Bali scuba/relation holiday

[sleeprequired]

Hey all,

Want to book a holiday over christmas to Bali.

1. Ideally we have a budget of 100-150AUD/USD for accommodation and want to know what sort of quality we can expect for this. Also some names of suggested hotels would be nice. Basically comfort, aircon, cocktails for the missus (ok and me) would be nice.

2. Dive sites and operators. Best suggestions, we like coral and marine life, some big stuff would also be nice. We are relatively inexpericed divers, we have our PADI but aren't very good at underwater orientation etc so a couple of good dive operators and suggested 'must see' locations would be nice.

We are prepared to skip from one place to another. I was thinking get there, go diving, and then head to a really good value for money hotel to unwind after diving!

all suggestions welcome and very helpful no doubt.

by the way the title of the thread was meant to be relaxation, not relation... lol

 

[Kevster]

In Tulamben Serya scuba resort costs approx $80/night. Dives cost $25. Its one of the top hotels in that area.Very good choice for the muck diving. Great dive guides
IMHO one of best hotels in Tulamben is the Tauch terminal. It is great.A bit more expensive though.

In Bali/Kuta area i always stay in the Green garden beach resort & spa. Its excellent value at approx 60-70 USD. Its not 5 star but offers a great stay at a good price. Just note there are several green garden hotels in Kuta ,the good one is in Tuban


In terms of dive Ops. BIDP based in Sanur provide very good service. There are a lot of good ,prof ops in Bali. Just read some more posts.

Do a scuba safari, most dive companies can arrange this. Look at aquamarine web site for typical details.

The best diving in Bali is in Tulamben.

 

[Madacub]

Good choice, Bali. Plenty to do, even not counting diving. Good prices, great food, excellent service. Plenty of variety, upscale, downscale.

Depending on how many days you are planning on diving, you may not need to skip around. I was planning on staying for about 12 days, and so was planning on staying at different places. In the end I think I stayed for just 6-7 days, (so no need to skip around) and took a LOB to Komodo for the rest of the days. I stayed in the Candidasa area at the Watergarden hotel. Did all my diving from Padang Bai aboout 15 minutes away, except for 1 day at the Liberty wreck in Tulamben, about an hour + away. Candidasa is more of a quiet area, Kuta, Denpasar, Seminiyak etc are closer to the hotspots, plus all the traffic snarls etc. Depends on what you are looking for. No shopping etc to speak of in Candidasa.

But why not book your diving and hotel through the same operator? I dove with Aquamarine and I can recommend them. They were patient while I worked through all the options via email and came up with different options. Plus they know the hotels and diving. Tell them what you want and they will get you a package price. You could even specify to Annabel (the owner) that you are a little inexperienced and would appreciate a good guide, suitable for your level. She's very helpful, I'm sure she will oblige. My guide was Muly, and he would be ideal, I think. Slow, calm, methodical, knowledgeable.

Tulamben has great diving, but I was there in August which is the season for Mola Molas and they tend to be seen more at the southern spots, the manta spot is south, so the Candidasa/Padang Bai combination was good. Tulamben is on the east coast. I went there for 1 day, 3 dives, could have done 2 days. But then I could have stayed longer and dived more in all the places in Bali - it's all good!

Bali is a biggish island (as dive island go) so you could end up spending extra time on the road from the hotel to the dive spots if you are not careful where you stay. Best to contact a couple of dive operators, tell them what you want, and let them prepare an itinerary that you can work with.

Hope this helps.