Out to meet our driver at 9 am. Refused to have breakfast at the hotel because at 98.000 Rupiah ($8), we deemed it egregious. During our 30 minute drive to the boat, I yelled out “stop!”, and Lance and I hopped out and into a local bakery. After much consultation, we tried a bag of crispy crepes and something cooked and folded up in a large green and yellow leaf. So sorry the picture of that didn’t come out – it was spectacularly good! Curried rice, crispu bits of onion and a hard boiled egg plopped in the middle of it, with a daub of hot sauce. We share and we loved.
Arrived at the dock as the boat pulled up to disgorge 5 men from the states leaving the resort, and take on the two of us. It’s a delightful 25-minute ride (which makes me think for the first time in planning the trip, what if it’s so close to the main city of Manado that the reefs are kinda funky?), during which I chat with Cindy and hang out on the bow:
We arrive and are greeted by super smiley, friendly people. Our room is rather near some construction noise, so Lance walks around to see what’s what, and we move to a beachfront villa, that is so delightful. I am very tired after the 2 am arrival at the hotel, so take a bit of a nap before enjoying lunch on the beach, which is where it’s served every day:
After another rest, we head over to the dive shop to chat about the set-up and to fill out paper work. We then take an afternoon snorkel off the local jetty, and it’s beautiful and the water is SO warm, yay!
A lovely dinner and an early bedtime to be rested for our morning dives.