On Sunday morning, Danielle and I took our first solo side trips and I head towards the Gili Islands, while she stayed in Ubud before venturing south to Balangan Beach.
I got picked up from the Delicious Onion around 7am then we headed to Padang Bai, the departure point for all boats heading to the Gili’s. The boat ride over was quite nice, relatively smooth and took around an hour and a half.
I arrived on Gili Trawangan and hopped in my taxi, a cart and horse. There are no cars or motorbikes on the Gili’s, so the only mode of transportation is walking, bikes or the cart and horse. Gili Trawangan is insanely beautiful and is surrounded by clear, aqua/turquoise waters.
(boat to Gilis; Gili Trawangan; Gili T Taxi)
After I checked into my room at The Beach House and had some lunch, I was wandering around checking everything out when I passed by the Blue Marlin Dive shop.
I wanted to dive while I was in the Gili’s, but I hadn’t planned on getting PADI certified until Thailand (where it was cheaper and I had more time). I spoke with the owner who convinced me since I’d done three explorer dives in Australia, I could hop into the class that started that morning and I’d be certified by Tuesday.
Done. Trip on Gili T extended a night.
We did a few minutes of skills in the pool and then the boat left for our first dive. Our first dive was at Halik Reef. Excellent visibility and we saw 4 turtles (including a green one). The very first one we saw, I raced away from the group and up to swim next to the turtle (which kind of frowned upon in scuba diving but I was soooo excited, I forgot). We also saw a school of snappers, a bunch of triggerfish, Moorish idols and clown fish.
After our dive, I caught up on the theory I missed that morning while enjoying a Bintang by the water.
