If you escape the clutches of the tourist beaches closer to the airport in Bali, and the hippie yoga spiritual centre of Ubud, you might find your way to Amed, a small village famous for it's beautiful bay and the black sands that curve around and stretch toward Mount Agung, the highest peak in Bali.
At. 3,031 meters, this sacred volcano revered by locals as a spiritual axis, dominates the skyline with its near-perfect conical shape. It rises dramatically from lush rice fields and dense forests, visible for miles around and from the planes that offload thousands of tourists every week. Its slopes give way to terraced villages and temples.
We weren't at Amed specifically to see the volcano though, that had just begun to puff gently as we arrived. We were here to freedive and snorkel. People say the bay is like a swimming pool - both as it's wave free and warm, but also because it's a playground. Snorkelers frolick on the surface, and scuba divers descend to the depths. Then there's the free diving schools, where you can learn to hold your breath to swim underwater for minutes at a time. It's like flying. We loved it.
One morning I awoke at dawn for my morning beach walk. I tend to go offon my own - I love the space and quiet of early mornings, watching the world wake up. Fisherman were pushing out their boats and beach side cafe owners were tidying up from the night before. And there was Agung, smoke billowing. It was definitely more than gentle puffs.
By the time I got back to wake Jamie up, Agung was really huffing. Flights were being cancelled as it's obviously too dangerous to fly in an ash cloud. What did we do? We went freediving again.
I can't even explain to you the "wow" factor of being underwater seeing sea life up closer than you've ever been able to before and surfacing to a volcano spewing ash. It's impossibly cool. We were buzzing - properly immersed in the wonders of nature at every level. Every time we surfaced, we grinned like mad. Does at day at the beach get any better than this? Afterwards we sat drinking mango juice and eating nasi gorsng at one of the beach side restaurants, checking the Internet to see if we should be concerned. Locals and tourists alike kept staring at the volcano and offering exclamations of awe as the ash cloud grew higher.
Agung's worst eruption was in 1963-64 and it devastated much of the region, killing over 1,000 people and displacing tens of thousands. I imagined the lava flows sweeoing down its populated slopes, destroying villages, while like now, ash clouds spewed forth. That one was considerably worse, blanketing the island and disrupting the climate globally. Now there's early warning systems. We weren't worried - we were perfectly safe.
As our day on the beach extended we freedived and read and relaxed and watched the entertainment of the volcano. We drove our scooter to various viewpoints around sunset to drink in the spectacle. Tourists were united in their awe, standing together talking about whether their flight would be delayed and many secretly going they'd have extra time off work. We weren't leaving for another week and eventually would leave on our scheduled flight so we were t phased at all.
I've had hundreds of memorable days on beaches. With lovers on beaches walks to wild and deserted coves. Whales breaching. Surfing with dolphins and rays. Southern lights and meteor showers and comets. Skinny dipping. Mental health days. Sunrises and sunsets. Epic surf sessions. Galloping horses. If you look through my Google photos album there's thousands of memorable beach days.
But a beach day with a volcano! That's right up there with the best.
The Weekend Experiences community challenge this weekend asked us what was our most memorable beach day - this was in response to that.
With Love,
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What an extraordinary adventure and what wonderful photos you shared with us.
The power of the erupting volcano exerted a great attraction on the people that surpassed the sense of survival. I find them fascinating and I have only seen them in videos.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Regards @riverflows
aren't they cool? I never thought I"d see one go off in real life!
That's right!. A great experience