I ended up doing the whole month of November in Amed, diving almost every day with Adventure Divers and it was freakin' awesome !
The sea states were calm which made entry at Tulamben, at what I've come to call ankle breaker beach easy and currents were;nt much of an issue. I'm not used to currents doing most of my diving on Utila where current could be described as non-existent and I didn't figure I'd like them as they'd compromise my ability to stop and check things out as I found them. Reef hooks, lol wut ?
Lots of things I've never seen before. Got hooked on bicolour ( or blackfin ) dartfish and juvenile white spotted wrasse and considering I went during the off season there was a lot of one on one diving with the divemaster which meant I could go at my slow pace rather than following the group from one "greatest hits" to the next.
Sure I like the morays and mantis shrimp just as much as the next guy but there's just so much more to see between those that are quite often skipped over.
I really likes the Liberty wreck. I didn't figure I would seeing as how I'm not a big fan of wrecks but it looks more like an oddly shaped artificial reef that a wreck and the no fishing rule they have in effect in the surrounding area has really had an effect. I had no Idea that Oriental Sweetlips could get that big.
I didn't like Kubu wreck, nor that poor attempt at an artificial wreck next to it. Bicycles, scooters, a wheelbarrow ? Come on Man ! just do what they did at Pyramids and call it a day.
My favourite sites ended up being Tulamben Dropoff and Bunutan with those Jurassic Park looking sea fans and sponges and I'd gladly dive those sites over and over as they both provide an excellent balance between muck and reef.
I didn't make it to Padangbai or the The Gilis like I was planning but there's always next year.