In September 2006, our very own dive manager, Edmund Low, visited Bali. He managed to fulfil his dream of catching a glimpse of the mola mola again, and spotted many other beautiful sea creatures too. Read about his adventures here!
Sunfish, also known as mola mola
Doesn't it look like a stealth bomber flying sideways?
Every year, around August to September, divers in our region flock to Bali to catch a glimpse of the sunfish, also known as the mola mola. It is an odd-looking and gentle fish. With 2 oversized dorsal fins extending from two-thirds of its body length and hardly a tail stump, the 2-odd metre fish has always resembled a stealth bomber flying sideways to me.
The mola mola is usually a deep swimmer but around this season in Bali waters, it will come within our recreational diving limits to get some cleaning done. They will hang around some of the usual "cleaning stations" and let small fishes, such as the bannerfish, pick the algae and tiny critters off its body. The mola mola appears in temperatures below 23 degrees Celsius and it is not surprising to find yourself submerged in 17 degrees of water while looking for it, do be adequately insulated.
On this trip, we stayed on one of the offshore islands, with most of the mola mola sites within minutes of our beach. Accommodation was in fan rooms but nights are cool and we even needed blankets to keep ourselves comfortable. Most of our neighbours were surfers, as surfing is a very popular sport in Bali. Every day was spent eating, diving, chilling out and napping, or you can easily swap books to read and play board games with your neighbours. Its all friendly and chill.
French nudibranch, so named because its colours resemble the French flag
I would recommend that divers going to Bali have good proficiency in their underwater skills and should be prepared to face the strong currents that flow along this area. The dive operators there are conscious of your diving proficiency and will bring you to dive sites accordingly. The boat rides to the dive sites can be bumpy too, so do take your seasick pills if you are prone to motion sickness.
One of our early dives was at Crystal Bay, where the sunfish has been commonly sighted. We were the third boat to be there but pretty soon, there was a little armada there, dropping divers like torpedoes into the water. Unfortunately, the sunfish was not there and instead of worsening our myopia by squinting into the blue, we started looking for small critters hiding in the reef. Among the beautiful nudibranches that we found was a French nudibranch, so named because of its colours resembling the French flag. We also chanced upon an orangutan crab, a tiny hairy crustacean, and a yellow ribbon eel with its usual gaping mouth and yellow-feathered nostrils.
Our efforts were rewarded on the second day, when drifting along with the current at a divesite known as S.D. Point, I spotted a familiar shape swimming within twenty metres of me. Off went my banger to alert the others! My photobug friend swam closer to the mola mola and managed to get a few snaps before it got too far. Another reason he turned back was because of the realisation that the reef was getting a bit far from him. It was fortunate that he came back when he did, because soon we were all caught in a downcurrent, We had to do quite a bit of hard finning and rock-grasping before we got to a more sheltered area. Well, it was a dream fulfilled to meet the mola mola again!
Other dives we had were at Toyapakeh and Blue Corner, also known mola mola sites. We found ourselves swimming with eagle rays, sea snakes and a marble ray that was amusingly swimming in the direct opposite direction, glancing at us as though we were silly clumsy aliens going the wrong way.
When we got back to the mainland, our accommodation was in a resort in Kuta, near the beach. We faced the pool and the view of it and its tanned inhabitants was quite a refreshing change... Being familiar with the layout of the land, I led the divers astray with the usual massages, shopping and the seafood feast with lobster thermidor. The evening was tapered off in my usual dessert spot Macaroni Club, near the memorial of the infamous 2002 Bali bombing, Among good friends and delectable food, it was another memorable trip to beautiful Bali!
Photo credits:
Mola Mola - Tze Cheng
French nudibranch, orangutan crab & yellow ribbon eel - Simon Kwek
Orangutan crab
A yellow ribbon eel with its usual gaping mouth and yellow-feathered nostrils
