Diving Lombok

I have been to Lombok twice now; once on a day trip from Bali for a quick look and the second time to dive the Gili Islands. I reckon it was 1995 or maybe early 1996; so long ago now. I do recall the diving was pretty good, I had nothing but dramas though - all of my own doing.

It was so quiet and relaxed on Lombok back then, you could still get around by donkey and cart, that was my chosen mode of transport - slow but scenic. I can remember my driver whipping his donkey to go faster, I was trying to get him to stop, the last thing I wanted was to go fast.

I stayed at Senggigi Beach, there was plenty of dive shops in the vicinity and an easy day trip ensured. The diving was good, the islands are well known for a certain blue coral, I was happy to indulge in searching. I recall plenty of small black tip and white tip sharks sheltering under plate corals, I bet they aren't there anymore.

There are three Gili islands in the group, Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Tranwangan. They were a backpacker haunt back then, low cost, mostly undeveloped and reasonably pristine. So too with the diving, I recall we had speed boats powered by kerosene outboards - boy, did they run rough.

We dived around the reefs of the islands, landing on the surface interval instead of spending it on the boat. There was less colour on the reef than I expected, plenty of shades of brown. I recall eating lunch on the island on most occasions, hanging with my new friends I met during the dive. It's about time I organised another trip.