CalTony
Registered
Had the Thanksgiving holiday week off from work, cheap flight on Singapore Airlines to Bali, and a hunger to see some fish. I had little time to plan so a week before the trip I decided to base myself in Padangbai and booked four nights at Ok Dive Resort for my sleeping, eating, and diving. A buddy of mine told me the day I left for Bali that he'd be dropping in my last two days there so I booked us into Tulamben Wreck Divers Resort for two nights so we could beat the crowds.
I'm sure I spent a bit more throwing all of my dough into Ok Divers (even paid 500k rupiah for their airport pickup because I didn't want to think about anything after a 23 hour journey from San Francisco) but I felt well taken care of there. The rooms were nice, the staff friendly and attentive, and the restaurant tasty (The Colonial). I recommend ear plugs and eye masks for anyone trying to recover from jet lag. The ferry horns blare at what seemed like all hours.
I did 9 dives with their shop over four days- Nusa Penida- Buyuk/SD, Jepun, Blue Lagoon, Manta Point (4 mantas spotted), Crystal Bay, Gili Tepekong, and Gili Biaha. I enjoyed all of them with Tepekong and Biaha being my favs for the abundance of coral and the current that was exciting without being too freaky. It was nice to see so many fish and healthy coral. We spotted octopus, mantis shrimp, eagle rays, manta rays, eels, snakes, turtles, nudis, white tip reef shark, cuttlefish. I like the crew there, made up of locals, Europeans, and Aussies who were all fun and friendly. I brought my own gear and they helped take care of it after dives, urging me to go relax and have lunch which was included.
The shores around Padangbai were a bit full of floating trash which was a bummer. I'm sure there are cultural and financial implications I don't know enough about but if anyone knows of any organizations working towards cleanup and conservation, pass it along. After the four days, I hired a driver in the ferry parking lot to take me up to Tulamben for 300k. He seemed pleasant so I hired him for my last day for 600k to take my buddy and me on a drive to the usual stops on the way to the airport.
In Tulamben, I stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers Resort for what I thought was real cheap ($18/nt). The room was a bit backpacker-ish and I felt spoiled at Ok Divers' newer rooms after seeing them. But they have nice pools and a decent breakfast. Restaurants and the shore entry for USAT Liberty are a quick walk away. When I arrived, my buddy hadn't made it up from the airport yet so I asked to do a night dive to the wreck. I didn't really know what to expect and didn't really receive any sort of briefing. We suited up and walked to the shore while our tanks/bcs were loaded on scooters and taken to the shore (as they were by the other shop the next day). The shore was kind of neat as dozens of divers and their gear were everywhere. My guide quickly led me into the water and I practically chased him around the entire wreck. It was surreal as I had no idea how big that wreck was going to be and I was taken aback by the site so often while trying to make sure not to lose track of the guide.
My buddy is a newer diver so I'm glad we had booked our dives together with Aqua Dive Paradise. They picked us up at the resort, made sure we were all sorted out at the shop, gave us a clear briefing, and took us on some nice sunrise dives. We enjoyed ourselves so much we ended doing four dives with Wayan in total ($101US with my gear, best bang for my buck for me diving, ever), hitting the wreck at sunrise and sunset as well as the Coral Garden and Emerald sites. Biggest things out there were parrot fish, otherwise we spent time looking for mantis shrimp, nudis, and octopus that my buddy wanted to see. The sunset dive was a treat with no other divers at the wreck but us. The night divers were just entering as we got out.
With a flight out the next night, there was no more diving for me but my buddy had a few more days so we had a look at Sanur. It was much livelier than Padang and Tulamben so he decided to stay there for the rest of his stay and get an Advanced Cert with Crystal Divers.
Overall, great trip despite the two days of roundtrip travel to get there from California for such a brief stay. Next time, I'd like to have my enriched air cert as I was often the only one in Padang without one (why does PADI charge so damn much for it in the states?!). Other details- I was comfortable in my 3.5mm full suit with boots. Plenty of others went without suits. My guide got chomped pretty good by a trigger fish the first day which made me think about wearing my hood but I decided against it (it was my 7mm Monterey hoodie). I neglected to wear sunscreen the first day on the boat. Dumb.
I'm sure I spent a bit more throwing all of my dough into Ok Divers (even paid 500k rupiah for their airport pickup because I didn't want to think about anything after a 23 hour journey from San Francisco) but I felt well taken care of there. The rooms were nice, the staff friendly and attentive, and the restaurant tasty (The Colonial). I recommend ear plugs and eye masks for anyone trying to recover from jet lag. The ferry horns blare at what seemed like all hours.
I did 9 dives with their shop over four days- Nusa Penida- Buyuk/SD, Jepun, Blue Lagoon, Manta Point (4 mantas spotted), Crystal Bay, Gili Tepekong, and Gili Biaha. I enjoyed all of them with Tepekong and Biaha being my favs for the abundance of coral and the current that was exciting without being too freaky. It was nice to see so many fish and healthy coral. We spotted octopus, mantis shrimp, eagle rays, manta rays, eels, snakes, turtles, nudis, white tip reef shark, cuttlefish. I like the crew there, made up of locals, Europeans, and Aussies who were all fun and friendly. I brought my own gear and they helped take care of it after dives, urging me to go relax and have lunch which was included.
The shores around Padangbai were a bit full of floating trash which was a bummer. I'm sure there are cultural and financial implications I don't know enough about but if anyone knows of any organizations working towards cleanup and conservation, pass it along. After the four days, I hired a driver in the ferry parking lot to take me up to Tulamben for 300k. He seemed pleasant so I hired him for my last day for 600k to take my buddy and me on a drive to the usual stops on the way to the airport.
In Tulamben, I stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers Resort for what I thought was real cheap ($18/nt). The room was a bit backpacker-ish and I felt spoiled at Ok Divers' newer rooms after seeing them. But they have nice pools and a decent breakfast. Restaurants and the shore entry for USAT Liberty are a quick walk away. When I arrived, my buddy hadn't made it up from the airport yet so I asked to do a night dive to the wreck. I didn't really know what to expect and didn't really receive any sort of briefing. We suited up and walked to the shore while our tanks/bcs were loaded on scooters and taken to the shore (as they were by the other shop the next day). The shore was kind of neat as dozens of divers and their gear were everywhere. My guide quickly led me into the water and I practically chased him around the entire wreck. It was surreal as I had no idea how big that wreck was going to be and I was taken aback by the site so often while trying to make sure not to lose track of the guide.
My buddy is a newer diver so I'm glad we had booked our dives together with Aqua Dive Paradise. They picked us up at the resort, made sure we were all sorted out at the shop, gave us a clear briefing, and took us on some nice sunrise dives. We enjoyed ourselves so much we ended doing four dives with Wayan in total ($101US with my gear, best bang for my buck for me diving, ever), hitting the wreck at sunrise and sunset as well as the Coral Garden and Emerald sites. Biggest things out there were parrot fish, otherwise we spent time looking for mantis shrimp, nudis, and octopus that my buddy wanted to see. The sunset dive was a treat with no other divers at the wreck but us. The night divers were just entering as we got out.
With a flight out the next night, there was no more diving for me but my buddy had a few more days so we had a look at Sanur. It was much livelier than Padang and Tulamben so he decided to stay there for the rest of his stay and get an Advanced Cert with Crystal Divers.
Overall, great trip despite the two days of roundtrip travel to get there from California for such a brief stay. Next time, I'd like to have my enriched air cert as I was often the only one in Padang without one (why does PADI charge so damn much for it in the states?!). Other details- I was comfortable in my 3.5mm full suit with boots. Plenty of others went without suits. My guide got chomped pretty good by a trigger fish the first day which made me think about wearing my hood but I decided against it (it was my 7mm Monterey hoodie). I neglected to wear sunscreen the first day on the boat. Dumb.
