Help needed with Bali, Komodo itinerary

[FTD 83]

Long time lurker, first time poster here. Been searching the web for a while, made loads of notes but no further forward. Thought I'd put the questions straight out there, plus it gives me a reason to finally register.

Myself and the wife have a flight to use up or we loose it, singled out Bali and possibly Komodo for the end of July for 7-10 days. My wife is an instructor while I'm AOW, around 60 dives and getting very into videography. Personally I'd like to tick off some bucket list sites, we've been to Bali before so not that bothered about nightlife or sight seeing.

The problem is we've not got much of a budget and liveaboards seem expensive, as the same time my wife isn't going to sleep in hostels with no running water or take the two day ferry to Komodo.

Any advice or tips? First of all, what sites are must do's? Am I being ambitious in trying to cover them all? And if I have to settle for just Bali and do day trips, where is the best part of the island to be based?

Thanks in advance.

 

[divewench1]

if I have to settle for just Bali and do day trips, where is the best part of the island to be based?

No doubt Padang Bai,; great central hub for all Bali's best dive sites, and a traditional quiet village location (with hot and cold running water, and WiFi if you're lucky)

 

[jake11]

I agree with diverwench1. We loved Padang Bai. We stayed at Lotus Bungalows Resort and loved every aspect of our trip! Check them out! Top notch diving facility!!!

 

[AquaMarineDiving Bali]

Hi FTD 83,

My name is Ira, I work in "Bali and beyond section" of AquaMarine Diving - Bali.
I understood that you are interested to visit Bali and Komodo for 7 - 10 days on the end of July.
For diving on Bali, I would like to recommend you to stay on Candidasa area, it is only 15 minutes driving away to Padangbai for diving on Padangbai and Nusa Penida area. Also, it is about 1hour driving away for diving on Tulamben and Amed area so it is a perfect based for you to stay.
Please advice me later about your email address or please kindly send email to Tours@AquaMarineDiving.com and I will be more than happy to build a possible itinerary that includes the diving safari on Bali and Komodo.
Also, I will offer you some suggestion for diving on Komodo so you could choose which one that will suit you better.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any further question and I would be delighted to assist you with your queries.
Thank you and have a nice weekend.

Best Regards,

Ira Utami

 

[zf2nt]

I just returned from a 6 day stay on Bali followed by a 10 day liveaboard trip on Komodo Aggressor which started in Flores Isl. and ended up on Bali. Frankly, I had a better time on Bali than I did on the Aggressor, and it was way cheaper. We were in Tulamben, and stayed at Liberty Dive Resort. In the beginning, it was very difficult to get information on where to go diving around Tulamben. The model there is for you to hire a guide, and the guide will take you by the hand. We absolutely did not want to be lead on a dive, so we had to do some digging. Eventually I found a very helpful Australian working at Tauch Terminal Resort and he gave me some good pointers. We took his advice of where to go and had some fabulous dives. I remember the bill from when I checked out of Liberty Dive Resort was about $500, which included a dozen nitrox tanks, rental of weights for the two of us, all of the porter and truck fees from when they ferried us around to the different sites, a couple of days of boat fees where we had a boat operator take us out to some sites, plus all of our meals (and beer) at Liberty for the 6 or 7 days we stayed there. We had prepaid the room fee.

Our trip on the Aggressor was a mixed bag. The food could not possibly have been better. Each meal was a masterful presentation from the most talented chef I have encountered in years. But screw the food; I came for the diving! And that was the problem. We were forced to stay with a divemaster on each and every dive, and that just ruins it for me. I had a totally miserable time on most of the dives. If I had been allowed to go on my own it would have been fabulous, because we visited some truly awesome dive locations. But I just cannot stand being lead around. And that was the model they followed. I'm now looking for another liveaboard experience for September or October, possibly to Raja Ampat, and you can be sure that this time I will take no chances about being forced to stay with a guide.

Since you mentioned budget, I'd like to point out that our total Bali experience cost us about $800. That was for 6 or 7 days (I can't remember which!). On the other hand, the Aggressor trip was about $5000. We had a better time in Bali just going on our own!

 

[Andy_from_Germany]

Hi FTD 83,

although it might sound harsh or disappoint you a bit I won't recommend you to do both, Bali and Komodo. In fact, I would skip Komodo this time.

Why? If you only have 7 to 10 days in Indonesia and will arrive with an international flight on Bali you might want to stay one night on Bali just to relax prior to your domestic flight to Flores (Labuan Bajo is the gateway to Komodo unless you come on a liveaboard). As I doubt that you want to dive the day you arrive on Flores that's already 2 days gone.
As well you can't or at least shouldn't dive the day before your return flight to Bali and might need another day on Bali in order to catch your international flight => another day, maybe even 2 days gone which leaves you with 3 to 6 days of diving.

Of course I don't know your flight details and therefore you might safe 1 or 2 days due to good connections (spare at least 8 hours between international and domestic flight in order to be able to "relax" in case of delays).

If you want to go to Komodo and Bali for diving I would recommend to first go to Komodo (Flores) and on the return trip dive on Bali.
Again depending on your flight intinerary I would suggest to stay in Sanur and dive from there around Nusa Penida.

Why Sanur? It's "close" to the airport, about 30 to 40 minutes by taxi, has all sorts of hotels, from cheap to expensive, and is close to Nusa Penida.
If you go further North, e.g. to Padang Bai, you will need at least 1.5 hours (I was there only once, so please forgive me if this time is too short!) to get to the airport.
But again this depends as well on your flight schedule, departing in the evening means no problem with Padang Bai, leaving early morning, Sanur would be better.

Regarding the best dive sites on Bali you will find heaps of information as Scubaboard, so search here.

Hope this helps,

Andy

P.S.: Of course, at least in my oppinion, the diving around Komodo is better than around Bali!

 

[FTD 83]

Thank you all for taking the time out to post, I really appreciate it and it's helped a great deal. It's looking like we'll just stay in Bali this time around and look at a specific trip to Komodo/Indonesia in the future.

As for DM's, I don't mind being lead if they can show you something of local interest you might miss otherwise, but agree there should be a choice if you're qualified and experienced enough.

 

[gekodivebali]

Bali does seem more appropriate for your time and budget constraints. Now you need to decide if you want to go to mutiple locations or just stay in one spot.
If you do not want to be guided, Tulamben may be the most appropriate place. Currents in East Bali make unguided dives dangerous on most dive sites for divers who do not know the particularities of these sites, no matter how much total experience they have had underwater in other locations. This is also the case in Komodo and Raja Ampat!

 

[Andy_from_Germany]

Hi FTD 83,

I second the recommendation from gekodivebali regarding the danger of doing unguided dives in East Bali and Komodo!!
Unfortunately there are too many (even 1 is too many in my oppinion) cases of divers getting lost for a long time or even died around Nusa Penida and around Komodo. Therefore, if you plan to dive in these areas, listen to the locals, the dive guides and have a look at the moon phase!! And this really is independent of your skills or experience!

Having said this I hope you will enjoy Indonesia, no matter where you will decide to stay!

Andy

 

[FTD 83]

Thank you very much for the advice, I've read up on the Bali sites and personally have no desire to do them unguided. Perhaps I should have added "and if the local site permits it" to quantify my earlier statement.