Bali diving is better than I thought

[Dan]

I usually stay in Sanur & take speed boat to Nusa Penida.

 

[Dan]

great read guys. sorry to hijack but ill be in bali for 3 weeks in September. will pack the 3:2 wetsuit and a hooded vest (5mm is way to big for backpacking!). I am just looking into diving around Bali. where should I head? Padang Bai and
Nusa Penida are now on my list

You don’t need 5mm for Tulamben. For Crystal Bay, you can always rent a 2mm shorty & don it over your 3mm full wetsuit.

 

[billt4sf]

@billt4sf id love to do raja but all the LB's seem to be in komodo in September. Bill and DanT , would you recommend staying at Padangbai or nusa lembongan to access Nusa Penida? a bit of topside entertainment is useful too

Oh, I missed that about September.

I stay in Padang Bai (see below) and dive with Geko Dive in Padang Bai. Some people stay in Ubud and dive Nusa Penida but it's an hour+ trip to get to Padang Bai or Sanur from Ubud. Then an hour+ boat ride to Nusa Penida.

Home - Sea Breeze Candidasa Dive Bali with a PADI 5 Star Scuba Diving Centre in Padang Bai

- Bill

 

[gekodivebali]

Quick updates on diving East Bali:
1) The Jetty is reopened for diving as we speak. No more need to hassle in by 6:30am. Conditions are good and have not seen any loss of critters.
2) Nusa Penida is indeed seeing a huge development with lots of hotels, bars and restaurants opening up. Some local dive centre are popping up. Most seem to dive from jukungs/traditional boats due to lack of usable pier. That may or may not be your thing! I personally would not venture past Manta Bay in these. Likewise, we do worry that the desire by travelers to stay at a "new" destination may trash this unbelievable underwater environment. Time will tell!
3) Water temperature is a personal thing. I dive in shorts with a shark skin and rash vest all year round. Blobber helps keep me warm. So does the fact that I like to dwell in current loaded areas where one has to swim in search of the big, rare and wonderful (not talking about you Bill: you're neither of these 3 adjectives!). If you come unequipped and fear the cold, do ask for an extra wetsuit and layer up. Most shops will be happy to provide this free of charge!

 

[Dan]

Speaking of the big, rare & wonderful, a question for those who dove plenty of times in Padangbai, have anyone seen the spotted wobbegong shark (the Australian kind with straight tail & fewer tassels, not the Raja Ampat kind with curly tail & lots of tassels) in Tanjung Sari?

I have tried to find it there about 2-3 times and still no luck. I read about it in “diving bali”, written by David Pickell & Wally Siagian, ISBN 978-0-7946-0600-8, 2010 Edition. Below is the picture of the wobbegong from p.124-125 of the book. I highly recommend anyone to read the book before diving in Bali by the way.

It’s called Teppichhai wobbegong by J KI in his YouTube, below

 

[billt4sf]

Quick updates on diving East Bali:
1) The Jetty is reopened for diving as we speak. No more need to hassle in by 6:30am. Conditions are good and have not seen any loss of critters.
2) Nusa Penida is indeed seeing a huge development with lots of hotels, bars and restaurants opening up. Some local dive centre are popping up. Most seem to dive from jukungs/traditional boats due to lack of usable pier. That may or may not be your thing! I personally would not venture past Manta Bay in these. Likewise, we do worry that the desire by travelers to stay at a "new" destination may trash this unbelievable underwater environment. Time will tell!
3) Water temperature is a personal thing. I dive in shorts with a shark skin and rash vest all year round. Blobber helps keep me warm. So does the fact that I like to dwell in current loaded areas where one has to swim in search of the big, rare and wonderful (not talking about you Bill: you're neither of these 3 adjectives!). If you come unequipped and fear the cold, do ask for an extra wetsuit and layer up. Most shops will be happy to provide this free of charge!

WOW! So glad to hear the jetty opened-up!

Nusa Penida: we all know what the end result will be.

As for big, rare, and wonderful: two out of three ain't bad

- Bill

 

[Wisnu]

We'll visit Bali in August. This trip is not entirely for diving. 50:50 with topsite, including 8 best Bali waterfall.

will spend 4 nights in nusa penida. After 2 morning diving, we want to enjoy the topsite attractions which seem very interesting as well
Some could be more challenging than crystal bay or blue corner.

Before that we'll visit pemuteran to dive secret bay and menjangan, and if possible PJ. Last time we dove menjangan, Secret bay and PJ was 6 years ago, disappointed with PJ but secret bay was still good at that time.
We'll see what we'll find there.

 

[Mike Veitch]

3) Water temperature is a personal thing. I dive in shorts with a shark skin and rash vest all year round. Blobber helps keep me warm.

Lol.. nuts! even in the nasty 16C? 7mm semi dry for me..

 

[Lorenzoid]

Before that we'll visit pemuteran to dive secret bay and menjangan, and if possible PJ. Last time we dove menjangan, Secret bay and PJ was 6 years ago, disappointed with PJ but secret bay was still good at that time.
We'll see what we'll find there.

I, too, was disappointed with Puri Jati when I was there a couple of years ago. As for Secret Bay, the owner of the dive op in Pemuteran that I used, Sea Rovers, sounded very discouraged and dissuaded me from giving it a go. Please report back with your impressions.

 

[PhatD1ver]

we are going Sep 30-Oct 6, this is our make up trip after the volcano got our accommodations cancelled last year just a couple days before departure.

it's mostly a dive trip; my wife has a friend who is a new diver going with us, so there is that to think about.

Would you recommend to just go up to Tulamben on arrival, then move down to PB for a couple days, and then over to NL?

Bali is new after our many trips to Philippines and Thailand, so any assistance would be useful