Compass Divers - Gili Trawangan

In Gili Trawangan, Tim and I spent three days with the team from Compass Divers completing our SSI Open Water Certification. We had a blast, which such a good crew and an awesome time in the water!

On the first day before our dive, I'd mentioned off-hand to Tim how cool it would be if we were to see some turtles during some point of the course. An hour later, we had come back from our first dive which encountered five turtles.

I considered to be an incredibly special experience. For me, it's been a turning point of the trip. I had been mindful of the fact I'd intended the trip to be bike packing orientated where we had steered off in order of exploring places both Tim and I would be happy for. I got much more out of the diving than I expected (much more than five turtles) which has kept me mindful towards smelling the roses, if you will.

A little bit on the history of Gili Trawangan marine life: the Gili Islands have a history of dynamite fishing in the area, which too it's effect has destroyed much of the pristine coral from the region. The Gili's also suffer from the effect of climate change. Coral will bleach on extended periods of increases in ocean water temperature which can occur with just 1.5 degrees difference. In the time we were about I suspect coral was bleaching, although I couldn't tell between that and the dynamited coral about.

A massive thanks to the crew at Compass Divers. For all your professionalism and good vibes! Rozzie, Samsal, Ebing, OG - you guys are all incredible guides. Thank you to Jon, Eka and Titi for helping us with our needs and being the best. Also a special thanks to those that we spent our time with on and off the water - Luis and Liza in particular.

For a tourism outfit, you guys treated us like we weren't just any tourists. We had such an epic time hanging out with all of you. Thank you once again and we hope to see you out on the water another time.Read more