Help with Bali/Komodo trip planning

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Hi!
So I'm new to Scubaboard so I don't really know how to use it...
I'm planning a trip to Bali by May and reading this thread helped me a lot!
However I'm having a hard time finding a place on a liveaboard in Komodo; I'm not used to plan a trip so far ahead in time and I'm finding lots of liveaboard "full".
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!
 
Quero .... :kiss2:

No insults intended ... just wondering, and thank you for explaining

Ya, maybe I am a little hard core
Thanks for the "kiss and make up" smiley, Layla. Here's a hug for you. :giveusahug:

I'm glad you understand my approach now! If you are ever my customer, I'll take your "hard core" preferences into account and NOT ask you to wait a day to start your dives. Promise!
 
Hi!
So I'm new to Scubaboard so I don't really know how to use it...
I'm planning a trip to Bali by May and reading this thread helped me a lot!
However I'm having a hard time finding a place on a liveaboard in Komodo; I'm not used to plan a trip so far ahead in time and I'm finding lots of liveaboard "full".
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!

You need a travel professional to do the research for you and present options from which you can select. Doing it all by yourself is very confusing, time consuming, frustrating (as you have already discovered) and difficult.
 
PaulaS - Yes you should get with an agent to help look. I just booked June Mermaid I with Nick from dive-and-cruise.com - I communicated with several others and he was very responsive and gave me the best price.

Others - PLEASE HELP ME FINISH MY TRIP PLANNING. Ok, so I am on Mermaid I from June 9-18. We plan to arrive Bali by June 2 (by dive buddys Bday). We want to spend this first week seeing the sites of Bali and diving. Need to be pretty low-budget but want a great time. Also dont want to move around a ton. Maybe a few days of siteseeing based somewhere and then a few days diving one area. Or one (or two?) place that combines it all. But I welcome ideas. I have NO IDEA what there is to do/see or how easy it is to get around and see stuff. But we want to be somewhat relaxed.. nice white-sand-beach time would be welcome for a bit. I took lots of notes reading thru all the older threads but really this just gives me more questions, so I look to you experts to suggest stuff.

Thanks! J

I may also spend another 4-5 days after the LOB diving another spot, so I welcome ideas for this (Nusa Lembongan has been recommended).
 
Jeremy, I suggest you stick with just one travel professional for all of your arrangements so that it's all coordinated, because otherwise details more easily slip through the cracks with one travel business thinking the other one(s) are managing the aspects they don't control. (It can get very messy and complex.) Why not ask Nick to help you with the rest of your planning?
 
He is looking into things, but as far as where to go and what to do I look to this board for ideas since I dont know the area. Also there are a lot of people here with lots of personal experience. For the rest of the trip we will likely book direct with the places we will stay since we will likely not be doing any safari or anything - just a hotel/dive-resort in one (or 2) locations... this type of thing I usually book direct.

For the LOB I had to go thru a few different agencies because not all of them deal with all the boats - so to check availabilty I had to check multiple sources. I am not, however, one who would try to 'bid' the vendors. Whoever is best to deal with and offers a good rate will get my business.
 
Jeremy, resorts and dive ops are also travel professionals--it's not just agents. When you use one source for all of your bookings, things go a lot more smoothly. I can tell you truthfully that I've had a few US-based liveaboard customers who, because they're used to direct bookings in that part of the world, went ahead and did what you're thinking, and then got into difficulty once they were here and had nobody to turn to to sort things out for them in a place where they don't know how things work and don't speak the language. When they subsequently called me for help, my hands were tied since I had nothing to do with the secondary bookings. The more links in your chain, the more potential failure points, and if you need contacts for each one of them because of individual bookings you've made directly, imagine the mess if you have a flight delay and can't tell the driver or hotel or dive op about it without making a ton of calls and trying to talk to random low-level staff who have not been involved in your bookings. It's just friendly advice from somebody who knows....

As you can see from my badge, I'm a SB Staff member, and I am all about encouraging people to share their experiences and expertise here, and you're right that our members have a wealth of experience, but I really believe you'll get better results for yourself and your trip if you get professional advice first and then confirm your short list of ideas here with people who have actually stayed at resort X or dived with operator Y.
 
Thread revival as I have done some more research and have definative travel dates. We arrive in Bali June 1 and our mermaid I trip leaves June 9, so we have some time to tour and dive. A tentative plan is for ~4 days Ubud being tourists & relaxing. Then heading to Tulamben for diving the rest of the days. I dont want to spend a week unpacking every other day as on a safari. Would Sanur be a better base for diving?

After the Mermaid I will remain in Bali for a week - 18-25 - to dive some more. Considering popping over to Nusapenida or up to
Menjangan. Could prob manage 2 locations if it makes sense.

Advise?
 
We stayed at the Tegal Sari in Ubud! Loved it and it is very budget friendly! Went elephant riding in the jungle and small villages.( can't remember the name of the outfit but they have a huge lake where you ride the elephants through at the end.) Also climbed a volcano. That was awesome! At the top in time for sunrise! We have also stayed at Lotus Bunglows Resort in Candiasa . Great dive operation and very well run small resort. It is very close to the town so we walked there every day. There is so much to do in Bali! You will have a great time! Have fun! On another trip we stayed in Sanur and thought it was a great base!!!!
 
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