An Adventure at Sea – Sailing and Snorkeling with Waka Sailing

On our first day in Sanur, we had an early morning wake-up call. A driver was coming to our hotel to take us to our adventure with Waka Sailing. Audley Travel set us up with this excursion for the day. On the menu, sailing to Nusa Lembongan, snorkeling, lunch, sun, and a pleasant sail back. I couldn’t wait to get in the water and snorkel again after the beautiful snorkeling up at Menganjan Island, and I love being out on the ocean like my navy father. So the early morning wake up on our vacation was worth it for this adventure.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you. I only link to products I would or have used myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. You can read the full disclaimer here.

Ready to head off on our sailing adventure

The driver took us on a 30 minute drive to Denpasar City, where we were signed in to the boat. As we waited in line we looked ahead and were astonished to see the same family we had toured the Balinese village with just a few days ago! We were all so happy to see each other we started hugging and disrupted the whole check in process. We abandoned the greetings to check in, then got back together again to catch up. The kids were ecstatic. Suddenly they couldn’t wait to go, now that their friend was joining them!

The dynamic trio climbing the ship and happy to be together again

Soon everyone was lined up to board the cameraman. We entered into a large seating area where there was pastries, fruits, and coffee greeting us. My kids immediately went for the plate of pastries, and then went to climb around and explore the boat. My husband took a seat in the back seating area, and settled in or the ride. The kids couldn’t wait to get outside and climb all over the boat.

Yummy snacks ready for us as we boarded*

We took off and almost immediately realized how choppy the sea was that day. We were going against the wind to the island, the sky was cloudy, and the sea was choppy. Having been on boats before, I knew in that case the best place to be was outside. So I went out front, where I could sit on the deck and feel the breeze to calm my stomach. The kids, having no fear and no seasickness, climbed to the sun deck, freaking out their father and the staff of the boat. Once they saw the little ones climb up, they pulled out life vests for them to wear. My cautious son climbed down soon, to afraid of the height and movement. His friend followed soon to just to hand out with with him. But my fearless daughter hung out for quite a while. Only when some rain clouds came through was I able to convince her to come down.

Meanwhile back in the seating area, it was not going as well. My husband picked a seat near the back that got a sea breeze, and by just concentrating out he was able to stay relatively ok. But he had a front row view to everyone else who did not have as strong of stomachs. And, instead of suggesting people go over the side, like in our Monterrey Whale Watching cruise, the crew was handing out black bags. My husband claimed every woman in that seating area used one. Then, the lucky ones feel asleep afterwards. The unlucky ones used them all the way to Nusa Lembongan.

My daughter had the right idea to deal with the sea movement

After over two hours of this, the sun opened up, and we dropped anchor close to the island. From there, everyone was loaded onto a motor boat. The first stop of this boat was a floating platform. “All who are snorkeling get off here!” My son and I got up to get on the platform. At last minute, my daughter wanted to join us. My husband, who doesn’t know how to swim, stayed on the motor boat. We waved at him as we were left on a bare platform. Soon, they showed up with masks, flippers, snorkels, and life vests. We had to wait a bit to jump in because the smaller masks came in a later shipment. And unfortunately, again all the masks were too big for my daughter, so she had to use her goggles. But at least this time we had proper sized life vests so felt better about everyone jumping in the water.

Once suited up, we all jumped into the water. I was so excited to snorkel and see the beautiful coral and fish again. So I was a little disappointed to see that the area we were snorkeling had no coral. On top of that, the fish was mainly zebra fish, there was not a lot of variety. My daughter had a hard time using her goggles and the snorkel and so she quickly gave up and wanted to be on the platform. My son was non-stop complaining that other people were not using a life vest and so he shouldn’t have to either. All this distracted for the snorkeling experience I wanted to have. At the end, I let him take off the life vest and try snorkeling a little without him. He quickly realized how strong the current was, and how hard it was to stay and tread water without it. I was loath to do it, but I’m glad I did, it helped him understand why I was so careful with his safety.

Used a waterproof case for my phone. Was able to get some pictures, but it was hard to focus underwater.

After about an hour, they announced that the boat was coming back to take us to shore. So we all got into the boat, soaking wet, and rode a few minutes to shore. Here we got out on the beach and saw my husband holding some bed for us. He was relaxing, listening to his audio book, and drinking a beer.

My husband enjoyed relaxing on the private beach while we snorkeled*

Waka Sailing has it’s own private beach club on this island. The club has a pool, restaurant area, private beach, and loungers everywhere. The three kids ran over the the pool, while the four adults laid out in the loungers getting some sun and catching up. Now that we had all this time together, we talked about our lives back home, the kids and school and their similarities, and the travels we have both had around the world. I just wish that they lived close by, I could tell we would be good friends.

The private pool was just the right depth for our kids, and not to far from the loungers on the beach

Soon we were called over to lunch. Lunch for the group was a buffet with a smorgasbord of Indonesian delights. There were salads, Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng, sucking pig, and so many different sates. Even my daughter found food she was willing to eat. Plus, the meal came with beer for the adults and sodas for the kids. My kids love vacation mom who allows coke and/or sprite with each meal. Regular mom is boring.

After lunch, and dessert, we were given the option to go on a tour of a local village, or stay by the beach. We looked at our new English friends and agreed, we were staying here by the beach. We had done the tour. The kids spent the next two hours running between the pool and the ocean, never seeming to tire. We mostly stayed on the loungers, though when it got too hot, I’m run and take a dip in the pool. It was a wonderful, relaxing way to enjoy the water.

We loved spending time by the beach, just relaxing on the beautiful day

Sadly, we were told it was time to head back to the sail boat. We all dragged our feet packing up our stuff and getting over to the motor boat. We were greeted with cheese and crackers as we boarded the boat. Thinking about the ride over, the adults wisely skipped the cheese. My kids and their iron clad stomachs ate it instead. The ride back was shorter since we were with the wind, but most of us still enjoyed it outside on the front deck. The sun was starting to set as we sailed into Denspar, creating the most magnificent orange sky in the background.

Checking out the view as we sailed into the sunset

As we got to shore, the kids and adults hugged our good-byes. Me and the English Mom connected on Facebook so we could share pictures, and make sure to stay in touch. After all, England is one everyone’s bucket list in our family. Then we made our way to the van taking us back to Sanur and the last few days of our Bali Adventure.