Bali: need Pemuteran/Menjangan advice

[Grocio]

Lorenzoid,

As far as Aquamarine is concerned, in my case it was the way you imagined: they're based in Kuta and you travel around the island with an instructor. However, the instructors do these safaris very often and most of them know the classic good sites around the island very well.

Another suggestion: if you gety a copy of the book Diving Bali (http://www.amazon.com/Diving-Bali-Underwater-Southeast-Periplus/dp/0794606008), you can find the email address of the Indonesian co-author (Wally Siagian) and contact him. He's a freelance dive guide. He has dived Bali since immemorial time, for what I got from the book.

Good luck!

 

[CJS]

If you're there to dive with a minimum of the "resort spa" experience, I'd suggest you look at Adi Asari and Sea Rovers. Yes there is a resort there, but outside of the pretty grounds and breakfast, there isn't much 'overhead' you have to put up with. Sea Rovers runs a very fast 6-pack and is almost the closest place to Menjangen Island, so unless your idea of fun is spending time on a cattle boat with 30 of your closest friends, that alone should be enough to persuade you

This.

We are the same as you and this is what we did, although it was a few years ago and the Adi Asari has changed hands since (Sea Rovers, I believe has not). I would email Sea Rovers and tell them what you are looking for. I think they would not just recommend the resort they are attached to if they thought there was something better suited to your needs, based on my interaction with them. I do remember that Sea Rovers got us a discount when we stayed at the Adi Asari.

 

[Lorenzoid]

This.

We are the same as you and this is what we did, although it was a few years ago and the Adi Asari has changed hands since (Sea Rovers, I believe has not). I would email Sea Rovers and tell them what you are looking for. I think they would not just recommend the resort they are attached to if they thought there was something better suited to your needs, based on my interaction with them. I do remember that Sea Rovers got us a discount when we stayed at the Adi Asari.

I have been doing some more reading since the posts above, and emailing Sea Rovers and others is just what we intend to do. Sea Rovers says on their website that they can offer packages that include diving and lodging at Adi Assri resort, so we plan to ask them what they can put together. If the price is good, then staying at Adi Assri would be fine. The normal price for May for a mid-range room is apparently around US$105/night, though, which is higher than what we are looking for. By way of comparison, a similar room at Taman Sari seems to be about the same price. So it seems both resorts consider themselves equally "luxurious." But just across the street from Sea Rovers and Adi Assri, there are the two homestays that Mike Veitch mentioned: Man's Homestay and Double You Homestay, both considerably more economical than the resorts. I will make inquiries and see what we end up with.

 

[CJS]

I have been doing some more reading since the posts above, and emailing Sea Rovers and others is just what we intend to do. Sea Rovers says on their website that they can offer packages that include diving and lodging at Adi Assri resort, so we plan to ask them what they can put together. If the price is good, then staying at Adi Assri would be fine. The normal price for May for a mid-range room is apparently around US$105/night, though, which is higher than what we are looking for. By way of comparison, a similar room at Taman Sari seems to be about the same price. So it seems both resorts consider themselves equally "luxurious." But just across the street from Sea Rovers and Adi Assri, there are the two homestays that Mike Veitch mentioned: Man's Homestay and Double You Homestay, both considerably more economical than the resorts. I will make inquiries and see what we end up with.

Let us know what you end up doing.

 

[gekodivebali]

In Pemuteran, I can recommend diving with Renaud from Macro Bali Dive