Once again, prompt at 7:40 Singaporean holidaymaker time (that’s 8:00 Balinese), I was collected by the minibus and we headed for the beach near Nusa Dua where the boat is docked.

It wasn’t the best day weatherwise for the boat trip or the dives we were making, and Kadek dished out seasickness tablets to those who wanted them. I grabbed one, but I seem to have “hit and miss” lick with these things. Still, may as well try.

Our first dive was Manta Point, and the swell by the time we got there was unreal. The boat was tipping perhaps 45 degrees at times. Two of the group were ill and I wasn’t too far behind, but somehow managed to keep my sea legs. Everyone was happy with the dive, though not the ill effects, as we did see the mantas. They’re pretty much guaranteed at this spot, and will come very close to divers.

During the dive I had to drop one of my weights and pass it on to one of the other divers as they were struggling to sink. This is when you realise why they make you practise removing and replacing your weight belt underwater as part of the Open Water course.

Lunch was on the beach at Crystal Bay, under the palm trees and scorching sun. Yes, I’m red again. One day I’ll learn, but I doubt it’ll be any time soon. Some kids came round, hopefully proferring necklaces for us to buy. Of course, everyone was wearing wetsuits which don’t generally have a pocket for wallets! It was a lovely spot to eat, chill out and chat.

Dive number two was in the bay just off the beach. We left one chap to sunbathe as his stomach was playing up and enjoyed the better part of an hour breathing air from a bottle and ogling at the variety of life down there. Let me tell you, the Japanese may have a reputation for photographing anything and everything – Singaporeans are every bit as bad!

With the current washing us around, it was a bit of a challenge acting as “sheep dog” to ensure the group all stayed within visual contact with each other, but it was fun. It’s a nice feeling to be useful on a dive as well as to enjoy the scenery.

Somehow we managed to clamber aboard the boat which seemed to be doing its level best to make this impossible, then we returned to the shore to collect our non-diver before heading further around Lembongan Island to the resort where the party were staying.

With them settled, we popped around another peninsula so that I could be dropped off near my (cheaper) accommodation. A nice place with a wonderful view of the setting sun (which took the last opportunity of the day to scorch my face). Of course, I took the opportunity to wash all the salt off in the shower… which wasn’t hot. Gah.

I got talking to, and had dinner with, a guy from Oz and a girl fro Nottingham who’s currently working in Saudi. The food was good, though pricey compared to what I’m used to in Kuta. To be expected on a remote island.

After dinner, I took a quick walk around “town”. This amounted to two streets, most of which were residential. As I neared a temple I could hear music and thought I’d get to see a ceremony taking place. Instead, there were several people sat watching TV on a huge LCD telly in the temple forecourt! I guess everything’s getting modern now.

I found an internet place at almost five times the rate I pay in Kuta and did a swift email check. Back at the hotel I decided to close my eyes for five minutes. And next opened them at 3am. I guess diving takes more out of me that I realise.

Two more dives today, back at Nusa Ceningan. It was a very early start with a 7:15 pickup as we had a few people to collect. Not helped by one of my neighbours waking me at 4am as she staggered in and put her stereo on.

The German couple would be making the last dives of their holiday today and had picked Manta Bay and Crystal Bay as their destination. Another German, Chris, joined us from Kuta while an American girl, Wendy, was driven all the way down from Ubud.

Weatherwise, today was far the worst day I’ve seen in Bali. Clouds hung overhead, but didn’t give way to rain early on. However, the sea was fairly choppy and my stomach wasn’t really my best friend as we set off. I tried to read and drink water, both successfully. I tried not to be ill, less successfully.

Manta Bay is a choppy place at the best of times and I ended up watering the fishes before we jumped in. It was worth it, though – a shallow dive of around 7m, but with a near-guarantee of seeing manta rays. We weren’t disappointed. At one point seven of these huge beasts were circling the rock we waited beside.

Like turtles, they look pretty much different from anything else in the water, yet they move silently and simply with so much ease and grace. The last one we saw swam up to another group of divers and just paused, almost as if it were staring at them before giving a casual nod and gliding off.

Back on board, we moved over to Crystal Bay for lunch which I enjoyed. Temporarily. Then I recycled it for the fish.

This was my second dive here and the visibility certainly wasn’t as good as it had been the first time. Still, there are many fish to see and it’s a relaxing dive. You can almost just hover and let them all come up to you.

As we came up to the surface, I could see a pitted pattern forming on the “sky” as raindrops slammed into the sea. Great. It was even more choppy above and it was throwing it down. At least we’d not get wetter and the rain was warm.

We were all issued with nice thick waterproofs, mainly to ward off the breeze, as we packed everything up and headed back for land. I just lay on one of the benches and tried to snooze. This is the best method I have for avoiding sea sickness and it seemed to work.

The rain eased off by the time we got back to shore and we all got dried and changed on the boat. Putu was there to pick us up and take us back to town and I walked back to the hotel from the dive shop.

I took a quick nap as I still wasn’t feeling 100% and as I woke up to go and get dinner, the rain started once again and it wasn’t messing about this time. As I type, it’s been bucketing down for around twenty minutes, and the girl opposite has just got back from a friend’s drenched right through. She was on her motorbike when it started and the roads went from “dry” to “10cm deep” in no time.

I think I need my brolly…

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day spent chilling out and relaxing as I prepared for the regular sleeps I’d need for the next two weeks. Sadly, despite being in a complete party capital, there’s no way I can go out on the ale of an evening and then do 2-3 dives while in charge of other people the next day!

I didn’t quite get the sleep I intended. My alarm set for 6am, I was woken up by noise from next door. Not that I’m saying my neighbour is noisy. But the girl he brought home was – *ahem*. I thought it was a bit of a giggle and only an hour ahead of when I planned to wake anyway. The girl opposite, however, went banging on his door shouting “maybe you should get a place with windows!” The rooms here just have mosquito-proof mesh behind carved wooden pillars – no glass – so sound does leak from rooms easily.

When I woke early, the staff asked if I wanted breakfast which was great as I was actually kicking about half an hour before it’s meant to be served. I had my usual banana and jam jaffle (kind of a toastie) and some sweet tea then made my way around the corner where the ProDive staff were waiting for me.

Today was to be an easy introduction, to say the least. Not that I’m complaining. We picked up two Thai girls who’d been diving all week and headed for the dock where we loaded the boat and jetted off around to the other side of the little peninsula that Kuta’s on. There we were joined with three Japanese tourists staying at a posh resort. Around the resort were “fun boats”, large vessels with water slides and so on hanging off them – they looked great fun!

Our first dive site was just around the corner and we all jumped in off the back of the boat. And I swear it’s the coldest water I’ve ever dived into! Unbelievable given the surface temperature but that’s the sea for you. Deeper down, there were occasional “wafts” of warm water but that could have been one of the other divers having a pee. All it really succeeded in doing was making the water seem oily – a strange effect you get when cold and warm water mixes. The other thing I found out was that I need an extra weight when diving with a full-length wetsuit… thankfully my buddy had a spare or I’d have been sitting on the surface for forty minutes.

The quality of the dives here seems superb. Vast expanses of coral and a huge number of very brazen fish. I don’t recall ever getting so close to so many individual fish without them darting off. Playing with clown fish is a giggle – go up to the anemone they’re protecting and wiggle at it with your fingers. As it dashes towards you, put your arms into a ring and you’ll find the fish will often “climb” up to your shoulder before realising that home’s about two feet away.

Highlight of the dive was an unexpected sighing of a medium-sized (I was told) mola (or Ocean Sunfish – the heaviest bony fish in the world). We were around 20m down and it was nearer ten, but it was a sight to behold. I also like the diving sign-language symbol for it – a fist with the thumb up and little finger down. It really does look like the fish in question. The photo above isn’t one of mine (obviously, as it’s from an aquarium), but does give an idea of the size of these things.

Back on the surface, I wasn’t feeling too great as we had lunch. I’ve been good on boats recently and don’t think I was that close to being ill, but it took me ages to eat my sandwich and orange. I gave my cake (delicious though the nibble I had was) to another couple who boarded for an afternoon dive. They’d not eaten since 7am, so I took pity.

The second dive was also superb, but subject to a lot of current. I was pleased on this one to spot a huge stone fish. Unfortunately, I’d not taken my camera with me on this trip so didn’t get any photos. One of the Thai girls went snap-happy and I hope they’ll email me so I can ask for copies. Stone fish (hand symbol – clenched fist as in the rock/hammer/scissors game) are damn hard to see. After I spotted it, I was trying to get my Divemaster‘s attention. Every time I glanced away, I lost it and had to find the thing again.

After this dive, the newer couple and the Japanese left is and the girls tanked up for a third dive. I was only doing the two, but after missing sleep I was quite happy to lie on one of the comfy padded benches and snatch a bit of a kip in the sun. Of course, I’ll regret it when the sunburn comes up.

Then back to shore, a meeting with a cute dog at the equipment store and paying my bill at the office. I picked up my Divemaster manual and DVD as well. Got those to start studying this evening. $750 for this course is a bargain. If I was doing 2 dives a day over 14 days, the least it would cost me would be $840 and much more if I chose anything other than the cheapest dive sites. Having said that, they get another Divemaster on their crew for the duration of the course (and perhaps for a short time after depending on my plans).

I did find out I can renew my visa here, regardless of what it says on my passport stamp. Thing is, it costs IDR1.5million – around £90. Given that the original visa is US$25, this is pretty steep but still far cheaper than going anywhere else outside of Indonesia and re-entering. I also think it’s slightly dodgy!

Dinner was at my now-regular Gong Corner 2 hangout where I went for the pork steak. Which was – and this is no surprise – bloody delicious. And just over a quid. No wonder I’ve gone there three nights in a row. Every time I order fruit salad for dessert, it gets a little bigger as well. I wonder how much they’ll be cramming on my plate by the end of next week?