Bali (Day 7) - Amed Beach

We woke up and was ready for breakfast by 8:45 AM giving us 1 hour until the driver should arrive to take us to Amed Beach, just about 1 hour north of here.  As I looked off the balcony I caught a boat returning from a morning of fishing.

We again ordered the American Breakfast ate it, then returned to our room to finish packing.  We headed down to check out at 8:30 knowing that the driver will probably be early, which he was.  We got on the road to Amed right after 9:30 AM and enjoyed the drive up and over to the other side of the mountains.  It was quite the view from the top of the pass.

We arrived at our lodging in Amed before 11 AM.  They said they were almost done with our room, so mean while we enjoyed the welcome beverage.  Soon after the mixed fruit juice we were able to check into our room which was awesome since it was before noon.

The whole reason we are here at Amed Beach is to snorkel.  This area is supposed to be amazing for snorkeling and diving.  What makes this area unique is that you can dive right off the beach.  You do not need to go out on a boat.  

Before heading out, we decided to relax a bit, so we sat out on the chairs in front of the hotel on the beach which happened to be under some trees, so it was perfect.  We were discussing what we wanted to do for lunch, when one of the workers approached us and said that there was freshly caught fish from this morning and if we maybe wanted some later.  I told him that we were hungry now, so we said that it will be ready in 30 minutes.   About 30 minutes later, lunch was delivered to the table in front of our bungalow...freshly caught baby tuna and mixed vegetables with rice.  It was delicious.

By the way...when i paid our bill upon checkout the next day, they didn't charge for this lunch.  I asked about it and they said that it was a gift from the worker who caught it...WHAT?!?  I did leave a generous tip in the tip jar from that.

Anyway...after lunch we changed into our swimsuits, rented snorkeling gear from the hotel ($2 USD per set) and headed down the street looking for a place called Bobo that has a public access to the beach.  After only 5 minutes we arrived at Bobo, grabbed a couple of seats, and ordered mango fruit juice which they kindly served with popcorn.

It was now finally time to go snorkeling.  I geared up, got in the water, and put my face in to see amazement.  You didn't have to go far to see fish everywhere.  So many different colors and kinds.  it was amazing.  The coral was right off the shore, so the fish were as well.  I must have been out there for 1.5 hours before I came in for a break.

As we were sitting there resting up some, a couple came up from the water and said they saw a sea turtle out there.  I quickly grabbed my gear to see if I could see it as well.  After just a bit of swimming around I spotted it.  I then shared the new with others within earshot and we were now a group looking down upon a sea turtle doing its thing.  We even got to see it surface twice for air...amazing.  This was probably the best day of snorkeling I have ever had.

After snorkeling I returned to my chair, ordered a beer and watched the sunset while talking to other travelers sitting around.

We were going to order dinner from Bobo, but decided to head back to our lodging and eat there.  We picked up a couple of beers on the way, and ordered a couple of Greek Salads and Satay (me: Fish; Tim: Chicken).  I must have been starving after all those hours snorkeling because i didn't get a photo of the satay, but it was delicious.

After dinner we headed into the bungalow where I thought about blogging, but I fell asleep with the computer on my lap, so no blogging today.

Unfortunately we are only here in Amed Beach for one night.  Tomorrow morning a driver is going to pick us up at 9 AM to drive us to our next (and last) lodging.  Until then...