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 Bali’s latest muck diving site is an eye-opening treat! “Looks like we will be landing on Thursday and will have three or four days to do a spot of diving,”
I emailed to my friend in Annabel in Bali. “We’re thinking it’s been forever since we went up to the North, so what do you suggest?” Typically, she came back with some great ideas but ended with a challenge. “What say we try to incorporate this “new” dive site, Puri Jati on Bali’s north coast: it’s about time some underwater photographers outside of Japan heard about it!”
A few days later, we were crawling back up the beach, plastered with the hugest of grins. Don’t misunderstand the term crawled though. We were exhausted but not because the conditions were difficult. On the contrary, it’s calm and easy in the bay, but we’d done three dives at Puri Jati and each lasted nearly ninety-minutes. Each dive had been so utterly amazing that we just couldn’t drag ourselves away. But back to the beginning... Adventure dive
We were being looked after by Ketut and Wayan, two guys we have dived with before. We were happy to be with them, knowing they would do whatever they could to make our days successful. All the same, we were a little apprehensive. When you only have a few days do you really want to “waste” a day on experimental diving? Annabel had been really, really adamant that we should, and Ketut was extremely keen to show us some of the animals he had discovered at this new site.
We drove along the coast to Siririt. Although the mountains towered over us, the coastal landscape was flat, the plain here better known for its successful agriculture than anything else. Arriving at Puri Jati we were amused to find that the only entry to the bay was wedged between a vineyard and a rice paddy. At it’s heart was a lovely temple and just as we pulled up, the local villagers started their rice harvest. While the guides set up the equipment we wandered over to greet them.
Tim e please
In just a few minutes our guide, Ketut, called us to order. The kit was ready and he was eager to get us into the water. We waded into a sea so warm we couldn’t believe it. Dropping down that first metre was like swimming through oil. The top layer was a solid thermocline but at two metres it cleared and we saw a flat seafloor that extended quite some way offshore. The maximum depth across the bay is only about 10m (33ft) and you can swim for some time before you hit a sudden slope that drops away to about 30m (98ft). The bay is covered in.... almost nothing. There is virtually no protection for animals, just a few little patches of sea-grass and some large leaved Halimeda algae. There wasn’t even much rubbish. 
The Critter Cradle
However, the barren landscape was misleading. It turned out that the bay was one of the most prolific marine environments we have ever seen... providing you’re into babies. By the end of the day we had dubbed it the Critter Cradle in honour of the unlimited number of juveniles we had seen. Sliding down over the sand, we hovered fairly closely on Ketut’s tail. We were unused to such a landscape and barely knew what to focus on. But he took us in hand and we soon got the feel for it. Pausing by a dinner plate sized patch of grass, he would gently wave his hand over it. As the fronds moved, he would watch for a change in the texture, and then he would magically reveal a creature. The first was the smallest slipper lobster we had ever seen. Under four centimetres long, this was a perfect replica of an adult, yet you could still see the incredible texture on its carapace.
 We finned a little further and Ketut repeated the trick with some Halimeda algae, only to reveal the tiniest of beige sea horses. The smiles started and the cameras clicked frequently! OK, we were getting the feel for this. Moving at a snail’s pace over the sand, we would inspect every lump or outcrop. A walnut sized rock might have a crab beneath it, a small tin would harbour a coconut octopus. Even when the film was all gone and the digital card was full, we would hover slowly and just wait for another minute creature to materialise. It was amazing what did and we were still spellbound at 82-minutes when Ketut tapped his computer and suggested we should go up. Where had the time gone?
Once more...
On our second dive, we headed a little further to the west side of the bay, to the drop-off. After a long swim at 10m (33ft), desperately ignoring the urge to inspect every tiny object we swam over, we dropped over the edge and down to about 25m (82ft). The slope was a garden of small soft coral trees interspersed with sea cucumbers, sand dollars and a few urchins. We spotted a cockatoo waspfish that was the size of a fingernail and a hand sized adult a few metres away. Ketut pointed out a tiny white stonefish just 10mm long and several lionfish that were no bigger. There were more tiny seahorses and just-born filefish. To reinforce the maternity theme a split branch of bamboo harboured newly-laid squid eggs.
Perhaps the most fascinating babies Ketut found - we would never have seen them - were two frogfish. The first was the nestled on the sand and hardly seemed bigger than the grains sitting beneath him, while the second must have drifted into some algae and settled there. They were both so tiny they hadn’t even developed a lure. Strangely, there were very few adults of any of these critters. Many fish eggs live life as plankton, then drift into calm waters. No doubt this sheltered bay gave them safe haven.
 
Third time - really lucky
Although we had been in the water for such long stretches we couldn’t relinquish the chance of one more dive before sundown. Heading back over the sand we spotted a mass of shells, some with imperial shrimps living on them, and more imperials on cucumbers. We had just passed an eight centimetre-high juvenile batfish and were heading back to shore when there was one final discovery, one that more than justified the decision to spend the day diving here... a mimic octopus. This absolutely delightful creature is one of nature’s best. A small member of the family, its body just the size of an egg, the mimic has long legs that are striped in black and white. His form of defence is to change his body shape from one thing to another. We watched him perform this impressive dance for ages, turning from a flounder to a crinoid and even a lionfish. We followed him around on the sand, camera firing madly until he eventually found a hole to dive into. He disappeared for a few minutes then reappeared to perform one of his finest impressions, a sea snake. Applause all round.
An oasis
The gentle silence and incredible calm of Bali’s northwest corner is a stark contrast to the cacophony of noise that greets arrivals at Denpasar’s sophisticated airport. And stepping out into bustling Kuta leaves you with no illusions that the Island of the Gods is also a serious tourist destination. But if you’re looking for the Bali of picture postcard beauty... the one we remembered from our younger days, when rice paddies were more prominent than shopping malls, then all you have to do is head north. Here, the island returns to an oasis, away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. It seems that the fish must think so too, as they settle to spend their early years in the comparative safety of Siririt Bay.
Getting there
Singapore Airlines fly direct to Bali, www.singaporeair.com. The drive from Denpasar airport to this part of the north coast is 3-4 hours.
When to go
Diving on the Bali’s northwest is year round. Muck diving is not affected by visibility but if want to you combine this with the Menjangan Marine park bear in mind that the wettest time of year is just after Christmas.
Where to stay
There are less accommodation options in this area than down south but the Taman Sari Cottages, just about 30-minutes from Siririt are very nice and have several grades of rooms. www.balitamansari.com
Dive operators
There are a lot of operators in Bali. We dived with AquaMarine Diving, Bali’s only British owned and managed dive centre. They have extensive experience right across the island with well trained and enthusiastic Balinese guides. AquaMarine are a PADI Gold Palm resort and were Indonesia’s first Project Aware Go Eco Operator - www.aquamarinediving.com.
Waypoints
Bali
Nearest International Airport
Bali - Denpasar
 Dry Season
May to November
Electricity
Constant. 220V
Local Currency
Indonesian Rupiah
Country Dialing Code
+62 Text by: Beth Tierney
Photos by: Shaun Tierney
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