Bali, Indonesia

In September of 2024 we took our new Scuba skills over to Bali, Indonesia! During our two week adventure, we stayed in Sideman, Nusa Lembongan, and Ubud. We hiked an active volcano, scuba dived with lionfish, sea turtles, & manta rays, and embraced the spiritual nature of the island of the Gods :)

Sideman

We chose Sideman for our first stay to get a more authentic feel of Bali's traditional & non-city culture. We stayed at Manuk Dewata Villas which had amazing views overlooking the rice terraces & was nestled right next to an array of Warungs. Their breakfast offered delicious fruit juices, dragonfruit, & scrumptious pineapple jelly.

We took our first days in Bali to relax and soak in the beautiful scenery. We ate at the local warungs, walked throughout the village, and enjoyed $8, one-hour Balinese massages!

We were lucky enough to be visiting during the Galungan and Kuningan Hindu ceremonies which focus on the triumph of good over evil, ancestors, spending time with family, and being better each day. We witnessed the locals dress up in their finest traditional clothing and place offerings to the gods all across the village. Bells, chimes, chants & drums were heard echoing throughout the village at all times of the day.

We both jumped as we nearly stepped on a dead Blue Krait, Bali's deadliest snake!
Sweet corn icecream tasted exactly like corn with a vanilla wafer aftertaste :)
Snakefruit (naturalized in Bali) tasted like pears and and peaches mixed - 6/10.
Soursop tasted sweet in the initial seconds but then had a terrible and bitter aftertaste - 2/10.

Nusa Lembongan

As we bid a peaceful goodbye to our kind hosts in Sideman, we geared up for our Scuba diving adventure around the Nusa islands. From Nusa Lembongan we explored four dive sites around Nusa Penida. On the north side we dove at Sental & Sekolah Dasar (SD). We found both of these dives sites to be underwhelming relative to our Cozumel diving experience, but it was still fun to see Nemo's friend - The Moorish Idol (Gill). We also saw sea turtles, coral, & other small fish.

On the west/south sides of Nusa Penida we dove at Crystal Bay & Manta Point with water temperatures down to 20C or 68F. These renowned dive sites lived up to the hype and were much more on par with our Cozumel experience. Even though the elusive Mola-Mola were never spotted, these sites housed colorful fish, a blue krait sea snake, and majestic manta rays. The manta rays playfully glided among the divers much like you'd imagine a field of butterflies!

Ubud

We chose Ubud for our final stay of the trip so we could experience Bali's main arts district, some of the hectic city culture, & be situated near Mt.Batur. We stayed on the northern outskirts of Ubud at Villa Neyang and loved our time there. This was our favorite stay of the trip as the villa was gorgeous - had a private outdoor shower and bathtub, and the hosts were friendly and accomodating.

We visited downtown Ubud to shop the art markets & explore the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Watching the Long-tailed Macaque Monkeys play about the ancient statues was fun and memorable!

We also took a long and scenic walk over to Taman Dedari which showcased some angelic statues!

After hitting the hay early, we got picked up at 2am to venture to Kintamani for our sunrise volcano hike - Mt. Batur!
Difficulty: Difficult. Distance: 5.8 miles. Elevation gain: 2,250 ft. Time: 3-4 hours. Trailhead: Several - guarded by local guides - you need a guide!

Wish List:

The trip went by quickly and if we had more time we would have loved to swim with the Mola-Mola; traveled further north to some of Bali's most majestic waterfalls; & also experienced Indonesia's most renowned dive spots - Raja Ampat, Alor, & the Komodo Islands.