Bail 2023 –ramblings and photos

[MarkP]

Some great slug action - thanks for the pictures and write up.

[Divemouse]

I think your last photo from Melasti is a shelled mollusc with an over mantle (like a cowrie) if that's any help?

[londonsean69]

I think your last photo from Melasti is a shelled mollusc with an over mantle (like a cowrie) if that's any help?

That was a lot of help! I was being lazy last night and didn't dig out the books, but it appears to be Staphylaea limacina (slug-like cowrie).
Thank you

[Dave1w]

Spent a lot of time diving there when I lived in Indo. Took a while to get comfortable with the ladies carrying a JJ on their head and bailout under their arm, until you got to the point you wanted them to just carry you as well!

[Tim Digger]

Thanks Sean always like your pics of macro. Particularly the tiny juvenile frogfish. I am condemned to land photos these days but just been in Dolomites some excellent Photo ops.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/2j9jr5b

[smileydiver]

Great photos and write up thank you! The shore entries at Tulamben wouldn't be for me but the critters look great!

[londonsean69]

Great photos and write up thank you! The shore entries at Tulamben wouldn't be for me but the critters look great!

Honestly, they were enough to put wifey off doing a third dive most afternoons. when (not if) you stack it, you then end up getting hit by the waves, although we were experiencing an onshore wind which made it worse. The first few days were flat calm, which made staggering in a lot easier.

The macro sites still had some pebbles, but they were smaller, with a lot more sand.

You can also do boat dives, where they load the boat on shore and push it in, which makes life a lot easier, as the porters have put the kit on the boat. They are, however, Jukungs, which are the local outrigger fishing boats, so pretty compact on board

We did contemplate upping sticks after a few days of wind, and going south to Padang Bai which is a sandy beach entry, but stuck with Tulamben and just did the macro sites more often.

[Allan Carr]

The dive centre we dived with at Tulamben were very good. They carried all the kit down and we put it on and took it off in the water. Fortunately, we didn't have very rough conditions to deal with.

[greatwhite]

Hi, nice report. I revisited the Matahari last October which I did enjoy, but for sure the town was even more quiet from my previous visit and restaurants had closed down with little choice of where to eat in the evening's. We did however find a very nice warung opposite the Matahari entrance we would enjoy our lunches at. It's also a shame that the blacktips are no longer around. Value for money I think Tulamben for diving is very good. Nusa Lembongan is my preferred destination of the two which I plan to do in 2024 again.

[greatwhite]

Oh and a decent pair of wetsuit boots and good balance are needed for walking over those pebbles especially when the seas are more choppy and you are exiting the sea holding onto the rope at the Matahari.