"I saw animals breach and saw fins flapping around and I realised they were Mola mola"

Staring into the blue plays tricks with your mind. Shapes materialise, then vanish. The clear, glossy mirage of a thermocline blurs movements and forms. For a fleeting moment a school of fish resembles something much bigger, but it is only an imaginary reflection of what I hope will rise from the depths. Perched on Crystal Bay’s famous drop-off, I am waiting, hoping, even praying to see Bali’s celebrity fish – the Mola mola, also known as the oceanic sunfish. But I am not alone in my expectations.

Boat engines buzz overhead as groups of divers come and go, maintaining walls of bubbles in front of the molas’ traditional cleaning stations. Dive guides push out into the blue, hovering over the edge like scouts waiting for a message to arrive. The water is clear, the temperature is cold enough and the current is minimal, but the molas don’t come. Later I learn this isn’t how diving with molas used to be, or is meant to be.

Where big fish roam

Michael Cortenbach, owner of Bali Diving Academy, saw his first mola at the dive site known as Blue Corner. Just outside a sometimes treacherous surf break, Blue Corner is known for its unpredictable and sometimes raging currents. As a surfer visiting Nusa Lembongan in the mid-1980s, Michael heard stories of big sharks living behind the surf break called Shipwrecks – myths inspired by the mola’s giant dorsal fin.

“The first time I became aware of them was as a result of being a very average surfer at Shipwrecks and often sitting on the shoulder thinking I can’t go in there, I might get hurt,” he says. “On a couple of occasions I saw animals breach and saw fins flapping around and I realised they were Mola mola.”

Originally named Jurassic Point, the dive site is one of the those rare places where big creatures roam in an unforgiving environment – perfect for thrill-seeking divers like Michael. The cold currents send small reef fish scurrying for cover and can even catch the graceful marble rays by surprise. Spotted eagle rays and molas frequent the area, and thresher sharks have even been spotted here a few times. The dive site still has a prehistoric feel to it but unfortunately many species that were once easily encountered are now becoming more difficult to spot.

As part of the Bali Dive Club, Michael was one of the pioneers of diving in the region. “I can still see it…A glassy day, the first Bali Dive Club dive at Jurassic Point,” he says. “Sliding off the edge of the boat, big napoleons coming down, sharks coming past, mola on the corner, popping up to the surface and four or five groups of divers spread over a 600 or 700 meter area all just whooping, saying Wow!”