Been back for almost a week so figured the jet lag is finally chilling. I really am jealous of all you Aussies who can pop over to Bali in a few hours.
Well, we left our home town which is 400 miles north of Vancouver(Canada)on February 11th, flew to Singapore the next day ( 18 hours) , overnight in Singapore then on to Bali for two weeks. YES- the vacation finally began. Had the most amazing time in Bali. We stayed in Jimbaran Bay at the Keraton Bali. It's a very cool place. It's not at all pretentious. Just a small, very pretty hotel and grounds with great staff and a lovely stretch of beach.I read a previous JBR where the writer said that she was very disappointed with Jimbaran Beach as she saw some garbage(plastic bottles etc)there . I did see some crap near the seafood restaurants a few minutes walk from our hotel, and I agree that's a shame, but it could be cleaned up very easily, it's not terminal like beach erosion.We walked extensively all along the shoreline and for the most part, I'd say it's definitely one of the nicer beaches in Bali.
Now, I'll probably get lots of flack regarding my next comment. Since we were staying so close to the seafood restaurants, we consequently had to try some of them. In fact, we tried three different restaurants during our fortnight. Although the fish was OK( we had red snapper one night, then white snapper another night and grouper the third time), I have to say that I have eaten way better shellfish in the Carribean, Hawaii and even in coastal Canada. The squid was like rubber - OK, I know it gets that way with even being overcooked by a minute or so. The prawns and clams were on the mushy side, and the clams that we had in the one place just didn't taste right.I think that was at The Jimbaran Beach Cafe. Can't remember the names of the other two cafes. We kind of wondered if maybe the ocean is just too warm for optimum quality seafood, as we also had some seafood in a restaurant in Seminyak and it was no screaming hell either. After that, we stuck pretty well to ethnic foods. We really liked the restaurants in Seminyak, particularly Mykonos Greek Restaurant , and the Moroccan Restaurant that is on the same street ( I believe the street is Oberoi). In Kuta, we had an awesome rib feed at Poppies.
So, on to the snorkelling. It was good at Tulamben, but very hard to get into the water with all the rocks.( Us Canadian's have sissy feet because of our cold winters ). Also, the current was very strong that day and I didn't stay in the water very long as I was finding it hard to swim against the current( Fifty something years of age with hip replacements). We went over to Nusa Lembongan and stayed overnight at the Bali Tide Huts. Went on the Bali 2 and snorkelled off the reef pontoon before going in the small boat for the few mintues ride to the island. For the first few minutes the visibility was good, but as more and more people got into the water it was getting really filmy, with sand churning up from the bottom. Over at the island itself we snorkelled offshore , and the water was surprisingly chilly. Nonetheless, I got my back burned, as of course you don't realize until night time that exposed skin fries when you are swimming. I've done that enough times to know better.
We also went Scuba Diving a few minutes boat ride from Nusa Dua. First time for me, my husband used to dive years ago. And Yes, Moi the phobic one DID see a sea snake. Anyway, I surprised myself as I didn't freak out. We had a digital camera with a waterproof case, so got some awesome underwater shots. The one of the snake could be a little clearer , although it doesn't take much imagination to see what it actually is. A woman in our hotel who went to Bali strictly for the diving told us that we had to have been mistaken, as she had done 10 dives that trip and hadn't seen a sea snake. She suggested that what we had seen was probably an eel. I don't think so! Black and white banded thing with a flat tail!Looked a helluva lot like a snake to me!
Anyway, thanks to Mister Steve, Shaz, Warwick, Madge, Zabowskee, Lesliey,Larry and Tuberose for the advise and some very funny replies to my request for info on sea snakes.
Can't believe that it all went so quickly. We spent four days in Singapore on the way home, and although it was interesting, it was very anticlimactic after Bali. I think that Bali has got to be right up there with our list of favourite vacation spots. Would go back in a heartbeat, but even though it's cheap once there, it's expensive for us to get there, so don't know when we can go again. Maybe when we win the lottery. (Yeah, right). Now I don't why everyone raves about Bali on this forum. Judiper