Bali diving trip

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PeterC

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Hi I am planning a trip in South East Asia and was hoping that someone could provide me information about diving in Bali. I have read previous posts and I am interested in diving in (Tulamben especially the wreck, menjang) in Bali. Originally I intended to avoid Bali after the bombing but have since changed my mind and would like to support the people of Bali by visiting their Island. I hope to get to Bali if all goes well sometime around late June/July) I also would appreciate it if anyone could advise me on cheap accommodation around the dive sites as I am on tight backpacking budget! I have my advanced certification but do not have many logged dives but I am a strong swimmer and would like to try some of the more challenging dive sites. I am also travelling alone so any buddies who are interested then it would be useful to know someone before I get there or possibly arrange a meeting prior to my arrival that would be cool=-)

Thanks
Peter :)
 
I stayed at Paradise Bunglows which is on the beach just up from the wreck. I was there in August and it cost R80,000. That's pretty cheap but you can do better. It was a nice place though and the rooms were great. The wreck is awesome but a little crowded. There's a nice wall just down the shore on the opposite end from the wreck.

I did most of my diving around Nusa Penida. There are some great drift dives there and lots of great corals. We were hoping for Mola Molas but no luck. I stayed in Sanur at the Watering Hole for the same price as Tulamben. It was family run with a good restaurant and the rooms were really nice too. As I said, you can find cheaper rates but for the extra R20,000 you can do very well. The prices are supposed to be a lot lower in low season but I'd say everything is quite cheap right now. I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding a great deal. I'm just wondering what the mood is like there now. Everyone seemed happy and easy going last summer. Locals kept telling us how much different Bali is from the rest of Indonesia but now that illusion has been shattered. It's not the removed paradise as everybody thought.
 
I have been to Bali several times dived at:
Secret Bay
Menjangan
Tulamben
Nusa Penida

Can you tell us how many days you plan to be there?

Secret Bay is really for muck diving. Full of weird and fantastic creatures. There is one operator with very simple lodging and food right at the door step of this dive site. Dive & Dives's. divedive@indo.net.id

Menjangan are nice reef dives. Some currents, not that strong. There are a few resorts there but not back pack style. Perhaps you could live and dive & dives and travel to Menjangan. It is about 20 min car ride, and another 45 min to 1 hour boat ride to Menjangan. There are many dive sites at Menjangan island.

Tulamben is really famous for the wreck. Great macro stuff too. If you like pretty nudibranch then you might end up just diving the lava flow and cleaning station. Besides Paradise, Matahari Tulamben Resort is slightly cheaper than Paradise and just next door.

Nusa Penida diving are mainly drift dives. Currents can be very powerfull. Most normally stay at Nusa Lembongan and dive Nusa Penida. Very good for pelagics and fantastic walls and visibility if you pick the right tide and right spot. For your budget you can try World Diving, www.world-diving.com.
 
Diving in Bali is great; we have been there several times and on top of the dive sites mentioned above I would really suggest that you try the Tepekong area (around Candidasa / Padangbai); we saw lots of sharks there and also a mola-mola(sunfish0: an incredible sight.
Padangbai is a good place to stay as it is full of backpacker accomodation / restaurants and there are few dives shops which have some of the most competitive prices in Bali.
We dived with www.gekodive.com (based in Padangbai) and they were professional and friendly; they can take you everywhere from Nusa Penida to Tulamben on their good speedboat and charge around 50 US per day (2 tanks).
Hope you enjoy!
Cheers
 
We just got back from Bali on Dec. 20th. We had a great time, and people were very welcoming. Most of the tourists are gone, and we were generally the only folks staying at hotels and resorts or going on dive trips.

Needless to say, it was easy to get great deals.

My best dives were at Permuturan and Menjangan Island in the Northwest. We stayed at Taman Sari Bungalows, which was very luxurious and used Archipeligo Divers which is located on the beach in front of Taman Sari. They have their own boat to go directly to Menjangan (in the National Park) and other dive sites. Visibility was fine and the diversity of life exceptional.

Do not dive with Cactus Divers operating out of the Emerald Resort at Tulumben. I had a very bad experience with them diving at the otherwise incredible Liberty wreck. Both the depth and pressure guages they gave me were faulty, and my second stage chattered badly. I should have ended things as soon as I checked out the gear.

When I could barely pull any air from my mouthpiece, with the pressure guage reading 1000 psi, I took my guide's octo and found it delivered more salt water than air. I made it through a slow ascent and safety stop trying to spit our most of the water without drowning. I swam in without being able to inflate my bcd. When I got to shore, my tank was empty and the guage showed 800 psi.

The guide (This guy is a PADI chief instructor !) thought all of this was funny. I wanted to kill him.

Bali Hai Divers who have a resort at Nusa Lembogen and run several boats there out of Benoa Harbor have a good operation with decent gear.

We never made it to the Gili Islands off of Lombok, and Amed was too murky with stream runoff to dive when we were there.

Ubud Bungalow on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud, while not near any diving, is a great, inexpensive place to stay. Wayan, the owner, really took care of us.

Our trusty driver Nyoman (tel 0361-419 138 hm; 081-2395 7800 cell) took us everywhere in great style at less cost than renting our own car or even much public transport. We never had to worry about our stuff or run any errands.

It's a great time to visit Bali. Just check out the dive gear you are actually going to use well before heading to the dive site.

Aloha,

Jonathan Starr
kalepa@maui.net
 
Jonathan Starr once bubbled...
Do not dive with Cactus Divers operating out of the Emerald Resort at Tulumben. I had a very bad experience with them diving at the otherwise incredible Liberty wreck. Both the depth and pressure guages they gave me were faulty, and my second stage chattered badly. I should have ended things as soon as I checked out the gear.

When I could barely pull any air from my mouthpiece, with the pressure guage reading 1000 psi, I took my guide's octo and found it delivered more salt water than air. I made it through a slow ascent and safety stop trying to spit our most of the water without drowning. I swam in without being able to inflate my bcd. When I got to shore, my tank was empty and the guage showed 800 psi.


The same thing happened to me with a shop from Sanur. Finishing a dive in Nusa Penida, I was surfacing and ran out of air. My guage read 30 bar. I was pissed off too. It's scary.
 
Bali offers wide options for your diving trip. From muck diving in secret Bay, Wall dive and wreck dive in Menjangan Island and Tulamben. Wall dive and drift dive in Amed (sometimes), Shark dive in Tepekong and drift dive in Nusa Penida. Depend on your interest and how long you will spend your time for diving and your budget, you can choose the best you can get

See you under

8er diver
 
Sounds like you will have a great trip. The wreck at Tulumben is great, although I would not recommend Blue Water Dive at Tulumben for the following reasons.
Despite our request to dive to the tank the "dm" insisted we dive to a set time.
Our safety stop was over the rocks/shore w nothing to see when it could have easily been just above the wreck.
Upon encountering a giant reef ray the "dm" grabbed my buddy's hose and pulled him away even though he was a substantial distance from the ray and it did not seem worried by his presence.
These things made me concerned about the competance/ confidence of the dm who by the way was not really interested in diving at all which to me seems a bit strange.
I know this might seem trivial but it compared to other peoples stories of running out of air but it really detracted from the experience.
 
I can recommend Spice Dive at Lovina Beach. I have dived with them on two different occasions and never had any problems with the equipment. THe guides are very good and knowledgeable, and they serve a good lunch on the boat!
If you stay at Lovina Beach there are many choices of accomodation, also in the backpackers range. No need to book anything ahead, you'll find something when you get there.
I especially recommend diving in Menjangang. There's lots of marine life, in one dive we saw 5 or 6 turtles.
 
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