The coral and the coconut

“I saw you in the water today. Well done. I really like the way you go underwater. I’m just an old fisherman, but let me give you some advice. Remember that there are two ways to go underwater.”

Saying this, he took a small piece of coral and threw it into the sea; then from a half coconut poured some milk into the water:

“You see, the coral and the coconut are now both in the water. But the coral is still coral, while the coconut milk is now the sea: when you go underwater you shouldn’t do it like coral, but like coconut milk. When you free dive you mustn’t fight the sea, it mustn’t be you, your body, your skin and the sea, but every component of your being must become one with the water.”

– Umberto Pelizzari, free diver

The rain will kill us all

Heavy Rain And Tidal Flood Warning Issued For Bali’s Top Beaches This Week – The Bali Sun – July 3, 2023

Heavy rains poured down across Bali this weekend, and the forecast suggests the island should brace for more bad weather until the 10th of July.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency for Bali (BMKG) have issued weather warnings across the island, including for tidal flooding at 24 popular tourist beaches.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency for Bali (BMKG) have issued a statement to say, “We urge the public to be aware of the potential for coastal flooding.”

Not only is the island being hit with heavy rain clouds, but tidal swells due to the upcoming full moon.

The BMKG Region III Denpasar I Data and Information Coordinator, Nyoman Gede Wiryajaya, spoke to reporters on Sunday evening from Denpasar.

He told the press, “The distribution of rainfall in the Bali region is generally between zero and 41 millimeters per 10 days.”

Yet the predicted rainfall in Bali in the coming days ranges between 700 millibars and 3,000 millibars.

Despite it being officially the dry season, it is not unheard of for Bali to receive heavy rain at this time of the year.

The rain will be welcome for many parts of the island that are prone to prolonged periods of drought, especially in the east of the island, where water scarcity is a serious issue for many communities.

In terms of tidal flooding, tourists planning on visiting Bali’s most popular beaches this week are urged to proceed with caution.

Tidal flooding, unpredictable waves, and the impacts of heavy rainfall are all a risk to public safety on the beach.

Tourists, tour operators, and fishing crews are urged to consider the conditions at sea before beginning boat trips, whether this be for sightseeing, watersports, snorkeling, and diving, or making the crossing from main island Bali to Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan or the Gili Islands.

The BMKG has issued tidal flooding warnings across 24 of the island’s most frequently visited tourist beaches.

These include beaches in Badung Regency, the most popular tourist resort area of the island, as well as Gianyar Regency and Klungkung Regency, home to Nusa Penida.

In Badung Regency, tourists should be aware of the potential for tidal flooding, high waves, and strong currents at Batu Bolong Beach in Canggu, Seminyak Beach, German, Kuta Beach and Balangan Beach.

Padang Pandang Beach in Uluwatu, as well as Nuggalan Beach, Pandawa Beach and even over on the usually placid Nusa Dua Beach.

Warnings have also been issued for the family resort area of Sanur Beach, through to Sindu Beach and Serangan Island.

The BMKG has issued weather warnings at Seminyak Beach too. The ever-popular vacation destination hit the headlines last week as researchers announced that they had found dangerous bacteria in the seawater in the area.

It is not uncommon for Bali’s already stressed drainage systems to overflow during times of heavy rains, especially close to coastal areas.

Videos circulating online over the weekend show waters rising in busy areas like Canggu, playing havoc with traffic on the roads.

It is worth noting that tidal flooding and high wave warnings have been issued at the busiest and most well-known beaches in Bali, but also at many of the up-and-coming ‘alternative’ destinations too.

Tourists should also avoid entering the ocean and be careful on the beaches in Tabanan Regency and Gianyar Regency too.

Warnings have been issued for the week ahead at the following beaches: Soka Beach, Pasut Beach, Leanting Beach, Yeh Gangga Beach, the popular surf beach Kedungu and at famous Tanah Lot Beach.

In Gianyar, tourists should be extra cautious at Saba Beach, Masceti Beach, and Pantai Lebih.

The weather warnings also extend over to the beaches of Nusa Penida.

A swim ban remains in place at many of Nusa Penida’s famous beaches after a steep rise in tourists getting dragged under by the ferocious current.

Route Coloniale 13

These neurotic symptoms are strikingly similar to an increasingly common way of life in Western society. Our ever-expanding populations with their accompanying advertising, mass entertainment, socializing, industrialization, and emphasis upon success, sensuality, and popularity have produced an environment in which we are forever bombarded with an increasing number of sensory and emotional stimuli. The opportunities for solitude and introspection have diminished to the point that now solitude is often viewed as either depressing or abnormal. This is not to assert that the majority of our citizens are involved in a frantic endeavor to escape from their inner selves. Such is no doubt the case with many, but there still remains a sizeable percentage of people who are involved in the same frenzy only because they have conformed to the social norm and have been lured into a habitual fascination for television, jazz, sports, and the countless other forms of readily-available entertainment. – Douglas Burns ~1970

– Laos 2010 –

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