Snorkeling - Gili Air and Gili Meno

Wednesday & Thursday. We’ve spent a lot of time submerged in the last couple of days. The water is a perfect temperature (nice escape from the heat) though the currents have been strong.
We did a few hours snorkelling here at Gili Air, starting with Turtle Point. We did see one small turtle just cruising along and were able to follow it, until something spooked it. The coral condition and diversity are pretty good in this side of the island (North East) and there are lots more fish than on the other side.
After snorkelling I baked bread and Dale set up the hookah so he could clean the hull. We had our own ecosystem growing on us, and it really makes the boat sluggish.
This time I kneaded the bread for much much longer and the results were much better! I also made a batch of yoghurt (thanks for the tips Elizabeth K). Dale does have a yoghurt maker (somewhere 😜) but I just wrapped a tea towel around the bowl and set it on the deck to do its thing. Success - we had it for breakfast with granola and banana! We didn’t die - so I’d say that’s a win too.
The evening was especially beautiful - we ate on the boat, then Dale went to bed as he’d had a huge day fighting the current. I enjoyed the island lights and the music drifting across the water.

On Thursday morning we jumped in the dinghy and motored to Gili Meno to snorkel the ‘Bask Nest’ sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor (same guy who did MOUA off Townsville).
The water was rough on the way, and the new motor proved its worth. My injured elbow did not enjoy the trip at all, and hanging on for dear life, really wrenched it around!

When we arrived at the site at Meno there were boats everywhere, with at least 50 snorkelers in the water 😬.
Luckily ? the weather worsened so by the time we’d anchored and swim over, there were only about 6 left!
These were installed in 2017 (2 yrs before MOUA) and have a nice coating of marine life on and around them.
I feel that these are more attractive than the Townsville ones. The circular design and the fact that it is a compact design gives it more impact that MOUA which is really spread out. I guess MOUA has the benefit of accommodating more divers at once. The Gili Meno ones can be viewed by snorkelers (even glass bottom boats) and are relatively close to the beach so are more accessible to visitors.

Anyway we managed to take a bit of video - enjoy!

After more boat scraping by Dale (the sea lice were dreadful) and working by me, the day was almost done. Then Dale noticed a big beetle clinging to a bit of plastic in the water. He decided to rescue it and leapt into the kayak, overturned it, climbed back in and paddled out to see chasing it! Look closely (zoom in) at the water shot and you can see the red dot in the water! Eventually he gave up and had to paddle back against the strong current.
This guy might have a dirty bottom (hull) complete with crabs and (sea) lice, but he has a big heart ❤️.
We finished the day on shore at ‘Star Bar’. We were the only diners as the island is virtually deserted now. It was really beautiful and peaceful. The Barman was lovely and friendly and went to a lot of trouble with his garnishes on our Margarita glasses. He showed us how to do the sunrise one, and even did a cat after he saw us petting a local cat who came to visit.Read more