We love snorkeling! I haven’t gone snorkeling since a family trip to Hawaii a few years ago, and it feels amazing to be exploring coral reefs once again. We stayed four nights in Tulamben and two in Amed Beach (both on the Eastern side of the island). We slept through a 5.0 earthquake the other night, but thankfully the volcano Mt. Agung slept through it too. It erupted enough times last year and it deserves a break this week.

The wreck of the USAT Liberty is just 30 meters offshore from Tulamben. It was eerie to swim over it and see the fish and coral that had made a home in the hull. I didn’t know how we were going to find the shipwreck, but on two separate days we were able to swim around for an hour and eventually locate it. We saw florescent fish and vibrant coral in the reef. A strong current swept us up the beach, and we had to walk back to our departure point. Even with snorkel fins, we could not overcome the current. I kept an eye on the shore as we swam to confirm that it wasn’t a riptide carrying us out to sea.

The waters of Amed are calm. The fish are less bright and much larger, and they have sea turtles! I wish I had pictures of the underwater scenes, but just imagine swimming in an aquarium with occasional sea turtles popping by.

When we aren’t snorkeling, we are having poolside drinks or lounging on the patio and reading.

I haven’t done any yoga yet because it is 90 degrees and I am sweating too hard to even hold a plank. I don’t know how people intentionally pick hot yoga. Maybe if I find a studio with AC or at least really grippy mat I will give it a shot.

Taxis here work the opposite way of US taxis. As we walk down the street to a restaurant, taxis drive after us and cut us off shouting “Taxi! Taxi?” When we say no, they try to hand us their business cards or offer their WhatsApp number for our future use. Then they circle back and do the same thing again. It is extra confusing when the scooters do this.

The fruit here is amazing. Most of the food is bland, but the fresh fruit tries to make up for it by being perfectly ripe and abundantly flavorful. Smoothies, fruit bowls, Radlers and fruity crepes with toasted coconut on top of everything: rice, bread, curry, other fruit. Our fruit intake was a bit low in Nepal so we are catching up now.

It’s nice to slow down and relax. Today we head to the South of the island. Once we scope it out, we will decide how long you stay and then buy plane tickets to our next destination.