Underwater carnival in Amed, Bali

It is Rose Monday: Alaaf! As that’s the expression, sort of hurray, that is used in the area around Cologne in Germany as well as Maastricht in the Netherlands, we stick to that regional greeting. Even though we are not big fans of the actual celebrations, we celebrated our very own underwater carnival in Amed, Bali, today. After all, there are so many bizarre and flamboyant creatures out and about – especially in the muck.

Picture gallery I: Standing tall – Loud and proud

Macro: Underwater close-up of a common seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) looking straight into the camera against brown sandy background in Amed, Bali (Indonesia). With its tail it's holding on to an algae, the upper body is shimmering golden while the lower part is of a dirty brown. It looks as if it has horns. — The carnival princess in golden armor

Macro: Underwater close-up of the head of a blackfinned snake eel (Ophichthus melanochir) stiking out of the brown sand in Amed, Bali (Indonesia). The eye is golden with a slender dark pupile, the mouth is slightly open and the nostrils protruding. Greenish to brown body with dark speckles towards the nostrils turning into white-grey. — The carnival princess in golden armor

New sites in sight

Unfortunately, it has been windy to stormy with some pretty heavy rain showers in between for a week now. As our house muck site turned into brown cocktail soup, stirred and shaken, we decided to look for alternative dive sites in the neighbourhood. Some are better protected from the wind and waves. Fingers crossed for Jemeluk Bay tomorrow morning, topped up with some Tulamben sites over the next weeks. Apparently, they are all accessible by car and there are plenty of drivers around in the low season. After all, every day can be an underwater carnival in and around Amed.

Picture gallery II: The parade – Square, not fair

Underwater carnival revellers in the muck of Amed, Bali

The weather conditions tied us to our home base. As a result, I had the time to go through the photos I’ve taken so far. Hereby, I proudly present the first selection of festive participants and carnival revellers we found on our long and relaxing dives in the muck so far. What a luxury to be down there only with Yoeri. With short periods on my own actually as photographers – same as videographers for that matter – can be pretty bad dive buddies … Sometimes we get into the zone and take our approach to active meditation one step too far. This isn’t all I’ve captured. One major group is missing completely and shall be rewarded with their very own entry soon: Crabs and shrimps as creatures of the night. For now, enjoy the carnival parade of Amed 2020.