Hi all,
Just came back from Bali and enjoyed some great dives. Though warned in advance, I was amazed at how busy Bali was in August, and how fully booked some dive outfits were. Fully booked was applicable to the dive sites around Nusa Penida (an hour out of Sanur), especially Manta Point. Other dive trips up further north like Tulamben turned out to be easily bookable and around 2 hours drive out from Sanur, though I did not do this myself.
Yes, I saw manta rays at Manta Point (4 of them in 1 dive, wingspan 4 meters, and none on a second dive there).
And mola mola / sunfish at Crystal Bay (a huge 3 meter specimen on first dive, and 3 of them on a second dive, fin-to-fin size around 2 meters).
I took some pictures of the mola mola I saw on my second dive, that you can view here:
Ward's Photos | Facebook
I had a very good experience with Bali Scuba. Professional outfit, instructors/dm's, fast boat (fast and early at the sites, you can do 3 dives at Nusa Penida on 1 day), good lunch. Sad thing they were fully booked on some days, and they were short on material (bcd's). Luckily I had pre-booked my first dives with them from home. Recommend reserving with them in advance.
Bluefin was somewhat disorganized, with late pick-up, a late departure, and frustrated snorkelers on the boat to Manta Point (?) due to ill planning. Dive-wise not as professional.
Finished my week with some surprisingly satisfying afternoon dives at Nusa Penida reef with Hammerhead Bali. Not as colorful and with poorer visibility compared to other sites, but I enjoyed being all alone with my DM and seeing the entire fish menu and then some swimming around. Examples: lionfish, moray eel, cuttlefish, trumpetfish, turtle, stonefish, crabs, stingrays, lobsters, nudy branches.
Thanks again for your help on my earlier question, and for those still visiting Bali: enjoy!
