Cung (hubby) and I went on an “early” holiday on 1-10 December 2021. It was originally going to be a trip with our good friend Jerry and maybe his cousin who is a master instructor. Lo and behold, it developed into a 20 person diving trip to Kalimaya Dive Resort in Sumbawa, Nusa Tenggara Barat! We really needed this break, and I suppose the others did too.
The Diving
I haven’t ever dived in this area before, so it was completely new terrain. We hope to return because there was some very cool topography down there, with a very special spot for night diving called Black Sand. It was my first night dive and I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty anxious. I mean, on a night dive you can only see as far as your flashlight allows. Everything else, on top, under, all around you, is pitch dark. What an experience.
Once in the water though, it was not too bad because the spot we dived at was shallow (only until about 8 meters deep) with very calm waters and a sandy bottom for the whole spot. And on this sandy bottom, it was really something. There were critters everywhere! Literally where ever you pointed your flashlight there would be octopus, cuttlefish, colorful sea slugs, and many many other cute little thingies.
Sadly to say though, there were also tons of bombs. I have heard before that diving in Flores area had a high number of illegal fish and coral bombing, but this was the first time I experienced it. During the night dive itself, I lost count of how many bombs we heard while we were down there. It was more than ten. That distracted me and definitely detracted from my experience.
The People
A huge part of diving (or, I guess, any trip) are the people you go on the trip with . With such a big group and quite a lot of new faces, I think we lucked out in that it turned out to be a really great bunch of people, from experienced pro divers to those whose last dive was more than a decade ago. I also met some cool people, and this is how you know you get along: our next year diving trips are already booked with the same bunch of people 😀
The Resort
Kalimaya Dive Resort is truly an undiscovered jewel (and I think that’s kind of the best thing about it, the “undiscovered” part) in the middle of nowhere on Sumbawa Island. We couldn’t even get internet unless we went to the edge of the beach or the jetty. Talk about detox opportunity! The staff was super friendly, the rooms cute, simple, and nice, and the hot water was divine.
All in all, this was a great diving trip and we are excited to come back one day to explore more (bomb-free, please) spots.
