On this diving trip, we searched for one of the largest bony fish in the world: the ocean sunfish (Mola mola). The experience we had was sizable – in more ways than one. They say every dive is a learning opportunity, and our time in Nusa Penida was a perfect reminder of that.
This isn’t a guide on where to dive in Nusa Penida — we only had one full day in the water. Instead, it’s a reflection on the experience. Join me as I navigate both the currents and my own anxiety in the waters there.
Why We Went to Nusa Penida
Nusa Penida is a top diving site for seeing the Oceanic sunfish, also known as the Mola mola. The best season to see them is July to October, when the water is cool and crisp, attracting these giants.
We were in Bali for a wedding in September, and since it was only a short boat ride from Sanur to Nusa Penida, we jumped at the opportunity. Our time was limited, but we managed to fit in 2 nights there – we arrived on Saturday, had one full day of diving on Sunday, and then left for Denpasar Airport the following day.
Just over a year ago, I had never heard of a Sunfish. When I first saw a video of it, I even stopped and question whether it was AI-generated. Since then, seeing one has been on my list. I had hoped to spot one while diving in Raja Ampat, but sightings there are rare, and unfortunately, we didn’t see any.
Earlier this year, I finally got to see a whale shark for the first time and got to cross that off my list. So I was hopeful that my luck would continue…
The Pre-Dive
If you didn’t know, I often have pre-dive anxiety. Usually it starts with multiple bathroom visits, feeling queasy, a racing heart, shallow breaths, and my mind searching for any excuse not to go.
This time, it didn’t start off like that. When I woke up and went to breakfast, I was strangely calm. Even when the van came and picked us up to go to the dive center, the nerves were absent. I thought maybe I had finally shaken off my pre-dive anxiety.
Then the van started driving – and there she was: my trusty old nerves finally woke up. Sigh. At least the nerves weren’t as strong as usual.
Although the symptoms weren’t intense, in the back of my mind I was a little more worried than usual. Not only hadn’t we dived in 5 months, but this would be my first dive post-surgery. I also wasn’t looking forward to the cold water nor getting into my 5mm wetsuit. The negatives were stacking up.
The First Dive
Our first dive site was Crystal Bay, said to be the “home” of the Sunfish. It’s popular, so by the time we arrived, there were many dive boats—and, of course, many divers. I don’t particularly enjoy crowded dive sites (who does?), so that added to my pile of nerves.
Also, I usually find the first dive to be the hardest and I often struggle. This was the first dive of the day and of the trip, the last trip being 5 months earlier. My pile of nerves is now a sizable stack.
Usually, my anxiety melts away as we descend, but this was one of those times it stayed.
The current hit us early on, and I felt I hadn’t had a chance to settle. I found myself finning harder than I would like as I tried to keep up with our guide. I can’t say whether it was because of my fitness (I hadn’t been exercising as much) or because I was anxious – likely a bit of both – but I started to feel puffed out.
As I was already wrangling with my anxiety, I knew I couldn’t continue at this pace. I’m at the stage now where I’m not so self-conscious or embarrassed about asking to slow down – you shouldn’t, as a diver, let something like that stop you from saying something. But unfortunately, especially as a newer diver, I had worried about whether that would annoy the guide.
Now, looking after myself first, I signaled for us to slow down. Contrary to my fearful mind, the guide was not annoyed but instead apologised because of it.
Although the pace was slower, my mind continued racing – “What if we hit a really strong current?”, “What if I can’t keep up?”, “I feel puffed, and it’s only been a couple of minutes… how am I going to last the whole dive?”
However, this is not my first rodeo wrestling with nerves underwater and I have a few go-tos:
- Control your breathing (breathe in for a count of 2 and exhale for a count of 5)
- Appreciate the beautiful corals
- Find something interesting – on this dive it was the school of little yellow fish
The controlled breathing not only helped calm my nerves by putting me into a meditative state, but it also helped my air consumption – despite breathing hard at the start, I ended up with the same air as my non-anxious dive buddy.
Unfortunately, the anxiety didn’t completely disappear – it lingered in the background, ready to leap into action if I let it. But I didn’t. Because of that, it wasn’t the best dive, and I ended up with a sore jaw afterwards from clenching hard. Sometimes it happens that a dive is less-than-ideal, and that’s okay too.
Keeping your nerves at bay isn’t fun, but I take it as another experience under my belt and another confirmation that I can.
As I wrestled with these undue worries and refocused my attention on keeping calm, some things were set aside – but never safety. Looking out for Sunfish was one. Taking photos and videos was the other.
I had decided it was time I began taking more photos and videos with my GoPro, and so I had planned to do just that on this dive. However, that went out the window as I worked on keeping my nerves at bay. I tried a couple of times, but each time I just didn’t feel comfortable, so I abandoned the idea. I was disappointed, but I’d rather be calm and safe than push through. There’s always next time.
In hindsight…
On reflection, because I wasn’t feeling nervous in the morning, I skipped the usual prep talk with my partner/dive buddy – a grounding exercise. And so, I didn’t properly address my concern about this being the first time diving after surgery (although I had been cleared to) or that we hadn’t dived in a while. Had I verbalised it, some of that mental load may have been reduced.
Lesson: prep talks are important.
The Second Dive and the Pull Towards Comfort
Our second dive site was Toyapakeh. Now that I re-familiarised myself with being underwater I was more relaxed. A little bit of anxiety lingered, but I was able to keep it at bay while also enjoying the beautiful soft corals as we drifted.
Apart from the beautiful corals, nothing else stood out and again, no Sunfish. So, as we headed to lunch after the second dive, we resided on the possible fact that we weren’t going to see a Sunfish on this trip.
After lunch, I was feeling tired and cold. The thought of getting back into my 5mm wetsuit, pulling it up inch by inch, was draining. Then my inner voice whispered, “Is the third dive really worth it? Sit this one out.” I even mentioned it to test the water and see if my partner felt the same. He didn’t. And so, with the fear of missing out (FOMO) as lure, I found myself getting back into the cold wetsuit. Shudder.
The Third Dive
Our third dive was in PED, just a 5-minute boat ride from shore. It was similar to the second dive, where we drifted with the current while watching nature’s show unfold around us. It was turning out to be a dive showcasing the beautiful corals, but uneventful otherwise.
Then, as we were heading back, I noticed two divers finning hard into the blue. I couldn’t tell what they were after, but I sensed there might be something and so I kept watching, hoping. My partner followed my gaze and also noticed the two divers. He then started finning hard towards the same direction as them. I followed suit, as did our guide. There was definitely something worth checking out!
As I began to question how much more I had in me to fin towards something unknown, two faint blobs appeared. Slowly, the blobs became two Sunfish!
One Sunfish was closer to us, getting cleaned—an image burned forever into my memory. The second one swam away but returned closer. Sadly, we didn’t get as near as we wanted and had to quickly say goodbye to the Sunfish because our air was getting low, necessitating our ascent.
The two Sunfish – the image forever burned into my memory is much clearer!
The Valuable Lesson
Sometimes we may stumble upon something amazing only towards the end of a dive. For us, it was the Sunfish on this trip, and a whale shark on our previous trip in the Maldives. Both times we were reminded that you always need to keep your eyes on your air, depth, and No-Decompression Limit (NDL).
In the Maldives, we spotted a whale shark just as we were finishing our safety stop. Our group finned hard to get to it and keep up with it. Whale sharks are not slow! Luckily, this one wasn’t at depth, but nonetheless, by the time we said goodbye to the whale shark and surfaced, my partner ended the dive with less air than ideal. This time, it wasn’t so much of a concern because we had already completed our safety stop. Regardless, it’s not something to make a habit of.
With the Sunfish, we had yet to make our safety stop. Getting to it took us down to around 24 meters, chewing up our air fast.
When my partner realised his air was getting low and we were yet to do our safety stop, he signaled that we needed to ascend. Initially, I thought he was concerned about our NDL (for which mine was fine), and since I wasn’t concerned about my air, I wasn’t as quick to follow. But as soon as I realised how much air he had left, I made sure I was right next to him as we made our controlled ascent and during our safety stop, ready to give him my alternate air source.
Luckily, we didn’t need to use it, and he surfaced with 18 bars. Nonetheless, this experience was alarming as it was the first time either of us had genuine concern about our remaining air.
Again, this was a good reminder to always be aware of your air, depth, and NDL. It’s also a reminder that Sunfish (or anything else you’re chasing) may be amazing, but safety always comes first.
The Other Lessons from Nusa Penida
- Sunfish aren’t guaranteed: Our guide told us that another group had dived in Nusa Penida three times a day for four days and didn’t see a single Sunfish. The other group on the same boat as us also didn’t see one, so we were very lucky to see two on our first and only day diving there—what luck!
- The water is cold in September: For me, my 5mm wetsuit was perfect. My partner, who usually doesn’t get cold, had a 3mm full suit, and that was good for him.
- Accommodation had beautiful views, but difficult to access: Nusa Penida is predominantly hilly. Our accommodation was on a hillside with stunning water views. But moving around the hotel meant lots of steps and multiple flights of stairs. When you have heavy luggage, this can be tricky. Luckily, hotel staff helped us carry our bags, but regrettably we didn’t have cash left to tip them.
- Distance between accommodation and dive center matters: On the map, our accommodation didn’t look far from the dive center, but we hadn’t considered the elevation. With winding, narrow roads barely fitting one car, the 7km trip took 20 minutes. Luckily, we only did one day of diving, but if we had stayed multiple days, I would have regretted that location!
- The ferry from Sanur to Nusa Penida:
- You’ll need to go to your ferry’s check-in counter, often a couple of hundred meters from the terminal. Some companies provide buggies; ours didn’t. Lugging bags in the heat and on the road can be unpleasant.
- Our ferry didn’t drop us at the pier. It moored offshore, and we were ferried in two groups on a dinghy to a smaller pier. We were in the second group and had to wait in the hot, stuffy ferry.
- The gangways at both Sanur and Nusa Penida were steep and slippery (when dry). I had considered wearing thongs (flip flops) but decided to go for sneakers and it was a wise choice. Even with sneakers, I was holding on to the handrail for dear life trying not to slip. I don’t know how others were able to walk in their flip flops – one person even had mini heels on – but I guess not everyone is as nervous about things like me!
- After being dropped at the pier, we waited about 10 minutes for our bags and then had to carry them up the steep gangway ourselves.
N.B. None of these are complaints—they’re shared to give a realistic idea and hopefully help with preparation, both physical and mental.
Final Thoughts
Pushing past comfort zones can bring huge rewards. On this trip, the reward was massive—metaphorically and literally. Thank you, FOMO.
Thinking about skipping a dive? Unless you have a valid reason, don’t listen to that inner voice seeking comfort—it could be the one thing stopping you from witnessing something incredible.
