We first stayed in the Bukit peninsula in Bali where I surfed the major surf breaks of Bingin, Uluwatu, Dreamlans, Impossibles... waves are amazing, crowds are big and the reef is sharp! I did one shore dive at Uluwatu and there was a lot of fish around, it was difficult to figure out which fish to shoot because there are so many fish species that I just don't know at all! I didn't see much that first dive but it was still a great experience! We then went to Nusa Lembongen which is a 40min cruise away in a boat. We stayed there for 3 days and I surfed Shipwrecks (a crazy right hander that can give you the barrel of your life) and Laceration (another ridiculous right hander that can make you think you are in paradise until you realize how shallow you actually are). I did 2 trips over to Nusa Penida, this island used to hold the world record for Dogtooth Tuna so needless to say I was really excited!
The currents are hectic, and when I mean hectic I mean really really dangerous...I've never seen currents moving that fast in my life! I was diving in a small bay but diving with the current (because when it's going that fast there isn't much of an option) and at a few spots the current actually pulls down so you really have to be careful and watch your depth. The water is super clear, I'm talking 30-50m visibility so there's no sneaking up to reef fish! they see you doing your duckdive at 30m away and start swimming away! I managed to shoot a small doggie (I'll call him a puppy to give you a rough estimate on the size!) but I saw 2 GT's of 15kg plus which got my heart going! unfortunately for me and luckily for them they headed off long before I was even close enough to shoot.
After we left Lembongen we travelled around a bit and when we got back to Bingin area I managed to meet up with a South African and an expat American and joined them on a charter to Nusa Penida. This trip was one of the highlights of my whole trip! A few tips if you are planning on doing this, you need to know exactly where you want to go because if you charter a boat the "captain" generally wont have much of a clue. you need to be ready to deal with "broken" engines; if the "captain" doesn't want to travel further they will suddenly discover all sorts of problems with the boat. many of the companies don't look after their boats so keep that in mind when trying to find a charter.
It was an hour's journey in the fast boa from Bali to Nusa Penida and the first spot we stopped at looked amazing! Looked a bit like Jurassic Park with massive cliffs hitting the water and this "pinnacle" island sticking out of the water... we jumped in 800m infront of the small island and drifted towards it at quite a speed with the current... I was diving with a Freedivers 1.2 with 2 16mm rubber and had a double wrap but it felt like I had a 9mm compared to the other two divers who each had 1.65m guns with 5 16mm rubbers and 8mm spears...
on the first drift I saw 5 wahoo about 200m infront of the island and then as we got to the island I saw GT's... but not jus one or two or twenty...hundreds and they where MASSIVE! our main target was the Dogtooth Tuna and the wahoo but on the first drift I couldn't help myself and put in a great shot on a big GT stoning it with a spine shot. It was over 20kg and as I was pulling up on my line I saw my spear pull straight out, my shot had killed the fish but didn't have enough power to go all the way through the fish after hitting the backbone....so I helplessly watched my biggest fish to date drift down in the fast current... not a great way to start the day!
thenext few drifts was a repeat of the first with sightings from 1-15 wahoo infront of the island, school of small doggies 2-3kg, GT's, host of other fish... I did see two Doggies over 30kg but they where beasts and not interested in me, luckily because I'm not sure if I would have had the will power to not pull the trigger!!
in the front of the pinnacle there was a ledge with a "dead spot" in the current and if you got it right you could hang there for a bit and wait to see what would come around without the current pulling you past in a second... on one of my dives there I saw a nice doggie of about 10kg come in and I slowly swung my gun around while I looked the other way, when I turned to look he was right infront of me giving me a perfect shot... as I pulled the trigger I saw the spear go all the way through and I new I had placed a good shot and could put some pressure on the fish...nothing really gets you ready for the power of these fish! I was by that time being pulled down one side of the island and the fish decided to go the other way so he pulled me across the island against the current and down the other side! I was so happy when I finely got my hands on him!
I also lost a wahoo... this trip was the first time I've ever seen them and I had no idea how to approach these guys and it was a real learning curve. I managed to pull the trigger while I was aiming slightly behind the head of one and by the time the spear struck the fish it hit him just infront of the tail... I really should have fought it more gently as it quickly pulled out and left me longing for another opportunity to get one that just never came!
on my last drift I had decided that I really wanted a GT and decided to drift on the "wildside" of the island where there was alot of white water because on the other side the GT's where staying really deep! while I was drifting in the clouds of white water there was a clear patch and I saw a beautiful GT coming towards me; I lined up quickly and took a near perfect shot. the fish could give a small fight but I could see that the shot must have been near the spine and it was coming up quickly.
we had one wahoo (despite seeing so many!), two doggies over 10kg and one GT of 20kg...perfect day!
a few days later I was off to G land... near perfect 4-6ft waves greeted us as we arrived and I was straight in for a 3 hour surf session, the next day was also filled with surfing and then the waves dropped off... I was told there was good spearing so on the first dive I shot some local reef fish which was interesting but I was actually looking for some game fish. On my next dive as soon as I cleared the impact zone and loaded my gun i headed off to search for some good terrain... I found some promising structure in 3m of water and dived down and as I looked to my left this beast of a GT came straight in at me and almost started rubbing his back on my speartip... needless to say I wasn't going to argue with the fella and I planted a good shot just below the spine which took out all his energy and I had him in my hands quickly... that fish was somewhere between 15-20kg... the next day I was out there again hoping for more of the same and blanked completely! much to the very disappointed people at the surf camp!
The following day I did the same and this time just as I loaded my gun after dragging my way through the strong current and swell I had a beast of a GT with a serious suicide wish almost impale itself on my spear, this one gave me a serious rev and dragged me first into the slightly deeper water and then straight back into the impact zone! it was a crazy fight and I was blown away when I got my arms around him! The fish weighed over 20kg and also fed the whole camp and staff!
The total score for G-land was:
3 GT’s (one of over 10kg, another over 15kg and another over 20kg)
2 parrots (amazing eating!)
Few smaller travely’s which where also such good eating!
I've attached some of the photos