accommodation and diving in Tulamben. Advice needed

[robcap]

Howdy,
I am planning a trip to Bali in Octoober.
Going with wife and 2 y.o. daughter, therefore i need
1) a baby friendly place +
2) beautiful house reef
Ideally
3) unlimited shore dives.


I've been told that Tulamben should be a good choice and I read some posts confirming it.

Any thoughts?
Any resort/hotel to recommend (keeping in mind point 1 &2)?
Any diving center (point 2&3) to recommend?

Cheers

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

You probably have not received a reply to this thread as the rest of us are not as brave as you as to travel with children so we do not know the answer to you question exactly. We are assuming that one of you would be diving while the other stays with the children and then switch? Actually you may be able to get a sitter if you ask while you go shore diving as you would not be gone long but we know that might make you feel uneasy!
You would have to inquire about children at the resorts but we would suggest looking at Tach Tulamben as it has 3 really good shore dives right in front of the resort and a restaurant on site and some large bungalows to rent that would be quite. Here is a link

Bali Dive Center Tulamben, Spa, Diving & Accommodation in Bali Indonesia

Next we would suggest Mimpi resort thru aquamarine.com in Tulamben

Hope you find something for your family and have fun.

 

[robcap]

LOL, thanks guys. My bub is definitely a traveller. Almost 17 months (not years) but already 3 times to Italy (where the rest of the family is), Fiji, Tasmania .... possibly more than 100 hours flight already.
I checked the 2 resorts and they look great. Good starting point, and for a change this time I am planning in advance ;-)
cheers
r

 

[kathydee]

Hi Robcap,

I think you'll love Bali ;-)

I've been to Tulamben many times. It's where I learned to dive. I was spoiled.

The main attraction is a ship wreck right off the shore, there is also a nice drop off a short distance away, the coral gardens are a nice shore dive. Basically all dives, except a few drift dives off local boats, are shore dives. Many shops rent tanks and you can just hire a guide or venture out on your own.

The town has little in the way of amenities or entertainment so best if your family likes the ocean/scuba. Most of the "beach" covered with tumbled lava rocks.

I personally stay at a place with budget accommodations, but they do have some nice new bungalows with aircon/hot water for about $22 a night/ unlimited tanks are $6 each. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more information. I am sure you can find nicer resort type shops.

 

[vladimir]

If you want to go a little upscale, I recommend the Mimpi Tulamben. (The diving and accommodations at Mimpi Menjangan are also quite nice.) I was there a month ago but was, unfortunately, too lazy to do a proper trip report. The diving right out front is nice, and it's about a four hundred meter walk to the Liberty Wreck (porters will carry your tanks on their heads for a couple of bucks). The dive op was tolerant of my solo diving. When you say "unlimited diving" do you mean for one price? You could dive as much as you wanted out front, but they cost $22 a dive. They scheduled some boat dives, which entailed taking an outrigger canoe to a different shore dive, which wasn't that different. They also schedule cars to Gilimanuk to dive Secret Bay. I paid $170 for the ocean-view cottage, complete with private courtyard, lounging area, outdoor bathroom and large air-conditioned bedroom and just a few steps from the shore. A family of three would be comfortable. If you have time, you may want to consider doing four or five days in Menjangan, then Tulamben, and then doing some dives on Nusa Penida or Nusa Lembongan off the southeast corner of Bali. Each site offers diving fairly distinct from the others.

 

[anomac]

Tulumben is great to dive on the wreck but the other dives... Well lets just say Bali has better to offer. If you have more than a couple of days then might I suggest you look around. Vladimir has mentioned the Nusa's, the two islands off Bali's South East coast. Candidasa has a couple of spots. Right next to Tulumben, well about 10km's south is Amed. A great number of places to satay. Oops that was freudian. I meant Stay, but a lot do sell Satay. And there are a great number of dive shops there. If you have more than a week might I suggest Gili Trawangan, this is the bees knees. No cars, no motorbikes, no dogs. An island of bicycles and cats! Nothing to do but dive on drop dead gorgeous walls and reefs. See turtles, mantas and fish in every colour. But staying in Bali there is Pemuteran, it is all the way west, also on the north coast. About 4 hours by car. We just returned from a weekend there, great diving, abundance of marine life and fantastic people.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tapas bali]

Hi Rob,

Agree with Vladimir regarding Mimpi Tulamben. The dive sites is in walking distance from the resort. The standard room called patio, published for 109/night in low season (October is their low season). Could be cheaper when you combine it with diving. If you do some search on this forum, you will find that Mimpi Tulamben is chosen by some as their most favorite resorts.

From Mimpi Tulamben, you can do up to 4 dives/day.

You may get friendly baby sitter cost USD 10-15/day in Tulamben.

Hopefully you find this helpful.

 

[robcap]

Thanks again.
Progress report: we decided to go in August, possibly second week.
Now my concern is the baby. If, as Kathy mentioned, the beach is covered with tumbled lava rocks, the bub would not have much fun (she will be 21 months when we are there). Is there an alternative with sandy beach??
Not too far .... with house reef ....
Also, if it is not asking too much ... my wife has never seen a manta ray ... is nusa penida the place?

cheers
r

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

Well you should then look a Scuba Seraya Resort which is down from the Liberty Wreck and on a very nice sandy beach with shore diving in front. The diving is all for Macro small criiter stuff which we love and they take you by boat aprox. 10 minutes to dive the wreck and reefs around it.
Scuba Seraya Resort in Desa Tukad Dabu, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
They have some very nice villas to rent and you could ask about a baby sitter? And yes you would at least have a chance to see Mantas around Nusa Penida.

 

[lumba-lumba]

I'm not sure whether you already have your bookings done... but if you haven't maybe it's worthy to check on Bayu Cottages Welcome to Bayu Cottages, Amed, Bali, they are located in Amed, nice fishermen's village, in front of a nice quiet sandy beach, the sea is safe for kids (no big waves as in Tulamben), and they have coral garden in front of the hotel. It's kids friendly, the owners have child themselves. Rooms are great, all ocean-view, with facilities you can't get elsewhere in the same price category. Bookings are necessary, they are always fully booked!!