hedonist222
Contributor
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I spent about nine diving days late September to early October of this year.
I was based at Prana Dive, my friend and tec instructor @RainPilot 's dive center.
I stayed at Teratai boutique hotel which is attached to the dive center.
I landed at around 5pm, was out by about 6. Collected a Telekomsel sim card that worked great (4G) all the way from the airport to the the hotel.
It took about 3 hours.
The hotel was very pleasant, Cozy. Staff happy to help with anything. I needed some laundry done and wanted a scooter. The scooter was delivered in less than an hour. Guy handed me the key and helmet and just left.
Both the owner and the manager were only minutes away from a whats app chat.
Wifi was really good. Was able to watch 4k content. No drop outs, no stutters.
This dive center is at the center of Amed's main area. Plenty of bars, restaurants, grocery stores, an ATM, and cafes.
All of my dives have been by boat. This was my first time experiencing a schedule where you commute by car.
I can see the appeal for some but I've come to learn that I prefer boat diving. My dive holidays are also holidays where I need serenity and as little external stimulus as possible. Shore entry at some dive sites were a little challenging. Highly recommend booties with thick soles. I think I prefer being based at a resort with boat diving. Prefer the more serene boat rides and surface intervals.
The major pro of car-commute diving is the plethora of people you get to meet at the dive area.
The dive area generally has tables, platforms and a shaded area. Several rinse tanks and a traditional cafe for coffee, tea, and snacks.
I did four dives a day. The schedule was car departs around 8 am. Whats excellent about Prana's location is proximity to both dive sites and a "downtown".
The furthest dive sites were about 25 minutes away with the majority being 15 to 20 minutes.
We usually did two dives at the same site. First dive we went left, after the surface interval, we went right on the second dive.
For dive sites where there was no left/right, the first dive was directly from the kit up area and we went left for example, for the second dive, the guide would have the porters move our gear about 200 to 300 meters left and thats where we would start our dive. This way we would have combed the whole dive shore area without overlap. Because we would need to return to the entry area and to avoid overlap of the first dive area, the second dive plan was split into two parts. We went deep and left for the first half of the dive, then ascended and turned back. This way we did not "re-see" anything. Good system.
After the two dives, the car returned divers back to Amed. I was the only diver who did another two dives. So we'd usually be back at Amed by 1'ish.
I agreed with the guide that I would be back at the dive center by around 2:30. That gave me enough time to have a quick shower, order some food, relax in the pool or in bed.
The next two dives are like the first. Usually dive sites closer to Amed though.
Most of you know already, that a good dive guide (especially for macro) can turn a good dive into a phenomenal dive.
Whenever I stay at a dive resort, I like to try out a few macro guides during the trip. Macro guides are human and therefore have strengths at finding certain things.
One guide was good at nudibranch and another was phenomenal at other things like hairy shrimp and lady bugs on anemone.
Prana dive center was great, wide and open dive area, an indoor and airconditioned room for your camera gear maintenance/storage. Separate rinse tank for camera gear.
Because I wanted to experience diving with different macro dive guides, they were very helpful with arranging all that for me.
I'd read so much about The Jetty dive site at Padang Bai and convinced another couple that it would be worth visiting. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to by car.
I managed to get one of the dive centers to arrange the car and we used the same guide from days prior. The plan was to do it as a shore dive. But there was a current that day and we only managed to get halfway through the pier. We saw nothing!
Plan B! I found a few locals and with the help of the guide translating, we managed to get one of them to take us out by boat to the end of the pier.
Also nothing! Felt a bit bad because I was really hoping to find jumbo Frogfish and/or Rhinopia. There was literally nothing special over there hahaha.
Well at one point there was a school of pomfret and with the sunlight, it was mesmerizing. Shimmering in their triangular shape.
The macro diving was great. It really is worth the trip. I know there are other islands with maybe better diving but those entail more traveling to get to. It only took me fourteen and a half hours from the door of my home to the hotel.
I knew my buddy @Searcaigh was going to be in Tulamben at the same time I was going to be in Amed. But we hadn't planned to dive together. So how funny was it to to emerge from a dive and see @Searcaigh also just finishing a dive!
Nice meeting and diving with you, @outofofficebrb !
General tips/observations:
- Do let the dive center know how many dives you want to do in a day and any night dives. This way you can schedule your day. I say this because one of the dive centers preferred that we leave and return after four dives. No. I like that ninety to a hundred and twenty minutes at the hotel room after the first two dives. Other than for resting, its also for having something to eat. If you opt not to return, they'll take you to a "warung" (traditional restaurant) or you could ask to be dropped of at a hotel and eat at the hotel restaurant. I did this one day. We were supposed to return after two dives, but the dive center asked if it was ok if we skipped returning because some other divers had to change their plans. It was ok for that one day, but not something I wanted to do for the rest of the days.
- I don't know if it was good luck or not the season but there weren't many mosquitos around.
- Bring thick sole booties! Like I said above, some dive sites had rocky entry points and couple that with swells, it got a bit tricky because I had my (large) DSLR camera and setup.
- Shore entry can be tricky, especially if the entry is rocky, there is swell that day, you're carrying camera gear or just tall. If you need a hand or someone to help with your camera gear, your guide will be happy to help. My guides offered to help without me having to ask. Again, get thick sole booties!
- Get a SIM card. They're cheap. Consistent 4G network wherever I went. Was nice to be able to whip out my phone and show people things, or look something up. Or just pass time between dives.
- Provision for three to three and a half hours trip to the airport. 90% of the route is single lane and winding mountain roads.
- Let your dive center know you'd like to dive with different macro guides. They can probably arrange a freelancer too. Prana was great at helping with this.
- It seems a lot of the dive sites are between Tulamben and Amed. Maybe a few minutes closer to Tulamben. But if you base yourself in Tulamben, you then don't have access to restaurants and cafes. Indonesia is a diverse country and I have realized (after visiting Bali and Sulawesi), that I prefer Sumatran cuisine. I did like being able to order (good) pizza and burgers. So being in Amed was nice.
- Bring coffee! I ground up some coffee and brought a pack of disposable pour-over sachets. Then I discovered the only true coffee shop and had espresso there daily (One Way Espresso). One Way Espresso's location was perfect. It was on the main artery out of Amed towards Tulamben. We'd stop and pick up an espresso en route.
- Skip the touristy things in Amed. One evening I took a scooter ride up to one of the cafes on a viewpoint for the sunset. I left fifteen minutes later. Too crowded with instagram selfy people and a next door bar had live music that sounded like a walrus being maimed.
I was based at Prana Dive, my friend and tec instructor @RainPilot 's dive center.
I stayed at Teratai boutique hotel which is attached to the dive center.
I landed at around 5pm, was out by about 6. Collected a Telekomsel sim card that worked great (4G) all the way from the airport to the the hotel.
It took about 3 hours.
The hotel was very pleasant, Cozy. Staff happy to help with anything. I needed some laundry done and wanted a scooter. The scooter was delivered in less than an hour. Guy handed me the key and helmet and just left.
Both the owner and the manager were only minutes away from a whats app chat.
Wifi was really good. Was able to watch 4k content. No drop outs, no stutters.
This dive center is at the center of Amed's main area. Plenty of bars, restaurants, grocery stores, an ATM, and cafes.
All of my dives have been by boat. This was my first time experiencing a schedule where you commute by car.
I can see the appeal for some but I've come to learn that I prefer boat diving. My dive holidays are also holidays where I need serenity and as little external stimulus as possible. Shore entry at some dive sites were a little challenging. Highly recommend booties with thick soles. I think I prefer being based at a resort with boat diving. Prefer the more serene boat rides and surface intervals.
The major pro of car-commute diving is the plethora of people you get to meet at the dive area.
The dive area generally has tables, platforms and a shaded area. Several rinse tanks and a traditional cafe for coffee, tea, and snacks.
I did four dives a day. The schedule was car departs around 8 am. Whats excellent about Prana's location is proximity to both dive sites and a "downtown".
The furthest dive sites were about 25 minutes away with the majority being 15 to 20 minutes.
We usually did two dives at the same site. First dive we went left, after the surface interval, we went right on the second dive.
For dive sites where there was no left/right, the first dive was directly from the kit up area and we went left for example, for the second dive, the guide would have the porters move our gear about 200 to 300 meters left and thats where we would start our dive. This way we would have combed the whole dive shore area without overlap. Because we would need to return to the entry area and to avoid overlap of the first dive area, the second dive plan was split into two parts. We went deep and left for the first half of the dive, then ascended and turned back. This way we did not "re-see" anything. Good system.
After the two dives, the car returned divers back to Amed. I was the only diver who did another two dives. So we'd usually be back at Amed by 1'ish.
I agreed with the guide that I would be back at the dive center by around 2:30. That gave me enough time to have a quick shower, order some food, relax in the pool or in bed.
The next two dives are like the first. Usually dive sites closer to Amed though.
Most of you know already, that a good dive guide (especially for macro) can turn a good dive into a phenomenal dive.
Whenever I stay at a dive resort, I like to try out a few macro guides during the trip. Macro guides are human and therefore have strengths at finding certain things.
One guide was good at nudibranch and another was phenomenal at other things like hairy shrimp and lady bugs on anemone.
Prana dive center was great, wide and open dive area, an indoor and airconditioned room for your camera gear maintenance/storage. Separate rinse tank for camera gear.
Because I wanted to experience diving with different macro dive guides, they were very helpful with arranging all that for me.
I'd read so much about The Jetty dive site at Padang Bai and convinced another couple that it would be worth visiting. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to by car.
I managed to get one of the dive centers to arrange the car and we used the same guide from days prior. The plan was to do it as a shore dive. But there was a current that day and we only managed to get halfway through the pier. We saw nothing!
Plan B! I found a few locals and with the help of the guide translating, we managed to get one of them to take us out by boat to the end of the pier.
Also nothing! Felt a bit bad because I was really hoping to find jumbo Frogfish and/or Rhinopia. There was literally nothing special over there hahaha.
Well at one point there was a school of pomfret and with the sunlight, it was mesmerizing. Shimmering in their triangular shape.
The macro diving was great. It really is worth the trip. I know there are other islands with maybe better diving but those entail more traveling to get to. It only took me fourteen and a half hours from the door of my home to the hotel.
I knew my buddy @Searcaigh was going to be in Tulamben at the same time I was going to be in Amed. But we hadn't planned to dive together. So how funny was it to to emerge from a dive and see @Searcaigh also just finishing a dive!
Nice meeting and diving with you, @outofofficebrb !
General tips/observations:
- Do let the dive center know how many dives you want to do in a day and any night dives. This way you can schedule your day. I say this because one of the dive centers preferred that we leave and return after four dives. No. I like that ninety to a hundred and twenty minutes at the hotel room after the first two dives. Other than for resting, its also for having something to eat. If you opt not to return, they'll take you to a "warung" (traditional restaurant) or you could ask to be dropped of at a hotel and eat at the hotel restaurant. I did this one day. We were supposed to return after two dives, but the dive center asked if it was ok if we skipped returning because some other divers had to change their plans. It was ok for that one day, but not something I wanted to do for the rest of the days.
- I don't know if it was good luck or not the season but there weren't many mosquitos around.
- Bring thick sole booties! Like I said above, some dive sites had rocky entry points and couple that with swells, it got a bit tricky because I had my (large) DSLR camera and setup.
- Shore entry can be tricky, especially if the entry is rocky, there is swell that day, you're carrying camera gear or just tall. If you need a hand or someone to help with your camera gear, your guide will be happy to help. My guides offered to help without me having to ask. Again, get thick sole booties!
- Get a SIM card. They're cheap. Consistent 4G network wherever I went. Was nice to be able to whip out my phone and show people things, or look something up. Or just pass time between dives.
- Provision for three to three and a half hours trip to the airport. 90% of the route is single lane and winding mountain roads.
- Let your dive center know you'd like to dive with different macro guides. They can probably arrange a freelancer too. Prana was great at helping with this.
- It seems a lot of the dive sites are between Tulamben and Amed. Maybe a few minutes closer to Tulamben. But if you base yourself in Tulamben, you then don't have access to restaurants and cafes. Indonesia is a diverse country and I have realized (after visiting Bali and Sulawesi), that I prefer Sumatran cuisine. I did like being able to order (good) pizza and burgers. So being in Amed was nice.
- Bring coffee! I ground up some coffee and brought a pack of disposable pour-over sachets. Then I discovered the only true coffee shop and had espresso there daily (One Way Espresso). One Way Espresso's location was perfect. It was on the main artery out of Amed towards Tulamben. We'd stop and pick up an espresso en route.
- Skip the touristy things in Amed. One evening I took a scooter ride up to one of the cafes on a viewpoint for the sunset. I left fifteen minutes later. Too crowded with instagram selfy people and a next door bar had live music that sounded like a walrus being maimed.
