Bali Dive Blog

Hengky’s long lost American cousins came for a quick visit to Bali. As they had grown up in California, Hengky had only met them once- at least 20 years before- when his family went to the States to visit relatives.

Brian Thio, the oldest of the three, got in touch via email many months before. He was in the middle of his open water course in Catalina, California, and was incredibly excited about diving Bali’s tropical waters. We were excited, too. Not just to get back in touch, but also to show them what Bali’s dive sites had to offer.

The emails went back and forth and we found that Brian was a very enthusiastic diver- progressing directly to his advanced course despite the cold waters of California (which would certainly have stopped me). But he wasn’t coming alone.

Brian Thio arrived in Bali with his girlfriend, Heather (also a newly certified diver), his twin sisters Patty and Prissy, Prissy’s husband, Brian- EGADS, and their friend Ryan. Okay- who’s confused now? Plus Uncle Donny, their Dad, and Auntie Linda, their Mom. We picked them up at Ngurah Rai airport and were instantly overwhelemed… what? Two Brians and a Ryan? Identical and identically dressed Patty and Prissy? How would we ever tell them all apart?

Brian and Linda hadn’t been back to Indonesia since they had moved to California some 27 years before. Patty and Prissy had made one trip a few years ago, and Ryan and the other Brian were newbies. After getting them settled at their hotel in Nusa Dua, we arranged to pick them up bright and early the next day, December 18th, for the diving to begin.

Lala met them at the hotel and escorted them to “KSDC HQ” where we negotiated who would be in what car and the caravan set forth for Tulamben. We had enlisted Mia, Tom and Lala to help us get them all in the water and guide the certified divers and run a discover scuba experience for Patty, Prissy and Uncle Donny. Still overwhelming pregnant, I was in charge of the orientation and gear.

It was finally decided that Brian Thio, Heather, the other Brian, and Ryan would dive with Lala and Mia as they were all experienced divers. Having finally gotten gear settled, they set off for the wreck and their first dive of the day. Tom and Hengky took it a bit slower with Patty, Prissy and Uncle Donny, going over the equipment they would be using and having a drink in the cafe before following everyone else to the wreck.

It was a sunny, beuatiful morning so I relaxed in the pool and enjoyed floating the baby’s weight off my back while swimming some laps and waiting for everyone to get back. As I expected, the first group arrived BEAMING with bright smiles and enthusiastic exclamations of all they had seen. They settled in for lunch and were quickly engrossed in recounting all they had seen.

Time passed and still there was no sign of the discover scuba group. We were having a hard time imagining what could be taking them so long. They finally trudged back. Uncle Donny was looking a bit daunted by the whole experience, but Patty and Prissy were ready for more. The cerified divers were ready for their second dive of the day- this time to the Drop-Off, and after a hasty cigarette break, Hengky and Tom decided to join them.

Patty, Prissy and Uncle Donny relaxed over lunch and recounted their experiences. I gave up on getting anymore swimming in as the skies darkened and the rain began to fall. The certified divers came back and Tom and Hengky finally managed to have some lunch during the surface interval.

Still enthusiastic and excited to take advantage of all the tropical diving they could, a third dive was planned again to the Drop-off. This time everyone was going in together, with Uncle Donny and I sitting it out. It was a bit rushed as we had originally only planned for two dives, but with everyone so incredubly eager and keen, it was impossible to say no. The group headed back to the Drop-off in hopes of spotting some octopi, and instead got to see a HUGE barracuda as well as a pair of ghost pipe fish (Thanks Pak Oka).

It was late afternoon when we all finally piled back into the cars for the drive back south. Auntie Linda was still waiting at the hotel, so we put off any thoughts of dinner. It was raining most of the way back and the beautiful scenery was now darkened, so our intrepid divers dozed off in the back.

Dropping everyone back at the hotel in Nusa Dua, Hengky and I finally headed home.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2006 at 09:15 and is filed under SCUBA Diving, Bali, News, Dive Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.