Alex Mustard in Bali: Part 2
In part two of his travel notes, Alex Mustard recounts his experiences in Pemuteran in the northwest of Bali.
After a few days in Ubud, I have to admit I was well rested and itching to get wet. Our first diving destination was Pemuteran, which, although not the best known diving area on the island, is ideally placed to sample the many flavours of diverse Balinese diving.
Pemuteran Bay has both interesting shore diving around the electrically grown artificial reefs (more about those in a bit) and some good quality sites on offshore reefs, with great scenery and plenty of critters. The star attraction of the area is Menjangan Island, with its the rich coral reefs and craggy fan-covered walls. This is a place which, on a good day, can match any reef in the world for sheer beauty. Visibility can be a bit up and down, so it’s worth staying for several days. Then in total contrast are two fabulous muck diving sites. Pemuteran is exactly equidistant between the famous critter dives of PJ and Secret Bay, both less than 40 minutes drive away.
We were diving at the Bali Diving Academy Pemuteran, which is owned by the professional and widely respected Bali Hai dive operation, who have been running dive trips on Bali for more than 15 years. The centre is run by old friends of mine, Renaud and Mireille Wicky, who add their personal touch by making sure that each guest, whether they’re a novice going on a tryout dive or a crazy underwater photographer desperate to see a rare or exotic critter, gets exactly what they want.
That second example is me, by the way! We stayed in the attractive and spacious Taman Sari Amertha Villas, which has a handful of rooms set in peaceful grounds right on Pemuteran Beach.
As I mentioned earlier, Pemuteran Bay is the site of a very special artificial reef project, where artificial coral reefs are being grown on low-voltage electrified metal frames. The reefs start in just a few metres of water, about 50m from shore, and can easily be visited by divers or snorkellers.
The frames come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the amount of coral growing on them is truly remarkable given that they are just a few years old. Scientists report that corals typically grow three to five times faster than normal with the help of electricity, which increases the corals’ calcification (skeleton-building) rates. There are now 40 artificial reef structures in Pemuteran Bay, making it the largest such project in the world.
Pemuteran diving was excellent and all the regulars were about: frogfish at Secret Bay, mimic octopus at PJ and pygmy seahorses on both dives at Menjangan (when I was shooting wide-angle)! We also had time for a snack and a beer with talented underwater photographers and Bali aficionados, Mike Veitch and Simon Buxton, who will be back on the island in October to run one of their popular digital photography workshops at Scuba Seraya Resort, which coincidentally was our next stop.
