OCEAN PRANA - School Review

“THIS PLACE IS AMAZING” 

This was my first I thought when I walked into Ocean Prana’s facilities located in Amed, a sleepy fishing village located on the northeast corner of the island of Bali, Indonesia.

To be honest, I was a little nervous when I first got there. I had just completed all the requirements for my instructor certification days earlier and would be renting the facilities to teach an old friend a beginner freediving course (who serendipitously was in the area climbing Mt. Agung and volunteered to be my first victim/student). All the staff and Yoram made me feel very welcomed and comfortable and asked if I needed some help whenever I was looking a bit lost. 

Now back to the facilities. This place is BEAUTIFUL integrating Balinese flavor into the school with their bamboo structures and beautiful garden with an iconic stone statue as a backdrop.

 If you are the kind to want to stay close by, Ocean Prana does provide accommodations in the back with a mix of hostel type beds to private rooms. 

The school has a cafe serving salads, smoothie bowls, sandwiches, and pastas but my favorite was the tuna tartare. Perfect place for a light meal before training or a big lunch after a dive session then take a nap on one of the hammocks. 

Ocean Prana is run by elite freediver Yoram Zekri who holds multiple records, an elite level competitor and one of the few AIDA instructor trainers in the world. Ocean Prana is an AIDA school, which is the largest and more reputable freediving organization on the planet. 

The beach/shore is a short walk to Jemeluk Bay where a short swim one can reach depths appropriate for beginner and intermediate levels. A swim 200m out you’ll get 40-50m of depth for the more advanced. The advantage of having depth diving at the school’s doorstep is there is little time wasted getting to the dive site and you can also fit in two open water sessions in one day, which is what we did, whereas schools which uses boats to reach the dive site typically only go out once a day. 

The pool was specially made for freediving as there is a shallow area for static and one lane for dynamic training.

The equipment room was large, amply stocked with rental equipment, plenty of buoy and line setups. There are cubby holes off to one side to store your belongings. 

If you are tired of the hustle and bustle of south Bali, I highly recommend a trip to the sleepy town of Amed and enjoy the freshly caught fish (usually mahi mahi, barracuda or tuna was on the menu). A plate of grilled fish of your choice with rice and some veggies would cost about US$2 and don’t forget to try the sambal matah sauce on the fish, or everything. Sambal matah is my new favorite sauce with shallots, lemon, chilis, salt, garlic and shrimp paste in it. Trust me, it goes well with ANYTHING, veggies, any piece of meat, omelettes! 

And finally, if you do make it Amed and fancy learning some freediving, I highly recommend heading over to Ocean Prana to take a course.