Third dive of Bali, what else could there be to see? One person asked, what was the most interesting thing you’ve seen? There was so many new things it was easy to get overwhelmed thinking of what stood out the most. While I was seeing most things for the first time in real life there was one thing in particular that I couldn’t identify at first. My accurate description was, “it’s flowing and comes in many colors.” Super easy to narrow down right? With enough google searches I could out what it was, but I’m not telling you yet, I’m making you wait.

SD Point is located on the northern side of Nusa Penida and is a drift dive. With an impressively strong current, this dive is not for beginners. After the back roll in you descend via line, then let go and try to stay balanced. At one point we stopped so a diver could calm his breathing, everyone grabbed onto a rocky outcrop and held tight. I turned to look back in the direction we had just come from and the currently nearly took my mask off. All in all, we drifted about 3km (roughly 1.5 miles) to the pick up point. For a 40 minute dive, that’s pretty far.

What did we see at SD Point? Hard corals like symphyllia aka brain coral, soft corals, fans, turtles, reef fish including triggers and parrots, and blue sea stars. Each species mesmerizing in their own right. Bright colors and bold patterns made each species pop and uniquely stand out on their own.

So out of all these different animals, which stood out the most? The sea lily. At first I mistook this animal for a coral but after further inspection at how they were anchored to rock, I decided it had to be something else. Long flowing tendrils can be black, vibrant greens, white, red, orange and so on. Some attach to hard surfaces and some are free swimming. To watch them move along with the current is almost hypnotic.

What amazing things have you seen while diving?