Pemuteran is an ideal destination to enjoy peace,
quiet and a stunning underwater temple.
After a crazy week of work in Jakarta (or any of Indonesia's major cities), a weekend of diving in Bali - easily accessible, ever diver friends and I decided to make the most of it, heading off on a Friday morning to get in some fun dives at a new site for us - the underwater temple garden at Pemuteran.
Pemuteran, in north Bali, is 30 kilometers from Gilimanuk Harbor, which link java and Bali. It's a four hour ride from Denpasar through beautiful countryside beaches on one side and green mountains on another, is a great place for relaxing.
To be sure, we took our time getting there. Having arrived in Bali on the earliest flight from Jakarta, we had originally told the dive center in Pemuteran that we planned to do one afternoon dive followed by a night dive. But by the time we reached Adi Assri Hotel several hours later (after numerous food, coffee, photo and toilet breaks), we were tempted to cancel the sunset dive also, and just sip cocktails by the resort's pool overlooking the sea.
Night Life
Luckily for us, though, Paul Turley from Sea Rovers Dive Center convinced us to overcome our laziness and do the sunset dive in the house reef, known as Pirates Bay, just a few meters from the dive center.
Upon our arrival at the black-sand seafloor 10-12 meters below the surface, we were greeted by an army of pipefish. Whereas in the daytime these beautiful creatures flee from divers, our flashlight beams seemed to attract them. In more than 1,500 dives, never have I seen as many as pipefish in one place.
During our 70-minutes dive, we encountered all sorts of wonderful critters on black sand, among them a massive school of razor fish, catfish, scorpionfish, lionfish, devilfish, seamoths, banded coral shrimps and hermit crabs. On surfacing, we couldn't stop raving about our discoveries.
Temple Time
A main attraction for coming all the way here to dive is the underwater temple complex. As it's 30 meters below the surface - deep! - it was the site of our first dive (for safety reasons, the deepest dive on a day should be done first). It's also recommended to dive this site in the morning before the current gets too strong and makes it difficult to reach the temple.
After a 10-minute boat ride, we were dropped off at a buoy attached by a rope to the temple at 30 meters. One by one, we made our way down, clinging on to the soft coral-covered rope.
Because of the depth, the atmosphere around the temple complex is eerily silent and dim. We were all astounded by the site of the typical Balinese temple gate, which made us fantasize about an ancient, sunken kingdom. Along with the gate are a temple wall, and numerous statues of Buddha, Ganesha and turtles.
By : Fransiska Anggraini (Weekender Magazine)
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