nusa penida
famous for being the cleaning stations to some manta rays and mola molas.
famous for being notoriously cold as well.
brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….
before anything else..here it comes – a black manta over the cleaning station.
visibility was quite poor. thank god it was a black manta.. 
beautiful moment….if not for the current pushing me on…i think i would have stopped breathing completely. i never forget the first feeling i had when i first first saw the manta that time back in 2006 (there were 3!! 2 HUGE white ones and 1 black baby one) especially when 1 of them decided to glide over me…oh oh oh….my god. i was scared but at the same time embracing the moment.
it just got to the point when i stopped taking pictures…just drift with the current and watch. it was enough….to be engraved in my mind.
i am kind more set this time a 3mm thermal tec full suit and a 3mm shortie layered inside…hood + a pair of gloves. i can never forget the freezing experience the last time i was here…so cold it felt i was going into hyper thermal and i skipped a dive.
and of course i was still feeling cynical and scared. i have never been a friend to cold. be it on land or in the sea…worse in the sea..it is june now when water is supposed to be slightly warmer than the freezing august/september period. but this is nusa penida where water temperature is know to fluctuate. of course we forget the cold when the mantas and molas come…but you know…that’s only if they come. this time when i jumped into the water..it wasn’t that bad. cold but manageable…but maybe it helps that i am more prepared this time as well.
after 2 more dives at crystal bay and pet (nothing beats manta point earlier that morning)…we headed back to land. by this time…the tide has gone down..and other sorts of activities were happening around the bay…by the beach..etc..
4 days of diving went by before we even realised it. it was tiring at first…but when all the fun and people’s laughter set in…and when i was beginning to enjoy it…we had to do the ritual of taking a group photo together to remember our holiday by with the new people we meet.. 
all ended well with a feast at massimo…and we met beautiful ervin who is menyun’s wife…we also invited hontat who came from singapore for the half price weekend dives all by himself…
btw…the next time you see mona..please ask her for the story about the japanese lady sleeping by her side in 1 of the earlier pictures…it’s almost x-files..we swear…
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