fly by and each trip will be limited to a maximum of four divers, accompanied by two guides.
To be part of our tech trips in South Lombok as an open circuit tech diver, you need to be qualified to a minimum of 45 m with unlimited deco (TDI Advanced Nitrox & Deco Procedures or PADI Tec 45, for example). As a CCR diver, you need to be at least an air diluent deco diver.
How do you get to South Lombok?
Sekotong is easily reached either by flying into Bali airport and taking a fast boat transfer or by flying into Lombok airport and transfering by car. We will base ourselves at the Two Fish / DiveZone Sekotong centre and Villa Pao-Pao allowing us to launch on our door step most days.
For more information about South Lombok tech diving trips, drop us an email here. To find out more about recreational diving in the area which is available year-round, click here.
