A better diving day

Day 7 - Derawan Island

The original plan for the day was to visit Sangalaki Island where we hoped to see manta rays, but our host Grace came to our bungalow to tell us that police had caught a fisherman using dynamite to kill fish. That meant diving had closed for the day while they checked for more explosives, so we ended up doing a couple of dives around Derawan, with a new dive master with better English and better communication skills.

Our first spot was at the Coral Gardens only 10 minutes away. This time M had a local to snorkel with, so he didn't need to stay around the boat as he did yesterday, instead he was able to follow the current and wait for the boat to pick him up when ready. There was plenty of colourful fish and coral, and K was able to see moray eels, stingrays and a cuttlefish that changed colour and shape to look like a piece of coral, exceptional camouflage.

The second dive was at Turtle Point very close to one of the island's many jetties. The tide was starting to rise which meant the giant turtles were asleep, so K was surprised that once again the dive master was going close enough to them that they woke and swam away. She also saw a number of lionfish that changed colour and displayed their fans of poisonous spikes when threatened.

Overall today's dive and snorkelling was a much better experience than the previous day's - better dive master, better weather, and a better range of coral and animals.

After finishing the dives for the day M did some more exploring, finding another path across the island and encountering a few Indonesian tourists as well as some giant centipedes along the way.