Great day out at sea

On Sunday, the 3rd full day in Bali, we went out for fun in the sea.

Hubs bought the packages on Friday evening after dinner at a discounted rate of USD75 from USD95 per person. Don't you just respect his bargaining skill? He learned there were many operators of the same kind and what this operator has that the others do not have are..

1. the platform we were going to spend a few hours in, is newer and better.

2. the platform has covered decks while the rest has none.

3. this platform has 2 decks while the rest only one.

4. the corals where this platform is based on, are alive while the rest are dead corals.

Actually, these are just hearsay also laa, dunno how true also...

We woke up very early that morning to stuff ourselves full at the hotel breakfast buffet first and then await the arrival of the van to pick us up to go to the pier.

Everything went well. We got the things we need, we applied layers of sunblock lotion whilst on the van and yes, the sun that day was very kind to us.

 The big boat which has 3-4 decks, was comfortable with aircond and comfy seats. Unfortunately, we were almost the lasts to board the boat and as there wasn't allocated seats, we were all scattered around. But then again, towards the later half of the ride, some of us went up to the open air deck to enjoy the sea wind blowing our hair like celebrities.

 The destination was this platform where we would spend about 3 hours before we were to hop back in to the big boat to return to Bali island.

There were around 200+ people on the boat, heard the day before was even more, about 300+!

 We quickly find our camping spot and after dumping all our bags there, hubs was the first to go into the sea, followed by the kids. I, of course, stayed to observe longer and take pictures first. The platform was rather impressive, it has a jacuzzi area as in the picture above.

 There's this slide where you go straight into the sea, how fun! The kids had uncountable times having fun on this slide.

 Life jackets of 3 sizes available for everyone.

 There's even this designated area for kids who are too afraid to go into the open sea. How cute!

 Ample showers to rid the salty seawater. No shampoo or soaps are allowed to be used.

 Changing rooms (which smelled terrible though)

 And even an underwater deck for people who doesn't want to get wet but like to see what's down beneath. Though I would say, the view wasn't enchanting from those windows.

 Snorkeling gear free to be used. The snorkeling experience wasn't quite a big deal though, mainly because the current was really strong. All of us couldn't swim far at all and I was very worried of the kids being swept away by the strong current too. I myself tried swimming and then figured the current sweep me back to the same spot, like I never moved away before. I got so exhausted making sure I was not drifted away far by the current, more so worried sick for the kids. So, we didn't spend much time enjoying the snorkeling experience, like what we did before in previous vacations.

 A buffet spread ready by 11am. Tasted so so, but well, as I've said, I'm no fussy eater. As long as it's swallow-able and I don't need to starve, I'm always good to go.

 They have this smaller semi-submersible boat which goes around in a small circle where we could see lots of fish and coral undersea. It was quite a good idea, but I would say, after sometime, it looked pretty much boring and the same. I won't go for a second time, let's put it that way.

We were then taken to a small island nearby after this semi-submersible boat, but there wasn't much to do. We were told there was cock fighting, some young people were playing volleyball and there was a beach but it wasn't much appealing. After using the toilet and hanging around for less than 10 mins or so, we wanted to go back to the platform instead of staying there any longer.

We went for banana boating for several rounds. I just went once and uh-uh, I don't fancy it very much. The kids were, of course, thrilled. I was praying hard that they come back safe and sound and not fall into the sea. Worry worry worry.. I'm indeed a worry fart. Watudo, just read this piece of news of a little 2yo toddler died after purposefully thrown into the sea at a banana boat ride. OK la, I know she was just 2yo, but still???

Anyway, we had a great day out at sea and everyone was happy. Even my FIL eventually got himself wet and tried the banana boat ride.