Location: Gili Islands
The diving on this trip has been incredible. We have seen majestic megafaunas like manta rays (reef and oceanic), sharks (grey reefs, a wobbegong, a banded bamboo shark, and blacktip reefs), and a huge variety of invertebrates, including hard corals, soft corals, and nudibranchs. Not to mention the insane fish biodiversity we have gotten to see. The last two days of diving at the Gili Islands continued to impress us. Our tireless dive guide Rafi spent another full day with us today and completed dives with all four groups. We live-boated from Argo, which involves making sure your group is completely ready and then, one by one, quickly giant striding off of the cap rail into the water. Our group descended onto our dive site and spent the entire dive finding mantis shrimp, nudibranchs, flatworms, octopus, and even a dragon sea moth at the very end. Zack and Will found this gem in a small patch of sand during our safety stop. It was probably the weirdest fish I have ever seen, a mixture between a seahorse, a rock, and a flying gurnard. After our group finished, the afternoon groups went to a different site and got to see many massive sea turtles and cuttlefish!
This trip’s diving has rivaled any diving I have done before. We have been fortunate to be in the water with incredible animals over and over again.
We also had some delicious food today, including fancy pancakes, a hearty baked potato bar, and homemade pasta from Amelia and sous chefs Sydnei, Amanda Shuman, and extra help from Gordon, Jack, Chris, Vivian, and more.
Photos:
1. Broadclub Cuttlefish
2. Geometric Chromodoris Nudibranch
3. Dragon Sea Moth
4. Amelia and crew making homemade pasta