Bali daytrip ... Sanur to NP –– looking for DC advice

[Luko]

I’ve read somewhere Bali traffic is horrible, you recon 1.5 hours would be a worst case scenario?

It is (terrible). "Worst case" in Bali would be for instance a ceremony blocking the road for a half day.
There was also a day in December 23 where it took a few hours to get to the airport while your car was stuck on the bypass 5kms away, I know some people who walked to the airport with their luggage!

Yes I think it's a good idea to spend the last night at the Novotel airport hotel, which is nice. No hurry, good breakfast, 5minutes walk to the terminal, you can take your shower just before checkin.

Do Gekko have ackommodation as well?

Nope.
On the same beach front, less than 5 minutes walk away, you would have Absolute (which is also a dive centre), Puri Rai (where I usually stay, nice grounds and pools, very convenient to let your dive stuff dry) and Colonial hotel.

 

[Pressurehead]

On the same beach front, less than 5 minutes walk away, you would have Absolute (which is also a dive centre), Puri Rai (where I usually stay, nice grounds and pools, very convenient to let your dive stuff dry) and Colonial hotel.

'Absolute' when diving that area also, when I am going to Bali solo [I will be there in November,solo ].
I use Ocean Gravity Dive Sanur when staying in Sanur, for one reason only, there is a couple of resorts there my wife likes in Sanur [non diver now] she tells me she is bored stiff when staying in the resorts further North while I dive most days.
Happy wife, happy life.
Well, 2 reasons , Ocean Gravity Dive is a small operation, well run and never dive with a 'crowd of diver bubbles', and has happened a lot, one on one with my guide being the only 2 divers in the area we dived.

Only 10 dives booked to the usual suspects this trip.
And a day trip to Padang Bai , 2 extra dives ,because I can.
I will be in Sanur tomorrow morning.
Enjoy.

 

[Bookworm11]

I had experience with both the Amed and the Nusa Penida Two fish dive shops, and I don't recommend either. The DMs are great, but both managers are poor. I planned a trip to Bali just to dive over a year in advance where I gave them a 50% deposit, and they totally mismanaged my trip to the point that the Nusa Penida shop manager stopped me from getting my last two dives from the shop. I sent them a deposit and sent them the transfer details, and two weeks later, they were asking where it was! Zero Gravity Dive shop in Sanur is awesome! I did 3 dives in Padangbai with them this past February, which turned out to be superb and I saw so many things I had never seen before, including a number of frogfish!

 

[Pressurehead]

I am picky when choosing dive shops in Bali, look at the condition of their rental gear (I only rent cylinders and weights) before I handover any money, even if I am not using that gear . As an example, the other day a couple of divers from Germany were on a fast boat to Nusa Penida I was on and the condition of the rental wetsuits they were 'issued ' was awful, thin, worn out and falling apart, so I looked at the regulators they were given and on first sight, iffy , my first thought, sure enough one of them had to be replaced as there was a hole in BOTH mouthpieces FFS. OK, rant over. I will not name the shop here as I am still in Bali, except it say it had 'Indo' in the name. I know the shops I use.

 

[Christian]

So I will look into Zero Gravity and also a place reccomended to me was Nico Dives Cool (that name?). Unfortunately I will only have one day so heading up to Padang Bai is a big question mark, will have a flight to catch 13:30 in Denpasar so want to have a ”calm” morning and short ride to airport.

@Pressurehead @Bookworm11

Any of you photographers?

Thanks.

 

[Searcaigh]

+1 on using the Novotel at the airport prior to departure.

I usually dive around Tulamben and it's all shore diving for macro stuff so I can't advise on boats.

 

[Christian]

+1 on using the Novotel at the airport prior to departure.

I usually dive around Tulamben and it's all shore diving for macro stuff so I can't advise on boats.

Was thinking: stay @Sanur both nights, Intercontinental, should be a fairly quick transfer? Google say 21 minutes.
Will be a bit too much to schlep airport-padang bai, spend a night—dive and then transfer same evening to airport Novotel. Me think. Only have two nights—I discovered… sloppy, thought it was three. With three it would have been a no brainer.

 

[Bookworm11]

No, I am not a photographer. I am envious of those who were. I can tell you that on my dive trip with Zero Gravity, I was the only one diving, and there was a boat. A very good lunch at the restaurant, too!! My site was fantastic, each of the three dives were great. I went on a whim and Im so glad I did now !!!

 

[CJS]

I'm diving Nusa Penida from Sanur at the end of an upcoming trip. I've never done it from Sanur before, normally staying on Nusa Lembongan, so emailed a bunch of shops. There were a number that gave a good vibe, but I've settled on Crystal Divers. They've said that they won't mix divers in a group and because I have a Deep Diver card, I would only be in a group with the same card or Dive Master and if on that day, I was the only person in that category I would have my own guide at no extra cost. They will do a private guide for IDR 750k per day, which is what I would do if I was a photographer. I'm sure most of the shops would have the same arrangement. Great food in Sanur btw! Try the satay goat at the night market.

 

[Christian]

@CJS @Pressurehead @Bookworm11

Cheers! Why I ask is not so much to have a guide, I’m happy to dive w/o a guide if they just give a good and thorough briefing and tell me where and when to surface. It’s rather if they have the infrastructure on their boat for photographers, most crucial a large enough rinse tank for a ”big” camera rig. I’ve been in touch with a few and it seems to be rare (haven’t found one yet). Most likely I’ll have to revert to a soft cooler bag operation, which is totally ok.