Bali dive trip

[Mich Bali]

Hi Ron,

Bali is an excellent destination for dive roundtrips, and for combination holidays, diving - sightseeing. I do wish you a terrific trip.

Mimpi resort Menjangan is a very good choice, beautiful location but you have to keep in mind it is outside the village so you are more or less confined to the resort. If that would be an issue, I can also recommend in Pemuteran close by Taman Sari resort. The diving in Pemuteran bay is decent but surely not the best in Bali.

I do not see the use of both staying in Tulamben and Amed, choose one of the two. They are located close to each other and can basically be considered 1 area (25 min drive between the 2). There is a big difference in charm and character between both places though.
To make it easy; if you are an avid diver wanting to dive, dive, dive, go for Tulamben. If you are also interested in beautiful surroundings and a far away from civilization feeling, go for the traditional fishing village of Amed. Do try to look past the "dirty" look of Amed when arriving, the place has a feel and gorgeous landscapes. Tulamben is basically a busy street with some dive shops and hotels...

In Amed Puri Wirata is good and I also like Anda Amed (not a dive resort though).
Like everyone says here TWD is an excellent facility but why not look at Mimpi Tulamben? Also Scuba Seraya outside the village is highly recommended and it has an awesome muck-diving house-reef.

In Ubud we have the most success with Greenfield but the choice there is overwhelming.

Did you not forget Candi Dasa in your itinerary?(also perfect hub for Nusa Penida diving)
Check out Alam Asmara there. Nusa Penida does have some must see dive sites.

And then last but not least, my double agenda, I know all this because we are a unique specialist of a la carte dive safari holidays in Bali (and completely private). And I say specialist because it is all we do...And our emphasis is on combination holidays, as this beautiful Island of the Gods has so much to offer. That's why we have this program that we call "Above & Below Bali".
If you would at all be interested in our help organizing your upcoming trip, it would be an absolute honor. Feel free to have a look at our site and contact me.
If you decide against it, still feel free to contact me for more tips and advice, I'm always happy to help.

But most importantly, have a great time and enjoy this little paradise Island and it's beautiful people. Happy Diving!

 

[adjuanb]

Thanks to the Scubaboard members for their comments and suggestions on our now completed trip to Bali.

Venues
We have Zero regrets with self-devised itinerary our dive resorts and hotels in/near Ubud. All had some accessible Wi-Fi, some rooms at most locations were close enough for reception in guest room. (Only one had TV in the room - where we got our tsumani warnings.) All the below have water closets/toilets no squatting! Prices are per person per day include room (double occupancy), transfer, 2 dives per day at dive resorts, all food purchased a la carte (at resort unless noted).

(These compare to a ~$109/person/day quote I got for an organized "dive-safari" tour, probably need to add about $15/p/d for upgrades for some rooms. Then again a dive safari might squeeze in a few more dives.)

Puri Wirata - 5 nights Dive Resort and Spa, Jl. Raya Bunutan, Amed, Bali, tel: +62 (0)363 23 523

$94/p/d Dive Resort Has an older and recent phase of construction. In the last few years they've built their own Bali Reef Divers shop on site.

Mimpi-Menjangan - 5 nights Banyuwedang, Northwest Bali - Indonesia Phone +62 362 94497
$135/p/d Dive Resort Premium facilities and food and Superb Service.

Mandala Desa - 2 nights Br. Lantangidung, Batuan, Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia Phone : +62 361 294 525

$115/p/d Premium+ facilities and Superb Service. The perfect place to relax after a 40 hour flight and two weeks of diving. A 15 minutes walk to a town. Cooks their own excellent food. two villa's, two rooms

Tegal Sari - 2 nights Hanoman Street, Padang Tegal, Ubud 80571 Bali , Indonesia PO Box 183 Phone : (62) (361) 973 318

$64/p/d + 1 dinner out

Liberty Dive Resort - 8 nights Tulamben Village, Bali Tel 62 363 23347

$97/p/d Dive Resort They're building more units basically doubling the size.

Cendana - 4 nights Monkey Forest Road, Ubud 80571.P.O.BOX 163, Phone : 62-361-973243

$35/p/d +all dinners and lunches Has an older and recent phase of construction. We liked the patina of the early phase. Though a mini-refrigerator and water dispenser would be nice.

Trash at Bali
We were warned of trash in the water by several web sites. Amed and Menjangan did have floating trash - 90% plastic bags and food wrappers. Streams of it on the surface to several feet below, up to hundreds of items. Little had settled to the bottom - I was able to retrieve about half of what I swam by. The rainy season must flush a lot of it down dry rivers and from roadsides. Tulamben area had much less (so you could pocket a few pieces and see none). The latter had been my experience at ~30 trips in the Caribbean.

Travel insurance
Seemed like a good idea, I got a quote for $290 for a ~$9000 trip. But the things it doesn't cover whittle away at any value. If you've prepaid for the whole trip I'd get it. But as we were on our own tour only two hotels (of six) wanted deposits or full payment ~$200. In my case that was all that insurance might have paid. Of course DAN offers some protection for a dive accident, we have had that for years.

Money in Bali
I'd read online about currency exchange problems (and like every other destination that reputeted doesn't take credit cards those posting missed my "no-problem" experience). All the pre-trip exchange and money angst was a waste of energy as everything went on credit cards without trouble (though most hotels add 1.4% to 3% processing to the total).

We had good luck getting money at the Denpasar airport ATM between immigration and customs. The Citibank machine spit out 8666 Irp per 1 USD in 100,000 Irp notes. The gauntlet of airport money changers after customs post 8500 per USD, though I don't know how much you get if a creit card is involved (less I bet).

The recommendations online suggest bringing US $100 bills for currency exchange. I found out just before leaving that crisp new (2003 or later) bills are good (necessary?). Part of the reason is the counterfeit "super 100's" around. New bills are easier to verify. (As usual we brought them all home.)

I did let my credit card providers know I was going out of country. Last September Visa decided that dinner in Williamsburg was too suspicious for an middle-aged Boston girl (my wife) and put a temporary stop on her card. I'd never bothered before - but advising all cards is now on my checklist now. (The card that put the stop on my wife's dinner is one of the ones that says don't bother to call them with travel notifications.)

I also reviewed my all credit card's foreign transaction fee. My Amex changed their policy - now charging a fee - my other cards have for years. Capitol One invited me to upgrade my Visa to their Venture card with no foreign transaction or annual fee so I did.

Amex lists no ATM locations in Bali...

Miscellaneous
Air Singapore is a great airline. Perfect for a 30 to 40 hour flight with layover. Edible food. Naturally Delta's Flight from JFK to Boston (the final hour of 36) was broken and they felt a quick routing through Detroit was a good idea - not. Pity the foreign traveller like I'd been an hour before. A little convincing and they put us in a cab to their shuttle in LaGuardia.

On a typical day at the Dive Resorts we were the only US citizens there. We probably encountered others a day or two per week. We were at the edge of the rainy season and it is a long flight. There were a few more Europeans, and even more Austrailians. Most divers were Asian. No new friends for life but all friendly.

Tulamben and Amed dives were shore entry (short walk/ride and porters for gear) or boat dives from outriggers that were a tight fit for Boat Driver / DM / two of us. Boat-motors on the outriggers. Good and bad - I guess it means the jerk on the boat... is me. Little interaction with other divers at sites.

At Menjangen they use outboard powered, locally-made wooden skiffs with an ad hoc top. Max. about 7 divers/snorklers, 3 DM and a Boat Driver. Off-peak season there's lots of people available.

Initially we thought we'd walk into the town/village for some meals, but the convenience of the resort restaurant and the post-dive lethargy conspired. If we don't often have a light snack for lunch a meal plan might have been cheaper.

Bin-tang is the only beer you'll find until you get to a big town (Ubud in our case). I find it drinkable.

Thanks again, Ron

 

[iamafish]

Amed has more mountains "immediately" around it than Tulamben, so when it rains you naturally get a lot of runoff from the hills into the sea; this is the natural eco-system of an area with a lot of mountains and hills. We were diving Liberty in Tulamben today, and there was a major storm for around 1.5 hours, raining cat and dogs, and we also saw run-off with some trash at the Liberty, but less than Amed.

OBTW, most shore entry dive sites will have some degree of runoff that brings some trash and murk to the dive site when it rains hard. On the Liberty wreck today, the viz was a bit low after the heavy rains, but the runoff also brought some nutrients into the eco-system, creating an underwater feeding frenzy. There are always pluses and minuses to any situation.

Regarding your comment "if you dive-dive-dive stay in Tulamben".... frankly, we have done 10 Tulmaben Liberty dives in the last 4 days, all from our resort in Amed and would not move (back) to Tulamben (we stayed there before, and happily left to Amed), because we have a rental car and Amed has many more place to eat and drink.

For folks without a rental car, the small strip of a small number of restaurants near the wreck may be a better option. I assume you did not have a rental car, based on your report, since you did not mention one. It makes a big difference in perspective and experience, IMHO.

 

[arsenalgirl]

My Husband and I are thinking of making a trip to Bali for our wedding anniversary as well. He is an avid diver/underwater photographer wheras I mainly snorkel and just chill out/bum around. Im looking at a mid range/ high end ocean front villa accomodation that is near to the dive sites as well so that he doesnt have to travel that much...does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Wisnu]

Hi arsenalgirl,
you have plenty choice of mid/high end dive accomodation in Bali. When and what your hubby diving preference ?
I just back from Tulamben last week, there's new resort, ie. Tulamben Ocean View, very close to the wreck, more luxury than other Tulamben resorts (Mimpi, Tauch Terminal).
At seraya, we love scuba seraya.
For menjangan - I like mimpi resort, huge garden, hot spring pool; other choices at this area are Waka shorea, Gavana Novus and Menjangan Jungle Beach.
Pemuteran - Matahari beach resort
or for diving with style, Amankila resort near candi dasa can be your choice - just be prepared to spend USD 1000 - 3000 / night excluding diving. Don't ask me for review of this resort - never, and don't dream will stay there.