I made my way to my Gili T home, Manta Dive, and spent the morning completing the online coursework and exam for the deep dive specialty. I did the dive the day before, but now with the exam passed, I am certified and can dive down to 40m. I quickly returned to the hostel to pack and check out, then returned to Manta to say bittersweet farewells to my Manta family. I had spent the last week at Manta dive and really appreciate the organization, the instructors, and the divers. I highly recommend Manta Dive of Gili Trawangan for anybody looking to get certified in scuba diving or to fun dive with. They have very friendly, qualified, and cautious instructors, reliable equipment, a comfortable club with great food and drinks, and best of all, every dive site was less than 10 minutes away by boat and included diverse wildlife including sharks, turtles, eels, and a variety of exotic fish. I’m excited for the day I return to Manta Dive and Gili Trawangan.
My ferry from Gili Trawangan was about an hour late, but I was able to sleep for the majority of the 3 hour fast boat cruise. Upon arrival in Sanur back in Bali, I grabbed a cab that took around 2 hours to go 30km to Uluwatu. My friend Solly from diving and some of our Brazilian friends we met on Gili T were staying there, so I decided to stay there in Uluwatu Uluwatoo. I checked into my hotel for the night, then met up with Solly for a solid dinner at Pizzeria Italia.
Following dinner, we played some pool at a bar called Hatch against an engaged couple scouting potential wedding sites. Half jokingly, as an ordained reverend of the Universal Life Church with two weddings under my belt, I offered officiant services. How unforgettable it would be to officiate a destination wedding one day. The pool table was in terrible shape and the drinks weren’t great, but Hatch offered an urban jungle ambiance. Then, we left and met our Brazilian friends, Giovanna, Lucas, Daniela, Gabriela, Lais, and Monica at a place called Spinning Fork, where there was a large space for Latin Dance. Having picked up a thing or two about Bachata and Salsa back in Koh Phangan thanks to my Dance Kitchen duo Morgan and Joseph, I was dove into the dancing delight. We had a really fun time here, then ended up going back to Hatch later for a night cap drink. It was around 1:30AM when I finally answered my beds call, with plans of diving yet again the next day. These dives would be different however, as they were my first fun dives, at new sites with new wildlife, and best of all, with some old friends.