My first snorkel experience was a handful of years back, at Jemeluk Bay in Amed (on Bali's north coast). Never a strong swimmer, I'd wanted to learn to snorkel for a while, but was slightly intimidated by the idea of doing it in deep water, a long way from land. But in Amed, the reef is just off the shore, in fairly shallow waters. Obviously I had to try it, right?
I was entranced from the very first - thousands of small, brightly coloured fish. Fascinating shapes of coral. Even all the idiots standing and sitting on the reef didn't put me off (although I did spend a fair amount of time crossly telling people to get down off the reef, and mostly being ignored by arseholes who seemed to think it was their god-given right to destroy the reef they'd come here to see).
So when I was crossing Bali again on this trip, I definitely wanted to return to Amed, and re-experience the same wonder.
I saw my first lion-fish!
The reef at Jemeluk Bay is still a wonderful snorkel experience, even if it's still covered in idiots trying their hardest to kill it. If you get a chance to come here, do so. And can the local tourist association please hire reef life-guards to kick people off the reef, before the reef dies and takes your tourism industry with it?
I don't have an underwater camera, and typically don't take my phone to the beach, so I'm afraid I have no pictures of the reef. Sorry!
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| Sunrise over the beach at Jemeluk |
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