“I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopus’s garden, in the shade … “
Clearly, the husbear and I aren’t the only ones intrigued by the thought of an underwater adventure. It seems the Beatles were too!
There are so many things to do in Bali – but I was particularly keen to do the Bali Sea Walker experience.
Before we even left Australia, I’d booked discounted tickets through a website like Scoopon and it’s fair to say I was hoping that sea walking in Bali would be one of the highlights of our trip.
I wasn’t disappointed.
The great news is, unlike scuba diving, you can still wear your glasses. You don’t need any previous diving training or experience – or even to be able to swim. Heck, your hair doesn’t even get wet!
But let me start from the beginning.
To call it the Bali Sea Walker is probably a bit of a misnomer – we took maybe 50 paces at most 😉 .
After we had pulled wetsuits on over our swimsuits, we were taught some basic hand signals for our safety. For example, a thumbs up does NOT mean everything is okay – it means you want to go up to the surface! This information is important as you can’t talk underwater (well you can, but nobody will hear you).
We sped over the water in a small boat towards the dive platform, where weight belts were fastened around our waists.
Then came the moment of truth where we had to climb OUT of the boat into the lukewarm water (it IS the tropics after all),
My brave husbear led the way, and I watched as a helmet was placed on his head, before he descended down the ladder and disappeared under the water. Gulp! It’s quite confronting, putting your trust in the Bali sea walking company and their equipment in such an alien environment!
It feels like you are going against all the laws of nature, as you descend approximately three metres below water level. I took it slowly to give my ears a chance to adjust, you can definitely feel the difference in pressure – a bit like when you are in a plane.
At last I was on the sea floor – and what a marvel it was to be able to look around and breathe freely.
Our guide was was suited up in full scuba gear, along with a waterproof camera, which he used to capture our experience in photos and movie (we paid approximately $40 AUD to have this done and saved to a DVD).
Colourful tropical fish swarmed around me – some even nibbled on my fingers as I held my hands out! It was a little bit awkward to see out of the dive helmet if I turned my head – and I seemed to have no depth perception, things seemed a lot closer than they actually were – as I discovered when I reached out to grasp the hand rail.
Despite the weight belt I was wearing, I found I had to cling to the rail at all times for risk of floating off in the current!
Our guide handed us small bags of food to feed the fish – no wonder there were so many clustered around us!
In all I think we spent about 30 minutes underwater. The husbear said he would have been happy to re-surface after only about ten or fifteen minutes, but I felt that half an hour was just right.
One thing I would recommend is taking a towel so you can dry off afterwards – we didn’t event think of this. There were some available for hire but the weather was so warm I just threw my dress on over my wet swimmers and it really didn’t matter, I dried off in no time and at least I kept cool because I was still damp.
And so, I can now tick off item number 4 on my 50 Things for the Festival of 50 list.
What will be next?!
Would you be brave enough to try the Bali sea walker experience?
Oh I like the idea of something that’s a bit more protected than diving into the deep blue ocean with sharks and so forth!
It looks like great fun!
That’s why it appealed to me too Deb! I’m a chicken!
That looks like so much fun!!!!! Sign me up.
SSG xxx
Definitely worth doing. I’ve since heard you can do it at Green Island near Cairns too.
Oh wow! I’ve been to Bali so many times, but have never heard of this! It’s on my list for next time for sure.
It’s such a unique experience Jo – like scuba diving for wimps 😉
This is incredible! If ever I go to Bali I REALLY want to do this. Such awesome photos 🙂
You’ve almost convinced me I need to go to Bali to try this. Almost.
You’d love it! I felt a bit like you about Bali Raychael. Think I need to do a blog post about Bali for wimps.
I’ve always been terrified of scuba diving or going deep underwater in the sea because of my claustrophobia problem. Panics me even to look at all that gear that would be over my head. However, this does looks a little more controlled and maybe even doable! I’m a little conflicted too over whether I’d like Bali or not. One friend went recently and didn’t like it – said it smelled, was very hot, and was chaotic in a lot of parts. She enjoyed the shopping though. Mostly I’ve heard good things about Bali though!
It all depends where you go Min. I highly recommend where we stayed – in Nusa Dua. Some might argue it’s not the “real” Bali (full of 5 star hotels) but heck it was good enough for us, especially as I am quite a nervous traveller in Asia.
It looks like great fun and your face says it all! I’m not sure that I’d feel great about being cooped up in a helmet and I’d hang on to the rail too 🙂 #teamlovinlife
Surprisingly the helmet really didn’t worry me.
That looks awesome, although I’m not sure I’d be game enough to try it myself – I’m such a wuss!
I’m a wuss too Kirsty – but felt this was not too scary compared to scuba diving for example.
Oh my goodness, I feel claustrophobic just looking at that helmet! Looks like a great experience though ?
It was great Stef!
Love the idea that you didn’t even mess up your hair 🙂 What a wonderful experience and all those fish are amazing.
Visibility wasn’t that great that day which may have been just as well, who knows what else was lurking further away!
This looks like so much fun!
The helmets alone look worth it.
#TeamLovinLife
It was fun and something a bit different, even with the funky outfits and all 😉
It looks great. Now that you are an underwater walker and all, do you think you might progress to scuba diving?
Hmmm maybe … I would like to try an introductory lesson which are usually done in a pool …
This looks amazing. I’d love to try the Bali Seawalker experience 🙂 @TeamLovinLife
It was great but I’m glad we got the special deal, pretty expensive otherwise!
How fabulous. I never knew you could do this in Bali. It looks like you say a good variety of fish. 🙂 #TeamLovinLife
It was an incredible experience Kathy. Who knows – I might even get brave enough to give scuba diving a try now!
Love it! Noting for next trip to Bali and will share to facebook now. Haha, looks fab.
Love all your photos and great description of your Bali Sea Walker experience! It looks incredible. Where exactly In Bali did you do this Janet. I’m not sure if I will do it or not, when we visit Bali? But it’s a definite maybe. I believe the real moment of truth would be jumping into that deep water. Thanks for sharing this information. I love to read about experiences I might try 🙂
Hi Estelle, we got a voucher online before we left Australia and went with this company: http://balisuntours.com/package/bali-sea-walker/ – unfortunately I couldn’t find any special deals at the moment, but it is well worth it. I’m not sure exactly where we were taken, as the experience included being picked up from our hotel in Nusa Dua – somewhere in Benoa, I think, but it wasn’t too far, maybe 10-15 mins drive on the long toll bridge over the harbour?