Day 112, Year 3: Beautiful, Peaceful Southern Rinca Island
Date: Hari Jumat (Friday), Bulan Agustus 29, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day; No More Dark Clouds and Sprinkles
Location: Lehok Uwada Dasami, Rinca Island, Komodos, Indonesia
We spent a very peaceful day here in Lehok Uwada Dasami. We tried to do a high tide snorkel on the bommie where we saw the unbelievable underwater life yesterday, but the current was just too strong. I was the sacrificial lamb that got in to the water, but I could only hold my own. There was no way I could swim forward. So we abandoned that idea and with Robert and Tina of Shirena, we headed to across the bay to the shores of Nusa Kode which is the island that sits in the middle of this bay.
It turned out to be a nice snorkeling area with lots of fish and even turtles. It was nothing like we saw yesterday, but it was good for a starter for today. We then went back to our boats to do daily chores and to prepare for the afternoon return to the bommie where we snorkeled yesterday. We returned there at 3 pm which we determined to be low tide. We simply have to use our observations for exact tide times and there is no “official” guide. Our timing was perfect and we all spent an hour in fantasy land. I have never even imagined swimming with so many fish. Today there were hundreds of fish in any direction we ventured. What an experience. I’m not sure we will ever see anything like this again in this lifetime and it was absolutely killing me that our underwater camera is not working. Tina does have an underwater camera and she did get some pictures today. I can’t wait to take a look at those.
We had Tina and Robert over for dinner and spent a lovely evening with them. One of the greatest things about cruising is meeting other cruisers and sharing these special parts of the world together. Jean-Pierre and Colette on Safina left early this morning but we will catch up with them tomorrow. This has been one of our favorite anchorages this cruising season, putting it right up there with Lizard Island. This one was even more special, however, as we had it all to ourselves. There was one live-aboard dive boat in the next little nook, but nothing else other than monkeys and dragons to distract us. Tomorrow we will move seventeen nautical miles to Komodo Island to an anchorage known as Pink Beach. We talked to Safina on the radio tonight and they reported that they arrived there today and find it a beautiful anchorage as well. Maybe it really does get better than this.
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| 080830 Day 112 Komodos, Indonesia–Underwater at Lehok Uwada Dasami, S Rinca |
