I Went Diving!
Yup, I finally did it. My son and I were to go diving about a month ago. However, we were so happy with our location and villa that we didn’t. Not wanting to lose my deposit I rescheduled the diving and headed up to Amed Bali once more.
Since we were looking at some land to put cabins on, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and see the land. More on that later. Heading up to Amed with friends was fun but not as much fun as riding up there on a scooter. There is just so much more to see and feel being on the open road. As luck would have it, we were very lucky to have been in a car because it was pouring rain for most of the trip up to Amed. We stopped at the Lotus Restaurant in Candidasa topped on food, coffee, water, and headed up to Amed.
I Fell in Love With Amed
As I mentioned in other blogs about Amed, it is as old as Bali is to me. Beautiful views, not completely taken over by villas and cluster homes. It is nice, quiet and very green. The clouds come and go, and the small-town vibe is real.
I was here for diving and diving we will go.
Not knowing what to expect, not knowing what I was doing, I figured this would be easy. Well, once the instructor explained the safety requirements and told us about the equipment, things got real. Quickly I realized this was not like snorkeling. This was far more intense. I had to learn something so I could stay alive. It was a short chat with lots of information and kinda woke me up.
The Dive.
Well, I am a Pisces, a fish, I am supposed to like water, right? I don’t really, I am not a great swimmer so maybe going underwater is more my thing. Once we got suited up with our wetsuit and gear; we headed into the water. First, we had to balance ourselves without ballasts and air and then came the hard part.
Okay, I was panicking a little, just a little at this point!
Once I was underwater with the mouthpiece things got very real. It was this weird combination of breathing in and out and thinking you cannot breathe in again. Not sure if this was only my feeling or if other beginners also experienced this. However, this was weird. It was like when you hold your breath for a long time and breathe out… Then have a hard time catching your breath, but you don’t. The air is there for you to breathe. This went on and on for about 5 min and I was ready to call it quits. I was in panic mode. The instructor calmed me down and said it was normal. I snorkeled a bit and got better.
For me, the sound of the bubbles, the dryness of your mouth, there is no saliva being built up. It was all very weird. The combination of it all was a strange experience.
Once I got used to it things were okay. Unfortunately, Amed is not a place of beauty when it comes to undersea life. Much of the coral is dead in the area we were in. Nevertheless, I did my first dive and maybe once I go to a nicer environment, I will enjoy the next dive a little bit more.
