First time diving Bali

[Blackcrusader]

OK first dives at Lombok with Jay from Wild Scuba. First site was a washing pool of currents and was done with back roll negative entry. Swells of 6 - 9 feet Rush to get down below 5m with lots of air bubbles in the sea. Once down to 10m just get into swimming with or against the currents near a wall. Down at 30m almost no current and better visibility. The dives today we saw white tipped reef sharks and the Manta we had come to see. They had around 20 plus mantas at the same site a couple of days ago and we still had several. Tried to limit bubbles as the Manta would turn away from them. Last site had currents that would go 3m one way then 3m back the other way. They were fun to ride. Jay is the only dive operator who knows the site for the Manta's as he found it, plus it is too far away for other operators.

Near 11pm off to bed up at 6:45 for breakfast our car pickup 7:30am from silver ferns to the dive boat around 30 minutes.
Some more updates tomorrow

 

[gekodivebali]

I had Kanox as my private guide for one day, he was great. Koman was the other DM I dived with, he was great too. I brought my own rinse bucket for the camera and asked them to fill it up every morning, was so heavy it took 2 people to carry to the boat - but they did it all with a smile.

One thing I was surprised by is Geko caps the group dives at 45min, which is pretty short. Everyone surfaces together they don't allow buddy groups to stay longer. At Crystal Bay and Manta Point one person ran out of air at 35min With a private guide you get 60min. Private guide was IDR500k per day irc, worth it imo. (Ironically when we got to our next stop, Mermaid I, they gave us 70min dives every time, which is the longest I've seen on a liveaboard).

My strategy for next year will be to ask Geko periodically if the water is cool enough, and once they say yes / start seeing the molas with regularity book a last minute trip for the week after. A lot more flexibility if not timing with a liveaboard. I think it's time I give Bali a full week anyway, didn't get to dive Tulemban at all this time.

I am dumbfounded reading this. There is no dive time limit at Geko, whether with private or shared guiding. With shared guiding of ratios 4 to 1, the first diver reaching 50bar does limit the dive time for other divers in the groups...
Reason for not allowing a buddy pair to stay behind is site complexity for current sites like Crystal Bay and boat traffic for a site like Manta Point. We can make an exception at macro sites like Jetty or Manta Point when we have seen divers deploy their SMBs beforehand...

 

[CJS]

So got my dives booked with Absolute scuba. I think i made the right choice.
Here is the dive itinerary we have come up with, total of 9 dives.
Had them set a 3 dive day for macro. Definitely picked jetty as one of the sites, any suggestion what other dive site would be good for macro?

How did you go with Absolute Scuba. I am considering using them for a trip. They have certainly been the fastest to respond to emails!

 

[mattspiral8]

How did you go with Absolute Scuba. I am considering using them for a trip. They have certainly been the fastest to respond to emails!

My trip with them was great. Did 3 days of diving with them. 2 days at sites in padang bai, my wife and I had our own dive master. Saw the things that we wanted to see. Then 1 day dive to see mantas and mola molas. Luckily, on the day we went, we were the only dive group that saw molas. Even the dive guides were as excited as me when we saw 2 of them in 1 dive. There were only 4 divers for that day which was great. I hear gecko dive beside absolute is a good shop as well but i noticed their boats were PACKED, i personally dont enjoy full boats, so im glad i went with Absolute.
The dive manager is great, he tries to make sure you have great dives and always waiting for you at the entrance after each dive asking if you had fun or not. They have a nice locked gear room, with fans, so your wetsuits are ALWAYS dry lol.

Food was good, but dont expect 5 star hotel type food.
Rooms were cozy, however the showers had a lil bit of a salty taste to it, but there is hot water.

 

[CJS]

My trip with them was great. Did 3 days of diving with them. 2 days at sites in padang bai, my wife and I had our own dive master. Saw the things that we wanted to see. Then 1 day dive to see mantas and mola molas. Luckily, on the day we went, we were the only dive group that saw molas. Even the dive guides were as excited as me when we saw 2 of them in 1 dive. There were only 4 divers for that day which was great. I hear gecko dive beside absolute is a good shop as well but i noticed their boats were PACKED, i personally dont enjoy full boats, so im glad i went with Absolute.
The dive manager is great, he tries to make sure you have great dives and always waiting for you at the entrance after each dive asking if you had fun or not. They have a nice locked gear room, with fans, so your wetsuits are ALWAYS dry lol.

Food was good, but dont expect 5 star hotel type food.
Rooms were cozy, however the showers had a lil bit of a salty taste to it, but there is hot water.

Thanks for that. What was the wifi like? Did it work in the rooms?

 

[mattspiral8]

Thanks for that. What was the wifi like? Did it work in the rooms?

I remember it being pretty decent. I dont recall having any issues with it.

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

I'll say it again : I've never seen a resort in Tulamben that limits the dives to 1hour ... but what do I know after 20 stays or more in the past 15 years here while "you have dived there before".

Matahari who we dive with have an unlimited dive package of 4 - 5 dives a day for a single price point

Despite advertising "unlimited diving," Matahari limits your dives to 4-5 dives of 50-60 mins a day. And I had to carry my own tanks through the bushy area and the rocky beach. My guide wasn't too motivated to show me anything, I was mostly on my own. Not a great experience overall. Do not recommend it. Next time I'll just rent tanks, unless someone can refer me to an excellent private guide.

 

[Centrals]

What is the difference between "limited" and "unlimited"? LOL!
I will definitely give that operator a miss if they could not even understand such a simple word.

"not limited or restricted in terms of number, quanitiy or extent"
It should be LIMITED to 4-5 dives a day.

 

[Luko]

My guide wasn't too motivated to show me anything, I was mostly on my own.

Rather sounds first like a guide problem. I would rather dive 2/3 fruitful dives per day than blow my head off with multiple uninteresting dives. (btw renting a tank won't solve your problem, good luck for finding the interesting critters.)

I don't take "unlimited" at face value . Usually when resorts/dive center market the "unlimited" concept (which is more easy to understand than somthing like "non refundable day package that allows you to dive any number of guided dives per day up to 5 dives OR the number of boat dives scheduled that day PLUS unlimited unguided housereef dives PROVIDING they are within a limited period of time of the day" ) they would limit to a max of 5 guided dives.

Two or three sayings to think about the unlimited concept or the guides :
"You get what you pay for"
"There is no such thing as a free lunch"
"Pay peanuts get monkeys"
Who'd be gullible enough to believe you can do 6 dives of 80 minutes with the best guide around, transportation to the sites and VIP service for less than 90USD? (that's Matahari's price 1300kIDR)
Seriously you expected to do 6 or 7 guided dives per day each for 80 minutes?

I'll reformulate what I stated "I've never seen a resort in Tulamben that limits the dives to 1hour" and add "provided that you are still in a reasonable number of dives per day" Personnally I never dive more than 4 dives per day - and not everyday that much- .
Your guides are also human beings who unlike the occasional fun diver will dive everyday, will help carry your stuff (sometimes I've seen guys twice the size of their guides in Tulamben who tho asked them to carry their kit to the water) without a time to rest by the pool or a massage at the end of the day.
Try not to reinstate slavery.

In any other case, I prefer to recommand some customers I know to the excellent private guides I befriend with, than the other way around.

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

Rather sounds first like a guide problem. I would rather dive 2/3 fruitful dives per day than blow my head off with multiple uninteresting dives.

Agreed. Had none of that with Matahari in Tulamben.

(btw renting a tank won't solve your problem, good luck for finding the interesting critters.)

It will at least allow me to dive longer and take my time to slowly explore the dive sites inch by inch. I'm not a sheep and don't need things pointed out to me. As a DM, I prefer trying to look for things myself even if I end up only seeing 5% of what a good guide can show or even fewer than what a bad guide can show.

I don't take "unlimited" at face value . Usually when resorts/dive center market the "unlimited" concept (which is more easy to understand than somthing like "non refundable day package that allows you to dive any number of guided dives per day up to 5 dives OR the number of boat dives scheduled that day PLUS unlimited unguided housereef dives PROVIDING they are within a limited period of time of the day" ) they would limit to a max of 5 guided dives.

Then just SAY what you mean. At least have the fine print spelling out what you mean by "unlimited." Otherwise, it's fraud. Are you seriously excusing this sleazy business practice?
Reminds me of this little dive shop in Pulau Weh advertising 1 free dive per each package of 5 dives, but after you're done diving expecting your 6th dive to be free, they'd tell you the free one is only for unguided shore diving with a buddy. Nowhere is it mentioned on their website or on-site price list.

Who'd be gullible enough to believe you can do 6 dives of 80 minutes with the best guide around, transportation to the sites and VIP service for less than 90USD? (that's Matahari's price 1300kIDR)
Seriously you expected to do 6 or 7 guided dives per day each for 80 minutes?

I'll reformulate what I stated "I've never seen a resort in Tulamben that limits the dives to 1hour" and add "provided that you are still in a reasonable number of dives per day" Personnally I never dive more than 4 dives per day - and not everyday that much- .
Your guides are also human beings who unlike the occasional fun diver will dive everyday, will help carry your stuff (sometimes I've seen guys twice the size of their guides in Tulamben who tho asked them to carry their kit to the water) without a time to rest by the pool or a massage at the end of the day.
Try not to reinstate slavery.

No need to be so dramatic and employ logical fallacies in your argument. Nobody is expecting all the things you listed simultaneously. But as a diver with very good air consumption, I'd love to do fewer longer dives, say 3-4 dives of 70-90 mins a day. For a new diver with high air consumption who's eager to practice diving skills, maybe they'd want 6 dives of 30-40 minutes a day. "Unlimited" should allow for such flexibility in scheduling, which Matahari does not provide. Plus they can have different guides for each "unlimited" package if they think that's too many dives for any one guide to handle in a day. They also didn't help me carry my stuff. I carried my own tanks and kit to the water and back to the shop. I was about 2/3 their size if that matters to you. If this is what you think slavery is, you probably really should go back to school.