tamarinera
Registered
I went to Bali for 10 days total with two non-diving strong swimming friends new to snorkeling. Wanted to dive two days, stay in moderate lodging (usually a hosteller, but this was a special trip) and see some temples & village life too. Thanks to this forum and this thread [Bali advice requested for next week, it all worked out perfectly. Here's my report.
Two of us needed to wait 2 nights for the 3rd friend to show up so we stayed in Nusa Dua/Benoa, right in all the busy of southern Bali. Wouldn't recommend that again, but we did go to Ulu Watu temple one evening for the Kacek dance which I totally recommend as long as you realize it's a tourist frenzied place. Once the dance starts it doesn't matter: it's captivating. Just go early for time to walk around the temple first, & arrange your round-trip transportation before you go.
Since we were at the Novotel in Benoa (family resort, a little cheesy but just what we wanted to feel vacationy), I dove Nusa Penida with Bali Scuba: good reviews on TripAdvisor and they delivered. They were the only place that could offer three dives on the day I wanted (Geko Divers in Padang Bai only did two dives typically). We did Manta Point first: just average vis but about 5 mantas gliding within inches so who cares, then Crystal Bay where we saw one good mola and three in the deep hazy distance, then Toyapakah which was a lovely biodiverse very slow drift dive. They planned the timing of the dives for current, not depth: we hit Crystal Bay (our second dive with the mola molas) right at slack water, which supposedly was usually a current-risky place. However, molas being deep, me being a light-breathing diver (70 minute dives), & my divemaster/buddy tending to swim BELOW me (think he underestimated how long I could go)...he came within 1 minute of his deco limit on the mola (2nd) dive, panicked a bit & we had to start heading back. He was also constantly nervous about current, which we never experienced. He didn't seem to know the methods for stretching out limits by staying a few feet over my head...and the language barrier made it hard to communicate that to him. So in the end the mola molas were like a check-list item rather than a surreal amazing experience. No complaining: another diver on the same boat never saw them at all. And yes, the water temp was a chilly 66 degrees F at depth (standard tropical 81 at the surface). They provided 5mm suits & a hood, which was fine: just a bit of shivers at the end. A good lunch, orange slices, Coca Cola in glass bottles & plastic-bottled water. Back at the shop, they lingered over fish books with me to review what I'd seen: no books on the boat, though. I'd recommend Bali Scuba: a little pricey but they picked me up and dropped me off from 30 minutes away, all included so it was a fair price.
Next day we got a driver to Tulamben, stopping for a few hours at the enormous & somewhat vacant Besakih Temple. Be prepared to fend off vendors there: it wasn't as bad as many reviews say: just be clear, don't judge them for asking, and laugh together. We stayed two nights at Liberty Dive Resort. It's a bland but spacious clean resort with very nice swimming pools (no view of beach nor volcano) & good nightly massages. I think if I did it again, I'd look into staying at the place just next to them, right on the water there, and dive with Liberty. They assign you your own divemaster (so did Bali Scuba) & will do whatever you like, so that's sweet. I rented a camera for $30.
I followed advice to do an early morning wreck dive: a must-do. Saw bumphead parrotfish everyone loves, & it's a really nice dive! Good detail, plentiful fish & soft corals, nice wreck architecture. Then did the dropoff site, which also has good variety. What surprised me about Bali is that the life extends into the deep, it was easy to linger at 80 feet: in the Caribbean, most things are above 60 feet. Tulamben diving is super easy, love the rocky beach because no sand in the gear! In the end I dove the wreck three times: early morning, 2 PM, & night time. There were definitely lots of folks on the wreck at night which was a little annoying. Still worth it, though.
My friend did two Discovery Dives at Liberty (the wreck & the dropoff), and liked it. We had asked to time her second dive with my third dive, but her divemaster refused that request so that was atypical with their reputation of catering to guests' timing. Maybe he had other obligations that afternoon, or maybe he wanted to get the newbie over with. It was still a good experience for her.
The third friend snorkeled alone at Tulamben & was quite happy with it, finding the wreck & fish impressive. Beach entry was fine & she didn't mind the stones. We did a quick morning snorkel before breakfast on our last day there.
From there we moved to Jemuluk Bay in Amed, which we loved. Totally altered my opinion of black beaches: others I've seen have been muddy but this was crystal clear water & sand, just dark instead of light. We stayed at Blue Star with rooms right on their garden facing the ocean, the place has quirky antique-ish decor & super friendly staff, chairs right on the beach, better snorkeling than Tulamben. Yes there were lots of people and local canoes with outriggers, but it was fun to watch the fisher fleet come in around 8 AM. We snorkeled 3 times, lounged, got massages, chatted with locals, ate delicious food: Blue Star was our best night.
After that we went inland, again taking a day touring on the way: Pura Luhur Lempuyang for four hours (would have spent longer if we'd had the time: it's a lovely long walk up & we would have lingered for more views on the side trails), then the Royal Water Garden for an hour of lovely fountains & a quick swim in cold springwater pools, then Goa Lawah at sunset to watch the bats emerge from their cave: totally cool. A stop at the Elephant Cave was blah. We stayed two nights in Sidemen at Giri Carek: also bland design but spacious, with gorgeous panoramic view of the rice paddies. Sidemen is still very agricultural, very friendly people. Then we went on to Ubud for some fun shopping frenzy at the art market & a nice AirBNB where we could do our own yoga & chill like it was our own house. Central Ubud was crazy big & busy: glass-fronted designer shoe stores and such! We were glad to have spent two nights in Sidemen first & to have stayed outside of Ubud.
We wanted some ocean again for our last night so we descended to Padangbai to be within reach of the airport...and we were under-impressed. Blue Lagoon is the snorkel spot there: small somewhat meh beach (salt-and-pepper), concrete walls with rusty chairs although we definitely used the umbrella shade. The beach has short choppy waves, an irregular coral shelf makes entry tricky & the visibility was poor: there are two good coral heads beyond the waves though & all the same fish friends: Indonesia is definitely biodiverse! Gotta stay alert for lateral current in the outer edge of the cove. Also those Antarctic currents reach into that cove: free diving to just 15 feet was chilly, which woke you right up! I didn't dive with Geko Divers on this trip but did ask them snorkeling & airport transport advice: they were very helpful & friendly. My last morning I jogged to White Sand beach which would be pretty to spend a day on, but I found 5-foot rollers and it was deserted before breakfast, so no solo snorkeling to be done there. Both beaches are easy to access by foot but I wouldn't say Padang bai is a dream spot: it's a little grungy, IMHO. (I live in Central America and am well familiar and not biased against infrastructure conditions in cash-poor countries. I usually gravitate towards that type of place for vacationing...but this trip it was a special occasion and I wanted a bit more luxury and comfort. The streets of Padangbai were filthy, electrical cables were strung right across our sea-view balcony (at Padang Bai Homestay), staff were disinterested, and the only higher-end place, OK Divers, had fun LA-like decor but really tasteless food. So my take-home is only stay in Padangbai if you need the convenience of Geko Divers, which seemed to be a good place.
Summary: Bali's beaches are not spectactular, don't expect long expanses of white coral sand (there are blogs to that effect which thankfully lowered my expectations so I could enjoy what they do have). One person had advised not to cram too many places into one week but two nights at each place did us just fine: we never unpacked our bags & made sure to enjoy each spot from the moment we arrived, being efficient about check-in and check-out, having our transport arranged with our driver a day in advance (Igede, +62-859-3536-3025 on WhatsApp). Underwater biodiversity was excellent, corals are predominantly brown so not mind-blowing color like the Red Sea, but lots of fish! Good macro too, tons of crinoids, & in my two full days I got at least one of all the good basics: lobster, octopus, turtle, manta shrimp, free-swimming moray, live coral, frogfish, stonefish, etc. Definitely worth aiming for mola mola in season, definitely worth doing the manta dive.
I was impressed that all the divemasters were Balinese: usually in cash-poor countries, divemasters are of the European diaspora, so it's really good they provide jobs and respect to locals. One divemaster at Liberty was breathing oxygen on his time off, just because he'd been specially requested by tourists and was doing a bit too much diving...perhaps they could advocate more for the health of their employees. Also, I wish Liberty Dive Resort had a fish book
I would recommend Bali, knowing that there's no one place you can stay put to access all the diving...but if you drive around & stay in different spots, you'll get some superb dives.
Two of us needed to wait 2 nights for the 3rd friend to show up so we stayed in Nusa Dua/Benoa, right in all the busy of southern Bali. Wouldn't recommend that again, but we did go to Ulu Watu temple one evening for the Kacek dance which I totally recommend as long as you realize it's a tourist frenzied place. Once the dance starts it doesn't matter: it's captivating. Just go early for time to walk around the temple first, & arrange your round-trip transportation before you go.
Since we were at the Novotel in Benoa (family resort, a little cheesy but just what we wanted to feel vacationy), I dove Nusa Penida with Bali Scuba: good reviews on TripAdvisor and they delivered. They were the only place that could offer three dives on the day I wanted (Geko Divers in Padang Bai only did two dives typically). We did Manta Point first: just average vis but about 5 mantas gliding within inches so who cares, then Crystal Bay where we saw one good mola and three in the deep hazy distance, then Toyapakah which was a lovely biodiverse very slow drift dive. They planned the timing of the dives for current, not depth: we hit Crystal Bay (our second dive with the mola molas) right at slack water, which supposedly was usually a current-risky place. However, molas being deep, me being a light-breathing diver (70 minute dives), & my divemaster/buddy tending to swim BELOW me (think he underestimated how long I could go)...he came within 1 minute of his deco limit on the mola (2nd) dive, panicked a bit & we had to start heading back. He was also constantly nervous about current, which we never experienced. He didn't seem to know the methods for stretching out limits by staying a few feet over my head...and the language barrier made it hard to communicate that to him. So in the end the mola molas were like a check-list item rather than a surreal amazing experience. No complaining: another diver on the same boat never saw them at all. And yes, the water temp was a chilly 66 degrees F at depth (standard tropical 81 at the surface). They provided 5mm suits & a hood, which was fine: just a bit of shivers at the end. A good lunch, orange slices, Coca Cola in glass bottles & plastic-bottled water. Back at the shop, they lingered over fish books with me to review what I'd seen: no books on the boat, though. I'd recommend Bali Scuba: a little pricey but they picked me up and dropped me off from 30 minutes away, all included so it was a fair price.
Next day we got a driver to Tulamben, stopping for a few hours at the enormous & somewhat vacant Besakih Temple. Be prepared to fend off vendors there: it wasn't as bad as many reviews say: just be clear, don't judge them for asking, and laugh together. We stayed two nights at Liberty Dive Resort. It's a bland but spacious clean resort with very nice swimming pools (no view of beach nor volcano) & good nightly massages. I think if I did it again, I'd look into staying at the place just next to them, right on the water there, and dive with Liberty. They assign you your own divemaster (so did Bali Scuba) & will do whatever you like, so that's sweet. I rented a camera for $30.
I followed advice to do an early morning wreck dive: a must-do. Saw bumphead parrotfish everyone loves, & it's a really nice dive! Good detail, plentiful fish & soft corals, nice wreck architecture. Then did the dropoff site, which also has good variety. What surprised me about Bali is that the life extends into the deep, it was easy to linger at 80 feet: in the Caribbean, most things are above 60 feet. Tulamben diving is super easy, love the rocky beach because no sand in the gear! In the end I dove the wreck three times: early morning, 2 PM, & night time. There were definitely lots of folks on the wreck at night which was a little annoying. Still worth it, though.
My friend did two Discovery Dives at Liberty (the wreck & the dropoff), and liked it. We had asked to time her second dive with my third dive, but her divemaster refused that request so that was atypical with their reputation of catering to guests' timing. Maybe he had other obligations that afternoon, or maybe he wanted to get the newbie over with. It was still a good experience for her.
The third friend snorkeled alone at Tulamben & was quite happy with it, finding the wreck & fish impressive. Beach entry was fine & she didn't mind the stones. We did a quick morning snorkel before breakfast on our last day there.
From there we moved to Jemuluk Bay in Amed, which we loved. Totally altered my opinion of black beaches: others I've seen have been muddy but this was crystal clear water & sand, just dark instead of light. We stayed at Blue Star with rooms right on their garden facing the ocean, the place has quirky antique-ish decor & super friendly staff, chairs right on the beach, better snorkeling than Tulamben. Yes there were lots of people and local canoes with outriggers, but it was fun to watch the fisher fleet come in around 8 AM. We snorkeled 3 times, lounged, got massages, chatted with locals, ate delicious food: Blue Star was our best night.
After that we went inland, again taking a day touring on the way: Pura Luhur Lempuyang for four hours (would have spent longer if we'd had the time: it's a lovely long walk up & we would have lingered for more views on the side trails), then the Royal Water Garden for an hour of lovely fountains & a quick swim in cold springwater pools, then Goa Lawah at sunset to watch the bats emerge from their cave: totally cool. A stop at the Elephant Cave was blah. We stayed two nights in Sidemen at Giri Carek: also bland design but spacious, with gorgeous panoramic view of the rice paddies. Sidemen is still very agricultural, very friendly people. Then we went on to Ubud for some fun shopping frenzy at the art market & a nice AirBNB where we could do our own yoga & chill like it was our own house. Central Ubud was crazy big & busy: glass-fronted designer shoe stores and such! We were glad to have spent two nights in Sidemen first & to have stayed outside of Ubud.
We wanted some ocean again for our last night so we descended to Padangbai to be within reach of the airport...and we were under-impressed. Blue Lagoon is the snorkel spot there: small somewhat meh beach (salt-and-pepper), concrete walls with rusty chairs although we definitely used the umbrella shade. The beach has short choppy waves, an irregular coral shelf makes entry tricky & the visibility was poor: there are two good coral heads beyond the waves though & all the same fish friends: Indonesia is definitely biodiverse! Gotta stay alert for lateral current in the outer edge of the cove. Also those Antarctic currents reach into that cove: free diving to just 15 feet was chilly, which woke you right up! I didn't dive with Geko Divers on this trip but did ask them snorkeling & airport transport advice: they were very helpful & friendly. My last morning I jogged to White Sand beach which would be pretty to spend a day on, but I found 5-foot rollers and it was deserted before breakfast, so no solo snorkeling to be done there. Both beaches are easy to access by foot but I wouldn't say Padang bai is a dream spot: it's a little grungy, IMHO. (I live in Central America and am well familiar and not biased against infrastructure conditions in cash-poor countries. I usually gravitate towards that type of place for vacationing...but this trip it was a special occasion and I wanted a bit more luxury and comfort. The streets of Padangbai were filthy, electrical cables were strung right across our sea-view balcony (at Padang Bai Homestay), staff were disinterested, and the only higher-end place, OK Divers, had fun LA-like decor but really tasteless food. So my take-home is only stay in Padangbai if you need the convenience of Geko Divers, which seemed to be a good place.
Summary: Bali's beaches are not spectactular, don't expect long expanses of white coral sand (there are blogs to that effect which thankfully lowered my expectations so I could enjoy what they do have). One person had advised not to cram too many places into one week but two nights at each place did us just fine: we never unpacked our bags & made sure to enjoy each spot from the moment we arrived, being efficient about check-in and check-out, having our transport arranged with our driver a day in advance (Igede, +62-859-3536-3025 on WhatsApp). Underwater biodiversity was excellent, corals are predominantly brown so not mind-blowing color like the Red Sea, but lots of fish! Good macro too, tons of crinoids, & in my two full days I got at least one of all the good basics: lobster, octopus, turtle, manta shrimp, free-swimming moray, live coral, frogfish, stonefish, etc. Definitely worth aiming for mola mola in season, definitely worth doing the manta dive.
I was impressed that all the divemasters were Balinese: usually in cash-poor countries, divemasters are of the European diaspora, so it's really good they provide jobs and respect to locals. One divemaster at Liberty was breathing oxygen on his time off, just because he'd been specially requested by tourists and was doing a bit too much diving...perhaps they could advocate more for the health of their employees. Also, I wish Liberty Dive Resort had a fish book
I would recommend Bali, knowing that there's no one place you can stay put to access all the diving...but if you drive around & stay in different spots, you'll get some superb dives.
