let's dive together in Bali / Lombok / Lembongan / Gili / Java / etc ..

[InGearX]

I am just a tourist .. not an operator (I am not making any money on you - got enough of that..)

I am flexible with anything ..

I am traveling for 1600+ days (4+ years) .. got stuck here in Bali .. my gf doesn't dive :/ and good to take a rest apart ..

if you want to dive together - reach out

email me email me at nyc499 (located at gamil) or SMS my indonesia # 0813.39.59.72.44 (+62.813.39.59.72.44)

thanks ..

 

[Tippytoes12]

I am not sure how well you know the area for diving , but finding a buddy will be absolutely no problem in the areas you have mentioned. You are not allowed dive without a guide , if no suitable buddy is available you will buddy the dive guide.

Best fishes x

 

[zf2nt]

You are not allowed dive without a guide...
Best fishes x

Can you explain this? What prohibits you from diving without a guide?

 

[Tippytoes12]

Ok you are a far more experienced diver than I am !

I just seem to recollect seeing this somewhere....but of course I may be mistaken.

I have done about 150 dives in Indonesia and at no dive shop I have visited was unguided diving offered. My hubby and I have dived with many DMs and instructors who are guests and there was never a suggestion that they could head off by themselves. In any case a good local guide will know about currents , what creatures are where.

However if somebody like yourself showed up, then it may be that going off by yourself for all or part of a dive might be acceptable after a few with a DM.

 

[zf2nt]

Well, the reason I asked is that last month when I went to Bali I stayed at Liberty Dive Resort in Tulamben. When I first arrived, I told them all I needed was to rent tanks and weights. The guy was very skeptical, but said that since I was an instructor he would let me have them but I would still have to use his porters to take the tanks down to the water and his truck to ferry me around to nearby dive sites. We agreed, and had a great time. The first time we went to Drop-off there was a screaming current out on the point and we quickly realized that if we went just 10 more feet around the point then we might have to pull ourselves back by grabbing stuff on the bottom. In other words, it was definitely not a site for the uninitiated. Curiously, during 5 or 6 days of diving we did out of Tulamben I don't think I saw a single other diver going without a guide.

Later we boarded the Komodo Aggressor for a 10 day cruise from Flores Island back to Bali. The Cruise Director insisted it was a law in Indonesia that all divers had to be with a guide. We argued until we were blue in the face, but she was relentless. And that pretty much ruined the trip for me. I really hate having to follow a DM around, and in fact would almost rather not go diving than have to follow somebody else. So your comment about having to have a guide really caught my attention. I've searched all over on the Internet trying to find if there really is any such regulation and I can't find it. But if I do learn there is such a law, then this past trip will be the last one I ever make to Indonesia. And the funny thing is...I'm trying to plan one for the early fall now. The reefs were just spectacular and I want to go do more of it.

 

[kathydee]

If you have a dive buddy, it's easy to dive without a guide in Tulamben. It might take one dive with a person from the shop to convince them you know what you are doing. After that, no problem.

You can also hire fishing boats to drop you at other sites around Tulamben, or you can hire/rent a car and just randomly drive down nearby dirt roads, slip in the water and explore.

 

[matts1w]

zf2nt- I don't think there is any national law about diving with a guide in Indonesia. Heck, we don't even have drunk driving laws on the books. It is entirtely possible that local villages/communities that "own" the reefs have that stipulation in effort to create an economy/employment. For instance, in Tulamben, you still have to pay to use the dive site and their porters even if you don't use them or their shelter. That's just how it is.

And honestly, if I owned any sort of dive op in areas like Komodo and Lembongan, I wouldn't let anyone dive off my boat without one of the guides who work for me. I would not care what their experience level is. The water is just too psycho and the area too remote to not be with someone who has local knowledge. I am surprised you don't feel the same as you have been diving here. If you were running the boat, would you let someone brand new to the area head out on their own? Considering the lack of boat traffic, the lack of rescue resources, quickly changing conditions, it is just a good idea.

I absolutely understand that being led from eel, to nudibranch, to whatever creature can pretty much suck. But guides don't have to work that way. I always do pretty much my own thing, and the guides have no problem with that as long as I don't head out of bounds and disappear. If you do come back, maybe talk with you guide and let him know what you want. Chances are it won't be a problem.