After a week at Matahari diving, I decided to change things up a bit in Indonesia. A diving friend has been posting his photos from Padang Bai, Indonesia. I wanted to try out the diving there. It is about a 2hr drive from Matahari. And, I also wanted to return to the island of Gili Air, where I first felt my 'Happy Place' in 2017. (More on Gili Air in the next Blog)
I like to make things easy for myself, so I asked the same friend for a recommendation on a place to stay. He suggested Harmony Guest House. They call them Guest Houses here, but they are small no-frill hotels. It was nice, with free breakfast, which is pretty common here. My room was ok. But I'm not sure how I was supposed to use the fan, or the mosquito net. HaHa Thankfully it also had A/C, so I didn't need the fan.
My room had a large (shared) balcony. One morning I had a visit from 3 Monkeys. They didn't stay long.
I have never been to Padang Bai before, except to get the Ferry to Gili. And I found that I really liked the little town of Padang Bai. It is a Port, so it is busy morning and afternoon because many many tourist boats leave there for the Gili Islands, Lombok, Nusa Penida, and probably other places, also bigger commercial ships.
But in the evenings is very quiet. Actually during the day it isn't really noisy. It has a lot of narrow (what we would call 'alleys') that are used as roads for the many motor scooters and walkers. It is very easy to walk around and you don't have to worry about so much traffic because cars can't use the alleys. I liked that. Those bamboo containers are chicken 'houses'...with chickens in them. Don't ask, yes there were roosters, but they didn't bother me.
In my wanderings I found a place that was grilling whole fresh fish. This is a special treat for me, I hardly ever see it. They have made a hinged 'basket' out of Chicken Wire ... genius. The long fish is a Barracuda.
I had the Red Snapper, and it was cooked perfectly: butter, garlic, turmeric. Also rice, some veggies and fresh fruit. That little bowl of citrus fruit was really good too. 150,000idr = 11usd
I also found many restaurants and their menus, and found many of them worth checking out. Nice sandwich shops too with nice breads, croissants, salads, which Tulamben does NOT have. And I found my way to the Widana Dive Shop, which was about a 2min walk. And right on the street. Nothing fancy here, but great people. Widana, the guy that owns the shop is very interesting and easy to talk with. I didn't get any people photos :(
Widana was my Guide and Eyes on the first dive. This was the first thing I saw when I looked at the water. Indonesia is known for it's trashy waters, so I wasn't surprises. Garbage and stuff everywhere. It's sad.
We dove from that boat in the above photo. A small boat, but it was just the 2 of us. He said that when diving became popular, he went around to the Dive Shops and implored them to NOT get big speed boats that would further pollute the waters. And they agreed, and all use these little fishing boats. I like it, because it also means there will never be a lot of people with you! The other thing I liked is that we just went about 3min to the Dive Site, it was right out front. A really pretty reef, and Widana showed me some new Nudis. Actually I saw this one myself in the first couple minutes. It is a Halgerda and I had not seen one yet this year.
I actually saw this Juvenile Ribbon Eel first. Unfortunately he was not a very agreeable subject, and didn't come out of his 'home' for very long. I had to be fast. They are only about as big around as your finger. The adults are a beautiful blue with yellow.
On the second day I met Komang, a younger Guide with better eyes, Widana told me. He decided I should see the LadyBug. But it is deep, according to my Dive Computer, it was 102'. He wanted to make sure I was ok with that, I was. After that he said we would SLOWLY ascend to find the Pygmy SeaHorse, which I know are always deep too. So, you know what I'm thinking ... LadyBug, cute little bugs that just sit there. Quick photo and go. Hell no, these LadyBugs like to FLY and there were lots of them. I was a bit overwhelmed. But Komang was patient with me to make sure I got a photo. Remember this is at 102', so I know I don't have much time. Here are 3 of them, very tiny.
This LadyBug, Cyproideidae sp. 01, is an amphipod, which is a shrimp-like crustacean.
Well, that was fun, and we quickly left. The Pygmy SeaHorse is very tiny, of course, and lives on Gregorian Fan Coral. It mimics his host plant perfectly so they are damn hard to see. This is my first photo, I thought at least one of those in the middle would be the Pygmy. Can YOU find the Pygmy? Look at the top of the photo, and you might be able to make out the Pygmy.
This is the real Pygmy
And a Coconut Glossodoris buko
The first 2 days of diving were on the 'reef'... still looking for tiny critters, but on the coral and sponges and hydroids. So it is not 'muck' diving, meaning we are not on the flat sand. We, I, have to try to position myself between coral etc., trying not to damage it, but still get into a position that I can support myself and my camera, and take a photo. It is not my favorite diving conditions. Many of the critters are crawling along through algae, or sand, and it is difficult to isolate them from their surroundings. I need to be a better photographer to do that. But I do the best I can. So this one isn't too bad. It's a White-Netted Goniobranchus setoensis, crawing on some coral.
He showed me a LOT of these and each one was difficult. a Regal Nudibranch - Dendronotus regis? or Cabangus regius?
Here is a close up
I love these Eubranchus sp. My first one was in Siquijor. Notice the white circular mass of eggs
So pretty
I caught this Blue Ceratosoma sp just as it was coming up to say 'hello'. Kinda cute shot.
This was so tiny. A Coryphellina lotos I think.
Another example of trying to distinguish the nudi from the back ground. A Netted Samla riwo ...difficult to see what is what.
This also gives you an idea of how difficult it is for these tiny critters to move around every day, trying to survive. A Pink Marianina rosea.. a new one for me !
This Dermatobranchus sp seems to having an easier time of it. However, if you look closely at the rhinophores, (those black spikes in the front), you'll notice part of the right one is missing. Not every day is a good day.
Waiting for ID on this one, some kind of Hypselodoris ? Nope Goinobranchus geometrica, verified.
And this one too, it has such distinctive markings, it should be easy to ID, but I couldn't find it. Verified: Hypselodoris zephyra
This is new for me, real pretty. ID verified: Hypselodoris infucata
I went to the guru on this one,, Goniobranchus rufomaculatus...a juvenile, possibly why I couldn't find it. The adult has much more yellow.
There are a LOT of Hypselodoris nudis, if you haven't noticed. This one is Hypselodoris emma. I talked about the 'foot' of a nudi in the last Blog. This is a good example of how strong and powerful it can be... that whole white bottom part that he is on...is the 'foot', and moves it through thick and thin.
Another ...Hypselodoris bullocki .. a beautiful elegant one
And it's cousin, Hypselodoris apolegma
This is a Doto ussi, you don't see many Doto's, so I was happy about this.
A large about 3", White-Lined Marionia sp.
So, if you didn't know this, I am able to do a lot of 'editing' of my photos, (from my computer). Some are beyond help, and some are good right out of the camera. So, I 'edited' the Nudi in the photo above. Of course, this would not be allowed in a 'contest', but I'm not submitting these to anyone but you. And my goal is for you to better actually see what the Nudi looks like.
Also saw another Orangutan Crab, always fun to try to get a photo of this one.
I think this very tiny nudi is a Tenellia .. but maybe not
This was one of the last nudi's of my 'reef' diving adventure in Padang Bai, and it was on the side of coral. Also new for me. ID report: "After DNA work was done this is Halgerda willeyi, H. elegans is a synonym."
SHIT: I've been working on this for 3 days, and I just lost the rest of it ! WTF ? WiFi !
Let's stat again: The next day we went to The Jetty, which is an old Pier. It has huge pilings, and they are covered with a whole ocean full of life.
I was warned that there is normally a strong current under there. They weren't kidding. This Nudi reminds me of a head-down Michigander fighting the wind in a snow storm. The specks/debris that you see is sand flying through the water. I usually remove them.
There were hundreds, not exaggerating, of these beautiful nudibranchs. I am 'done' with trying to find out names, even before I lost everything. These Nudis, with all their pretty frills, have names like Flabellinae, Unidentia, Favorinus, Trinchea, and Tenillia. They have been 'fighting' over the definitions for last 2 for years.
They come in so many colors
What you lookin at ?
A whole party of 4 nudis. And they don't discriminate, nor care what color you are.
Another one fighting the wind
One more, strange you can see right through the body
A Blue Dragon, Pteraeolidia semperi, is common and seen almost everywhere. So I'm not generally interested in them, and they even aren't all Blue !
They are also difficult to photograph because sometimes they are so long, you can't get the entire nudi in one shot. However, I did see this one and took a video. Finally showing how long it, and how strong the current was.
The nudi in this video is pretty cool. And again, you can see the current.
This last one is intriguing to me, (so, I might ask). It was very tiny. I'm thinking Lomanotus sp 1 ?
This is a video, it moves VERY slowly, and reminds me of the way the Cycerce from Romblon move.
I think I have finally finished this Blog, it's been a challenge. I was going to continue on with my trip to Gili Air Island, but I'll do that in the next Blog.
Follow me there.
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