The boat ride out to Manta Bay was choppy. The saving grace was the breathtaking scenery, like nothing I have ever seen. Turquoise waters in gradients of blue towards the shore – the canonical form of tropical waves. Massive (like, seriously, truly massive) waves crashing into naturally terraced rock formations, with the water cascading down from them like waterfalls in rapid cycles and large verdant cliffs looming overhead. In the near distance, there were many rock formations that gave me a prehistoric land-before-time type feeling. I was particularly taken by one donut-shaped large hollow rocky formation.

The boat was bouncing up and down, right and left. I hadn’t slept the night before from stomach flu, and I hoped it would all end for me right there very quickly. The hour-long boat ride passed with me getting drenched every other minute as the boat pitched forward, backward, side to side, water splashing me overhead. I wish I had photos, but honestly, it was too harrowing, and my bag was drenched. (Um, why did they tell me it was fine to bring my bag on the boat? Nevermind.)

Finally, we arrived at our dive site right off Nusa Penida and had our briefing. We attached out BCDs to our tanks, attached our regulators, and tested our gear. I suited up, did my final check, and bam, I rolled backward into the water. As my group got together and sank downward, I hoped my stomach would not explode 18 meters below and that I wouldn’t have fatigue palpitations. When we got down there, the water was darker than it had been in the Gili Islands. And then I heard the clank clank clank of the divemaster banging on his tank. OMG, then in the distance and then much closer came what looked like the Starship Enterprise but was actually a manta ray! I was amazed an horrified at the same time and wanted to surface ASAP. It was much larger than I had thought it would be with a massive 7-meter wingspan (yah, I leave the U.S. for a month and suddenly I’m on the metric system). We saw about 8 manta rays on that dive. Imagine them gliding extremely close up, like right next to my face, with me kicking my legs furiously in life or death momentum to get away as quickly as possible. Fascinating, but it was enough. I was scared.

I wish I had done some reading before jumping into the water because they apparently generally leave people alone (which should have been obvious given that this was the focus of our fundive).

Mission accomplished. My reason for going to Nusa Lembongan was to see the manta rays.

I believe that places and situations can make you sick. My two and a half days on the island of Nusa Lembongan were basta (enough already!). I longed for Bali, the Gilis, and even NYC.

By objective standards, Lembongan is amazing – awesome surfing, diving, beaches, and vibe. It all started so well. The boat ride from the Gilis was filled with sun, good music, and good vibes as I sat on the roof of the boat singing and taking in the sunshine. I’ve never seen people surf such big waves and surf through barrels like that so up-close. Meanwhile, I’m on the slide clinging onto my board trusting that even though the waves are that close, they are definitively not going to somehow snatch me up from the beginner segment. That was an awesome but somewhat traumatic experience. I really have to stop traumatizing myself.

For some reason, the island itself underwhelmed me. I didn’t quite connect with it. I think it was a combination of where I was staying and my physical situation. Every single part of my body is in pain – my stomach is scraped from being on the surf board, I have some gnarly cuts on my ankle and hands, my hands feel like chopped dry wood, and I’m exhausted. Right, and there’s the massive stomach issues and insomnia. OK, let’s be honest, me gorging on the Japanese snacks I’ve been lugging around for friends back home didn’t help.

The place I was staying – Rama Garden – was run by an American and French couple, and the wife made me want to scrape my eyes out is how welcoming she was. Instead of doing myself bodily harm, I just decided to minimize my time in the hotel.

Dear Rama Garden,

Too bad you’re insanely greedy and disorganized, and your attitude majorly sucks. Thanks for the good foods though, yo. Have a nice life. I hope I never see you again.

Your barely-there Asian-American visitor

Luckily, I’m back in Bali.