Turtle Paradise! That’s exactly what divers can expect while diving in Gili Air. Every time we take new divers to our favorite dive sites we can see their smile underwater when they watch the green sea turtles or the hawksbill turtles living around the three Gilis.
Especially last week Alex and Alice did successfully their Open Water Course with us and they were super happy to see the green sea turtles relaxing and eating at our beautiful reefs. Did you know that the diet of green turtles changes with their age? Juveniles are carnivorous, eating, for example, fish eggs, worms or jellyfish, where most adults are strictly herbivorous. By consuming plants such as algae or seagrasses, the green sea turtle gets its green shell, as well as its name. Equally fascinating is the symbiosis in which the turtles live with reef fish such as Remoras or yellow tang fish. This interaction provides food for the reef fish and at the same time a necessary cleaning and smoothing of the turtle’s shell.
Yesterday a Brazilian couple explored the underwater world with us in the context of a Discover Scuba Dive and observed this symbiotic teamwork with excitement. After watching the various green sea turtles, we were lucky to discover a hawksbill turtle in the shallow coral reef at the end of our dive. These turtles got their name from their beak-like mouth and unlike green sea turtles, they have darker, dirtier looking shells that change their color slightly at different temperatures. Did you know that hawksbills are highly resilient to their prey? It’s because some of the sponges they eat make their flesh toxic for other animals. In addition to all these fascinating creatures and survival strategies, which we observe daily underwater, the Gilis offers optimal conditions for courses or Fun Dives. This way you can discover the underwater world and enjoy diving without much current, good visibility, and very warm temperatures.
Most of our guests from the last days have still some time left on their journeys so hopefully, they’re addicted to the underwater world now and tell their friends and family about all the amazing turtles.
We’re super happy especially when we see that our new divers are comfortable and happy underwater. So let us teach you from Discover Scuba Diving all the way up to Divemaster.
Happy bubbles and see you soon in Gili Air!
