A day snorkelling little islands around Labuan Bajo
'She would be half a planet away, floating in a turquoise sea, dancing by moonlight to flamenco guitar.'
Janet Fitch, White Oleander
We loved our day out on the water and especially with the views we had from our villa in Labuan Bajo we knew that we had to get out on the water again. So, we did. We looked around main street for a while and found another little tour charter that would take us to three different diving/snorkelling sites. It turned out to be just us and another couple who were going to dive (we are not PADI certified yet - soon! - unfortunately, but we were more than happy to spend our time snorkelling and free diving in short breaths down (we are still learning how to do that, especially myself). We met up early at the fishermans' docks and got onto a cool wooden scuba boat, met our crew for the day, and we were off! It was a perfect, sunny day around the island so we enjoyed the boat trip out to the first spot, chatting to a girl who was part of the crew and watching the unbelievably glassy surface of the ocean slice perfectly around the boat as the captain navigated us through the little islands.
The first of three stops for the day was a stunning little island with white sands and water of beautifully crisp shades of ocean aquas, blues, and turquoises. Even from the boat before we even got our gear ready to jump in, it was clear that this water was incredibly clear. We put on sunscreen, cleared out our masks, and tightened our fins and in we jumped. I have said this before and I will stay it again, the water in this part of the world is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It does not matter what time of the year it is, what time of day it is, or any of that. This is just what the water is like here...coral growth scattering the ocean floor, colourful fish, starfish, sea urchins, cuttle fish, and sea turtles. We swam around the islands where the reef dropped off the side of the island and into the deep. Diving down deeper to swim with the fish, it was so much fun to see them whirl around you in dizzying flashes of vibrant colour. Not afraid of you, just curious.
And then, out of nowhere, a sea turtle surprised us! Swimming gracefully through the brilliantly clear blues, this little guy stayed around for a while before continuing on with his day. Under the surface, watching that little turtle glide through the ocean, it feels like paradise. And it is. It really is. Watching that footage still makes me smile. I think it always will. This was a beautiful little island and the best start to our second day out on the water. This tour was smaller than the first (which is wild considering the tour to Komodo only had six of us and the boat crew) and a much slower pace, which was nice and relaxing. So, after spending a while snorkelling around this little place, we climbed back up onto the boat and had some water, a snack, and dried off on the top of the boat before it was time to head to the next destination for the day.
After the boat got to the next destination, we again drank some water and put on some sunscreen. We took it easy for a while, hanging out on the top of the boat and taking in this fresh perspective of the paradise that we felt like we were starting to get to know. From the top of the boat we could see all around us, not another boat in sight. And then it was time to get in the water again. I don't think I will ever tire of the feeling of getting into the water and seeing the world underneath the surface come alive. It is one of the many reasons that I am so excited to continue practicing my breath hold and to get PADI certified. I just cannot seem to stay down there long enough (with time, it will come). You would think that after a while, these stops all feel and look the same, but let me tell you that is not the case at all. This place was a perfect little pocket of crystal clear shallows that dip off into deeper waters and beautiful, thriving reef all around.
The water, again, was unreal. There were little schools of glittering fish, vibrant parrot fish, patterned cuttle fish, and even some eagle rays! One of the crew snorkelled with us and pointed out so much of the sea life to us. One of my favourite sights in the world is watching Josh dive down to swim with the fish around the reefs. He is so careful and so respectful - and graceful, at that. He swims like he belongs in the ocean. And the fish come so close to him, even closer than they do to me or anyone else I have ever seen on a tour or just out on the water (except of course the locals...they are one with the ocean in a lot of ways, if that makes sense). We explored the reefs, holding our breath and diving down to get to know our new fish friends. And here there were a few cuttle fish that were bright and curious. We had never seen cuttle fish before this trip and honestly it was pretty amazing to get to see them up close and in front of our own eyes.
A remarkable little pocket of paradise, clean and untouched by the greed of humanity that has fractured so many other places on Earth, this stop was probably my favourite of the day (even though my favourite moment was seeing the turtle on the first stop of the day). We spent a long time in the water. So long, in fact, that we had to be beckoned out of the water to make it to the final stop of the day. We got so caught up in the magic of that underwater paradise that we did not even realise that we were running out of time. That's the thing about getting in the water in this part of the world...you want to stay in longer and yet you also want to get out to explore more incredible spots around the islands. This is the magic that places like this have to offer the world and those of us who are fortunate enough to get to see and explore them for ourselves.
And finally, a little island to explore shipwrecks and shallow reefs. The couple who dove got to go down to the shipwreck, which they said was incredible. We could see the dark shape of it but it was so deep down that we could not hold our breath long enough to see it. Even so, this spot was magic. Cuttle fish gracefully navigating their way around the reefs and the drop off down to the deep, glittering fish swimming everywhere, and sea urchins and starfish naturally decorating the sea floor below. The island had some beach huts, so you could obviously stay here if you wanted to, however even just getting to experience it for a few hours was unreal. We swam beneath the pier, around the boat, in the shallows, and down into the surrounding depths. I could have kept diving down all day. The peaceful quiet of swimming under the surface of the ocean never gets old. Anyone who loves the ocean and has been fortunate enough to explore it can tell you this.
After an hour or so, we jumped back up into the boat and it was time to navigate our way back to the shore, back to Labuan Bajo. As the boat made its way back in, gliding between the little islands that peppered the main island, we were smiling broadly, grinning so widely that my cheeks actually hurt from smiling. It was a perfect day in a perfect place. This tour was quite different to the first one that we took to Komodo. Even so, it was pretty incredible in its own special way. I love that we took another day to explore the ocean around East Nusa Tenggara so that we could explore it all in a few different ways. After docking back at the fishermans' docks in the late afternoon, we decided to quickly scooter to a little restaurant on the main street to have a drink and something to eat before heading back to the villa to watch the sunset with a few ice cold beers...just another day for Josh and me in paradise.
