Indonesia / Bali / Komodo - diving tips

[outofofficebrb]

Plenty of macro in Bali, but Lembeh is the current darling. Why don't divers interested in macro go to Bali first? Because they have read that Lembeh is the hot place for macro. Granted, Lembeh's reputation is deserved, but it is interesting that for most divers interested in macro it's Lembeh first, Bali later.

Logic would suggest if it’s your first time muck diving, and it’s easy to get to, Bali is a no brainer. Don’t like it? Other diving easily around without going out of your way. The other school of thought is - want to try it? Try the best that everyone raves about and if you don’t like it...now you know. That should be the best representation of what muck diving is supposed to be. I suppose the latter was my logic and as you say, @Lorenzoid, with others raving about it - it swings it in its favor more.

 

[Darnold9999]

I also did Bali without diving and moved on to everything else first. Spent three weeks with a non diving partner exploring Bali topside. Highly recommend it. I liked exploring the more rural parts of the island. Did a couple of dives in the North East - Menjangen Island and a bay in Pemuteran. Underwhelmed. Have since dived the Liberty and nearby, had a couple of superb muck dives and one so so dive on the Liberty. We started too early in the morning to allow for no fly times and it was a night dive for most of the dive - would be better done as a day dive IMHO - but I am not really into wrecks and prefer day dives.

Have had Underwater Tribe arrange the diving (after the first not so great experience diving in Bali and another so so Raj Ampat to Lembeh repositioning trip on a liveaboard - good but not great) and would recommend them if you are looking to have someone else set up a Bali trip or dive anywhere else in Indonesia. They really know the area and will work with your budget and find you the best value. Komodo is best done on a liveaboardon a longer trip, but if you have limited time and budget there are lots of other options.

 

[Luko]

The other school of thought is - want to try it? Try the best that everyone raves about and if you don’t like it...now you know. That should be the best representation of what muck diving is supposed to be. I suppose the latter was my logic and as you say, @Lorenzoid, with others raving about it - it swings it in its favor more.

The problem being that people may just read from people that have not been to both or that are biaised in some ways.
There are no Bali dive guides writing in Scubaboard while some of the posters may have directly or not some interest in getting people to Lembeh, some operators too. I am not even speaking of the magazines you read which for the most write complete BS (I have sold photos to magazines, I am often shaking my head between my hands when I read their text around... hopefully I do't have to purchase them.) or whose writers have been "invited" by the resorts.

Lembeh is the best place for muck or macro? says who? If you ask me that won't be my first choice.
I have not been invited by any resorts, been diving many times to Bali or Lembeh, I have photos to show what yo see below, you can check my gallery..
First what are you expecting to see? Ambon or Alor will smoke Lembeh in my book for a lot of stuff, Anilao as well, Tulamben for some aspects too. I won't tell you which is my favorite because it's pointless (plius I don't have any financial interest in either destination) and also it will depend on what I am expecting to shoot at the moment I am deciding. .

Let me put you the comparison between Tulamben and Lembeh in way that might have you think twice. Do you prefer :

Destination A : clear water 20m visibilty most of the time, black sand slopes packed with nudibranch, octopi, any crustacea you like, you have your private dive guide for yourself, nitrox for free, shore or boat dive entries for less than 30USD each, you command your schedule and dive anytime you want, back to your hotel you can eat out, possibly skip half of a full day to go o a trip;

Destination B : murky waters, viz as low as 5-8m at some time, black sand with lots of critters, you must follow a schedule to dive and you share your guide with other people otherwise. You will pay in between 40-50USD per dive, add a nitrox fee on top. Be prepared to have other groups on the same spot, most with big cameras and you will have to queue to see some crittes.Hotels rooms are twie the price than Destination A, even if you don't like teh food or the atmosphere at your resort this is the only place where you can eat and stay.

Whch destination would you choose?


.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Luko has some great points on Tulamben vs Lembeh. The value of Tulamben is really hard to beat. Having a private guide, free nitrox, price of accomadation and diving, making your own schedule, having the freedom to wander and eat out, flying into Bali and no more flights, having great topside sightseeing for non-divers, makes Tulamben hard to beat. I'll shy away from the critter count debate between the 2 because I love them both and individual milage may vary.

To the OP with 7-10 days of diving time you can really have a great trip staying just on Bali and combining Padang Bai with Tulamben. Heading to Komodo will eat up time with your no fly times. Don't get me wrong Komodo is awesome.

Have you done any Muck/critter diving? Do small exotic creatures fascinate you?

 

[WetPup]

 

[outofofficebrb]

The problem being that people may just read from people that have not been to both or that are biaised in some ways.
There are no Bali dive guides writing in Scubaboard while some of the posters may have directly or not some interest in getting people to Lembeh, some operators too. I am not even speaking of the magazines you read which for the most write complete BS (I have sold photos to magazines, I am often shaking my head between my hands when I read their text around... hopefully I do't have to purchase them.) or whose writers have been "invited" by the resorts.

Lembeh is the best place for muck or macro? says who? If you ask me that won't be my first choice.
I have not been invited by any resorts, been diving many times to Bali or Lembeh, I have photos to show what yo see below, you can check my gallery..
First what are you expecting to see? Ambon or Alor will smoke Lembeh in my book for a lot of stuff, Anilao as well, Tulamben for some aspects too. I won't tell you which is my favorite because it's pointless (plius I don't have any financial interest in either destination) and also it will depend on what I am expecting to shoot at the moment I am deciding. .

Let me put you the comparison between Tulamben and Lembeh in way that might have you think twice. Do you prefer :

Destination A : clear water 20m visibilty most of the time, black sand slopes packed with nudibranch, octopi, any crustacea you like, you have your private dive guide for yourself, nitrox for free, shore or boat dive entries for less than 30USD each, you command your schedule and dive anytime you want, back to your hotel you can eat out, possibly skip half of a full day to go o a trip;

Destination B : murky waters, viz as low as 5-8m at some time, black sand with lots of critters, you must follow a schedule to dive and you share your guide with other people otherwise. You will pay in between 40-50USD per dive, add a nitrox fee on top. Be prepared to have other groups on the same spot, most with big cameras and you will have to queue to see some crittes.Hotels rooms are twie the price than Destination A, even if you don't like teh food or the atmosphere at your resort this is the only place where you can eat and stay.

Whch destination would you choose?


.

There is no way around bias or preferences here. Diving is very subjective and everyone has an opinion and an experience to share. Someone posted the other day that the best diving in the world was in California. I live here. I've dived it. Do I agree? No, but that's because what I like and enjoy about a dive is not the same as what they like and enjoy about a dive. I like warm water, great visibility, coral and sponges, colors, etc. I am okay if that comes with some ripping current. They might love kelp, the sea lions, sea otters, urchins, etc., even if it comes with cold water and bad viz. That is completely okay. Their preference for California would lead this person to suggest someone to dive in California. This would also result in a more biased recommendation from me to not dive it and to dive Indonesia instead because I enjoy Indonesia way more. Are either incorrect in their thoughts? Nope.

This conversation stemmed from your comment about finding it strange that someone would fly into Bali for the first time and not dive. My response was that people's priorities, what they are looking for, what they enjoy about diving is different and that included me. Evidently, that also exists for you in your preference for Tulamben vs. Lembeh.

Whether Lembeh is the best or not was not my point and I was not trying to say that it was. I was trying to explain why someone may automatically think of going to Lembeh (or Komodo, Bunaken, Raja, Banda, etc...other places in Indo) vs. other great options while circling back to @Lorenzoid's point about what/where they hear about and how that influences a decision. The perfect analogy is In N Out, a chain that serves burgers in California. Everyone raves about them and people that do not live here go out of their way to eat there. If you ask someone where to get a burger when given the usual fast food chain options, they'll likely tell you In N Out over McDonald's. Sure, there are other restaurants and burger places that serve just as good or better burgers but you've probably never heard of them before or they do not get as many people raving about them as you do with In N Out. That does not make it inferior, it just makes you less likely to go there if you're never had a burger before in your life. You may think, hm, I should go try it there. I've heard about it so much from others and since everyone says it's so good, that should be a pretty good representation of burgers. If I don't like it, it wouldn't be because the burgers are bad or that I had a one-off exception...it's probably just me and I like something different.

 

[Dish]

@Luko do you have some sort of commericial interest in all of this? Because if you do, I view your posts as somewhat suspect. You have some well-travelled divers posting their critiques of dive sites and I, quite frankly, prefer their opinions if your motives are commercial.

 

[Dan]

Getting a bit warm here (taking off my wetsuit)

 

[outofofficebrb]

Getting a bit warm here (taking off my wetsuit)

I'm waiting to see what the cut and color of choice is of the garment underneath the wetsuit or if there is anything at all.

 

[dirtfarmer]

@Luko do you have some sort of commericial interest in all of this? Because if you do, I view your posts as somewhat suspect. You have some well-travelled divers posting their critiques of dive sites and I, quite frankly, prefer their opinions if your motives are commercial.

Careful don't poke the bear! Err I mean Luko.

He did say he doesn't have a $ interest in promoting a deztination. In all the years I've been benifitting from Luko's knowledge I've never seen anything but his honorable opinion. He may have strong opinions but he is an encyclopedia for Indonesia.