Menjangan Island

I awoke nice and early the following morning. I was a little sleepy at first but I soon remembered what the day had in store for me. I would be partaking in my first open water dive. It was quite exciting and it really got the blood going. I had only been in the ocean a handful of times so I was excited to see it from ten to fifteen meters below. I knew I would be experiencing a whole new world.

I was picked up at 7:30 am and brought to Sunrise Dive. When we arrived, I got my equipment from the day before and made sure everything was working properly. I was told there would be three other people diving with us today so I was very intrigued to see whom these newcomers would be.

Ten minutes later, another Sunrise Dive van arrived and out popped a man with a great big smile on his face who introduced himself as Serge. Serge asked where I was from and I told him America. Before I could ask him of his mother country, Serge embraced me in a giant bear hug and said that he was from Russia and he was so glad that the cold war was over and our countries were now friends. We had a good laugh followed by a little ribbing of each other’s countries. I could tell instantly that Serge was the type of guy I was really going to enjoy being around.

While waiting around for our transportation to be loaded, Serge told me a little bit about himself. He was fifty years old, not married, and worked in the antique industry in Moscow. His bother owned a lot of antique stores across Moscow and Serge helped with the management side of things. He had been traveling for many months now on an extended holiday and his brother needed him to get back to Moscow. He had three more days of diving and then he had to return back to work. He explained that he had been doing this for many years now and had seen many parts of the world.

Once the van was loaded, Dewa, Serge and myself headed towards our destination of Menjangan Island. Menjangan Island was an hour west of Lovina and was part of a national park. No one was allowed to live on the island therefore it had been kept very well preserved through the years. It is known for its excellent diving and snorkeling along with its pristine beaches and turquoise waters. It sounded like paradise and that’s exactly why it was nicknamed Paradise Island.

Fifteen minutes into our trip, we stopped off to pick up two more people that would be joining us for the day. Being the courteous thing to do, we all introduced ourselves and told each other where we were from. The lovely couple was from Holland on holiday, what everyone else calls a vacation except for the United States. The man’s name was Jaap and his girlfriend’s named was Sandra. They were both in there mid to late thirties and like myself, it was Jaaps second day of diving and first time in the open water. His girlfriend Sandra was a dive master and had over three hundred dives under her belt spanning across the globe.

Serge, Jaap, Sandra and I hit it off really well right from the start. I could tell they were all very fun people and we would be having a great time hanging out for the next couple of days. We talked and joked around the whole trip to Menjangan Island with Serge being the instigator of most of the banter. It made the trip fly by and in no time we had arrived at our destination.

When we arrived, there was a crew of guys who loaded our gear onto one of the many dive boats. It was nice not having to carry any of that heavy gear. We just sat and talked at the makeshift restaurant that had been made for divers until it was time to go.

It was a thirty-minute boat ride to get from the mainland to Menjangan Island. I, being prone to seasickness on occasion, hoped my stomach could withstand the daunting challenge the ocean’s rollercoaster waves would provide for us.

The sea was a bit choppy at times but the great conversation and magnificent scenery helped me to forget about it. It was a very pleasant ride and I was a little sad to see it end.

We pulled up alongside some of the other dive boats just around the island where the wind was blocked and the water lay as still as a corpse. You could feel the excitement in the air. People started to gear up while I took a few seconds to pause and take in the moment. I thought if it’s this beautiful outside of the water; I can’t wait to see what underwater has in store for us.

I suited up and Dewa did a count of three and I plunged into the water. I got my bearings straight and headed over to the front of the boat, which was to be our meeting place. It would be Dewa, Jaap and I diving together today. Jaap was already there and greeted me with a smile when I arrived. Dewa soon arrived and we discussed our game plan.

All three of us started are descent, taking it slowly to decompress our ears and let our bodies get acclimated. We started off with some basic safety drills to refresh our memories in case of an emergency. We were three individual divers but we were acting as a team to help one another out. It was a very comforting feeling knowing that someone was there to help if need be.

After we got done with our exercises, we followed Dewa’s instructions and slowly skimmed through the water working on keeping ourselves balanced and buoyant. It’s a little tricky keeping yourself from either floating to far down or back up to the top. The secret is to add or subtract the right amount of air to or from your floatation vest in very tiny increments. Once we got comfortable with staying level in the water, we descended some more.

By this point the nerves had worn off and I was in awe by the scenery I saw all around me. It was absolutely amazing, a whole different world just 15 meters below the water. The coral was brilliant and the fish had such bright, vibrant colors that I had never seen before. It was like a dream, a Technicolor dream show.

We continued our journey through the unknown checking our gauges along the way to make sure our air supply was at a good level. Dewa wanted us to signal him when we reached the halfway point.

For the next forty-five minutes, we glided through the waters looking at things we had never seen before. It’s very hard to put into words the sheer amazement I felt by seeing these amazing creatures and colors for the first time. It was an awesome experience.

We came up for a thirty-minute lunch break and then we went back down for our second dive. I enjoyed this dive even more because I worked out some mask issues I had the first time and I felt more comfortable with the whole overall situation.

Once the second dive was over, we loaded up the boats and headed back to the mainland. Everyone was bursting with energy, each with their own experience to share with the others. It was great hearing what other people saw and the immense pleasure they felt while underwater. Needless-to-say, it was a great first experience and something I’ll never forget.