We walked into town to find a driver to take us to the Underwater Volcano. No one was there. This has never happened to us in Indonesia. Ever! To not find a person with a vehicle willing to drive you somewhere for a fee just doesn’t happen! But it did. Never mind, we hopped straight in the sea and snorkeled. Later, we found a driver with a motorcycle becak, so in we hopped. The drive there was beautiful. Driving through steep dense forest, with cool air pockets and then warm tropical air pockets, wearing our wet snorkeling gear. Hello tourist!
We were dropped off beside the road near a rumah makan at a sign that said simply “Underwater Volcano” and pointed toward the sea. There were no more directions than that. We just had to get in the water and find it ourselves. We headed toward the area of bubbling mud on the shore that Dave saw several days ago. It wasn’t near there. When we finally found it, (approximately 250 metres off shore & only 5-10 metres deep) it was beautiful. It was like flying above mercury bubbles rising. I was mesmerized by the bubbles. It was meditational and peaceful just floating there above, looking down.
Surprisingly, the water was not hot. Yesterday we swam in warmer water than this. There was a slight sulphuric scent and the fumeroles where the bubbles came from were just like small cracks in the sand. The smallest bubble was the size of a pin head & the largest was golf ball size. There were only a few docile fish swimming around, but not many. It actually looked like a barren desertscape viewed from the air. Very peaceful & calming. One of the best meditations I’ve experienced.
