Bali Trip Report April 2010

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outpost31

Contributor
Messages
118
Reaction score
28
Location
Surrey, UK
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi,

Just got back from Bali and had a fantastic time..here's the report:

When I arrived in Denpasar I realised my first mistake. The Pound was weak so I took US$ to convert in Rupia but the rate for Dollars was about 8900Rp while the £ was 13000Rp..Damn it! Then I got picked up by Tulamben Wreck Divers, late on Sunday night, and had a very 'interesting' 3hr drive to Tulamben. Of course when I say interesting I mean I feared for my life...but we divers are an adventurous breed so I only screamed like a girl 2 or 3 times! My driver was fine it was everyone else on the road, the rules seem to be: Driving at night on a moped..lights are optional, although people drive on the left most drive in the middle of the road or on the opposite side..especially on blind bends without lights, if you can hold it you can carry it on a moped and finally the right hand lane of a dual carriage way is a perfectly acceptable place to abandon a truck without any lights on!

At Tulamben my 1st dive did not go well, my camera flooded at 15m and I had to abandon the dive to save the camera but it was too little too late..;-( So, I rented another camera and managed to get some great photos. My dive guide Wayan @ TWD was excellent in finding practically everything I wanted to see. The Liberty Glo wreck was a great dive as was Coral Garden, Drop Off, Alamanda, Kabu and Seraya Secrets...i thought the Amed 1 + 2 sites were a little disappointing and wished I had dived the Jap Wreck...saw Octopus, Pygme Seahorse, Scorpion fish, Nudis, Harlequin Shrimp, Boxer crab, Mantis shrimp, A black tip reef shark, Cuttlefish and a Stonefish. TWD were professional and a lot of fun to dive with. I mostly ate down at Tauch Terminal and also at a place with a large american pool table and free wi-fi..forget the name.

In Padang Bai I stayed with Zen Inn bc of all the great reviews I saw on Trip Advisor and I'm glad I did. The owner, Liam, is a very interesting guy who made my stay very enjoyable. Most nights I just chilled out, made my own playlist on his i-tunes and listened to his great stories about music and his extensive travels. Zen Inn is a basic hostel, comfy bed, great outside shower and a spacious bar with 4 nice girls who were a lot of fun, the highlight is the all-you-can-eat BBQ Liam does which is not to be missed..thanks Liam for a great stay!

I dived with Absolute Scuba with Amanda but mostly with my guide Budi who was great fun and again found everything I was looking for and a lot of amazing stuff that I didn't even know existed. I dived Blue Lagoon, Tepekong & Mimpang (excellent), Jepun & Biaha (very good), Manta Point (nothing there but chance of Manta) and a drift dive at Santal....encountered a few thermals and currents but nothing to worry about. Saw lots of great Nudis, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Black ribbon eel, Ghost pipefish, gunard, moray eels, leafy filefish and, at Manta, saw 1 huge Manta with a wingspan of about 5m+..awesome! I can highly recommend Absolute Scuba as they were professional, endlessly helpful and great fun..Cheers guys!

I mostly ate at Puri Rai (great pizzas), Padang Bai Beach, Absolute scuba and also Zen Inn..twice I had the BBQ and ate til I couldn't move! I dumped my photos onto USB and used the internet each day up at Topi Inn which is a nice place to chill out.

Many thanks to Tony & Wayan @ TWD, Amanda, Dave & Budi @ Absolute, Liam and his girls @ Zen and also to everyone here on Scubaboard for all their help which made choosing my holiday a lot easier and very rewarding! Cheers guys!

Here's just a few photos I played about with for your viewing pleasure:

outpost31's photosets on Flickr

If anyone has any questions, just send me a PM, thanks again ScubaBoard..I never dive without your help!

Chris
 
Ah, you are bringing back such good memories of Tulamben and Padang Bai :)! Glad you had a great time! Thanks for your trip report!
 
I'm going to Bali next week. Thank you for your trip report~
 
Oh yeah, driving in Bali is a definite eye opener. It's OK to drive in the oncoming lane as long as there is room, and the oncoming will accomodate you without batting an eye. We left the airport into literally door handle to door handle traffic. Probably 6 lanes of traffic in 3 painted lanes. The motorcycles were passing us on the sidewalk, even with goin around the guy taking a shower butt naked on the sidewalk. You pass the other cars with just a little beep of the horn and pass with inches to spare. And watch out for the "official" vehicles.

Loved Indo. And now I understand why some people here make crazy moves. :)
 
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