Nusa Lembongan

Nusa Lembongan, an island off the S.E. coast of Bali, is a beautiful retreat from the hustle and bustle of Kuta Beach. The main source of income for the locals here, comes from farming seaweed. The diving here is spectacular.

Sam on the rusty ferry heading to Nusa Lembongan.














Seaweed farming boats in the harbor.















Seaweed farming happens in the early morning and evening hours when the tide is low. The farmers are constantly planting new seaweed, and picking ripe batches on their measured plots.














A man with quite a load of seaweed.














The woman's method of carrying the stuff.



















A worker in his prime.














The various types of weed laying out to dry - its not advisable to walk amongst this stuff, because it is covered in sand flies - bites from which can leave you itchin for days.














Mountain view of the seaweed plots - crazy how linear they are.














The plots at low tide.














Here's my journal entry on diving here:

Diving in Nusa Lembongan, miles away from the liquor pouring haunts of Kuta, but mere strokes from the farm waters of the seaweed ranchers harvesting preservatives for the ol 31 flavors on the other side of the world. There I was suited up in a thick neopreme garb, fitting for the ice hockey fields of Minnesota, but a we bit warm for the equatorial heat of God's urine. Yes, I was in tropical waters reaching the high 80's - turn on the jets, bring me a beer, and toss me a rubber ducky.
After tumbling backwards into the sweat of 10s of 1000s of fishes, my eyes were shown a world fit for mermaids and pirates. The current was swift and it dragged me along like I had an outboard motor attached to me arse. I felt like Superman(before the horse riding accident). My buddy/divemaster, a native to the island, was quite the character- a bit different than the run of the mill western diver, none of that "look but don't touch" spiel. In fact, he's an ocean molester. Watch out every living breathing creature, cause he wants to get a good stroke in. Besides that, he's got a TV antenna fit for picking an elephant's trunk, and boy does he use the hell outta that thing. It's his crutch to rest on, a pointing stick, a whacking rod - just to name a few, but whatever task it's put to its gotta have an ultra violent flare. When the antenna is not in use, he lets it drag across the coral cutting a trail to where ever it's master ventures. The real problem arises when he goes from flicking nudibranches to tossing stonefishes (the most venomous fish in the sea) in my general direction. Thank God, these creatures are docile and don't know their own strength. If you ever go to Bali, do yourself a favor and dive these waters - definitely some of the best diving out there.

































Sunsets