Only a 30-minute speed boat trip east of Bali lies the small island of Nusa Lembongan. At approximately 8 square kilometers in size, with two small villages and a permanent population of 5,000 people, we were back to one of those very remote islands like the majority we had experienced in the Philippines, with frequent power cuts, small and often unpaved roads, and no police. However, to our surprise, as in Bali, the majority of houses and hotels were very nicely finished. Although this island was very small, we found many things to do, aside of course the obvious sitting back and relaxing at the beach (which we are both not so good at!).

Surfing was undoubtedly the highlight. We met a local surf coach, Agus, who also had won several championships and was sponsored by Billabong and Volcom, with whom we went surfing. A short boat ride took us from the beach out to the line-up where we enjoyed some of the best waves yet. We were riding on transparent waters where we could see the corals beneath us, with a stunning sunshine, and a wonderful view in the distance of a volcano on the island of Bali. The different surf spots had quite some names, in fact we were surfing at lacerations and razor! Sounds quite terrible, but no worries we did not suffer any cuts or bruises ;-). In addition, for any of you surfers who truly hate shore breaks (Martina does), here is your heaven! The reef breaks are a few hundred meters out of the coast, with calm waters from where the wave ends to the shore. From the beach you can just observe the waves, and decide where you want the convenient boat taxi to bring you out.

Aside surfing, we also decided to get back into snorkeling. The aim of having one last time with our wonderful underwater friends, led us to meet a lovely boat driver whose uniqueness started with his name: Captain Aqua, a 60-something year old local who knew these waters like the palm of his hand. He took us on a great snorkeling tour, starting by visiting the famous manta rays, which can reach up to 5m in width. Nusa Lembongan is one of the last spots in Southeast Asia with abundance of manta rays that can be seen, as they have certain bays where their favorite meal hangs out (plankton, super mini-shrimps,..). Despite recently there not being many sightings, Captain Aqua, after that day baptized as the “Manta Whisperer”, quickly spotted quite a few, eagerly telling us to jump in! We had the honor of swimming with 4 of these lovely beasts. They were probably only maximum 1.5m wide, but were very, very beautiful. They swam as if they were birds flying underwater due to the peaceful and smooth movement of their body, glancing up and down.

The next step of our trip was a snorkeling spot, which we reached after moving through a fairly rough sea. It had beautiful coral and some of the most colorful and interesting looking fish yet. We were especially impressed by the amount of fish. Compared to other places we had snorkeled, by far there were more variety of fish and larger groups. It was wonderful to observe and swim one last time amongst this impressive underwater world that we are often unaware of.

When not on- or under-water we were on a scooter. We took many wonderful trips around the entire island to discover other places. In one occasion we went to the adjacent even smaller island of Ceningan, connected by a wooden bridge that felt as if it was almost going to snap on our way over! It was a lot of fun zipping around, except the fact that helmets do not exist on this island, which sometimes was not so comfortable given the crazy driving style of the locals. But hey, we survived this one also…

Aside tourism, the main source of income for the locals are the seaweed crops. In fact, their number one client is Colgate, buying seaweed to make several products including toothpaste. The locals work with the tide, so when it is low tide they are all out there planting and picking seaweed no matter what hour. In fact, it is quite interesting to see, both how they mend to the crops, as well as how extreme the tide changes are here. At high tide, the water would almost come into the hotel, and at low tide, one could walk at least one hundred meters out and still only have water up to your knees. In a few words, the same beach that hosts many surfers when the tide is high turns into a seaweed harvest when it is low.

After almost one week of enjoying this paradise-like island, we were ready to pack our backpacks just one last time to our final destination of this trip. We can hardly believe it ourselves, six months have flown by and the trip is coming to an end! But before it’s over, one last big city we can’t miss out on…