Sounds like a fantastic dive holiday. Enjoy!
Nusa Lembongan Or Padang Bai Or Menjanhan?
- Thread starter choiahoy
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billt4sf
Contributor
Any recommendation for a dive op or accommodation on Lembongan? We would like to see MolaMola, but we want a dive op that will not push us into high current dives -- so someone that has been there a while. Seems more convenient for Nusa Penida on Lembongen than Padang Bai -- though we will be there as well. We typically do two dives a day.
Thanks,
Bill & Emily
Choose a dive operator with a good boat manned by an experienced crew. I'm not sure who to recommend on Lembongan as I hear divergent stories from divers who have dived with reputed stores.
Luko
Contributor
As already mentioned, I dived with World diving, John knows very well the sites, I've seen him several times changing the plan when on the dive site because of current assessed as too tricky. hence I would say he's always on the safe side. the downside is that he has a bigger and slower boat than the competitors, so more divers.
I also dived on two divetrips with TwoFish, they were very good and flexible to my requests running fast speedboats. But that was former management who's now gone, so I can't tell for the new management.
The ones you should avoid are Equator and DiveConcepts.
I also dived on two divetrips with TwoFish, they were very good and flexible to my requests running fast speedboats. But that was former management who's now gone, so I can't tell for the new management.
The ones you should avoid are Equator and DiveConcepts.
Tippytoes12
Contributor
World diving are extremely good , we have dived with them many times and hope to again. They have many many years of experience and are extremely nice and very safety conscious.
billt4sf
Contributor
This was originally posted when my wife and I were just a few days from leaving on my Bali dive safari. We have been back in the US for a couple of weeks now and collected our throughts. We started our safari in Pemuteran, where we spent four days diving Menjangan Island and Pemuteran Bay, then moved on to Tulamben for four days of diving, and then finally over to Lembongan for three days of diving. We did not have the opportunity to dive Padang Bai.
As far as a comparison of the diving among all three regions, my wife and I preferred Tulamben over the other two by a wide margin. Lembongan was a big let-down in several respects. Part of it may have been due to our own high expectations and mistaken understandings. Okay, we were aware May-June was not Mola Mola season. But we had been under the impression that a stay at a dive resort on Nusa Lembongan still means a focus on diving at Nusa Penida, blue water, pelagics, etc. The reality of our experience with Two Fish Divers was that diving was mostly on the very northern side of Lembongan and Penida, and they only visit the more southern sites, say, from Crystal bay to the famous Manta Point, etc., once every so many days, depending on sea conditions. Over the three diving days we were there, they said conditions did not permit diving more southern sites. The day of our departure, they had scheduled an "attempt" to dive at Manta Point, and I do not know if they were successful. The reef on the north sides of Lembongan and Penida is nothing special--a sloping wall, lots of half-dead coral, and nothing we had not already experienced at Tulamben. The current was swift at many sites, and we encountered some scary up and down currents as well. I have over 300 dives of experience, and I had difficulty with these crazy currents. Topside, the conditions were not so wonderful, either. You have to wade through trash on the beach to board the dive boat. Trash floating in the water when you surface. There is trash everywhere on Lembongan. The dusty streets are packed with noisy motorbikes, something I had mistakenly believed we would leave behind in Denpasar/Sanur. For some reason, we had the impression Lembongan would be a serene getaway--an island oasis from busy Bali. Nope. But again, I take the blame for not having researched that more thoroughly before deciding to visit Lembongan.
After three days of that reef and the whole Lembongan experience, we were ready to leave. Oh, we still enjoyed most of the dives, and we saw a few interesting things, but in retrospect it just wasn't worth the hassle to us--the ferry, the wild currents, the trash, etc. We really wished we had stayed three more days at Tulamben with Liberty Dive Resort instead of on Lembongan with Two Fish. We saw SO much greater a variety and abundance of stuff in Tulamben (though admittedly mostly macro stuff). We had been aware that Nusa Penida cannot be dived when conditions are poor--we had done our homework, sort of--but we did not fully appreciate just how often conditions are apparently too poor. We were under the mistaken belief that boats leaving from Lembongan have a better shot at reaching the more southern dive sites than day boats from Bali, and I don't think there is any basis in fact for that. I don't know where we had gotten that idea.
If I were to visit Lembongan again, first off, it would be during Mola Mola season. This trip, we really had no choice of time of year. Second, I would opt not to stay on Lembongan but rather take a day boat from Bali that specifically targets Penida and only leaves when conditions are favorable. I found nothing especially attractive about the northern sites on Lembongan and Penida, and what we did like about the experience was outweighed by what we did not.
As far as a comparison of the diving among all three regions, my wife and I preferred Tulamben over the other two by a wide margin. Lembongan was a big let-down in several respects. Part of it may have been due to our own high expectations and mistaken understandings. Okay, we were aware May-June was not Mola Mola season. But we had been under the impression that a stay at a dive resort on Nusa Lembongan still means a focus on diving at Nusa Penida, blue water, pelagics, etc. The reality of our experience with Two Fish Divers was that diving was mostly on the very northern side of Lembongan and Penida, and they only visit the more southern sites, say, from Crystal bay to the famous Manta Point, etc., once every so many days, depending on sea conditions. Over the three diving days we were there, they said conditions did not permit diving more southern sites. The day of our departure, they had scheduled an "attempt" to dive at Manta Point, and I do not know if they were successful. The reef on the north sides of Lembongan and Penida is nothing special--a sloping wall, lots of half-dead coral, and nothing we had not already experienced at Tulamben. The current was swift at many sites, and we encountered some scary up and down currents as well. I have over 300 dives of experience, and I had difficulty with these crazy currents. Topside, the conditions were not so wonderful, either. You have to wade through trash on the beach to board the dive boat. Trash floating in the water when you surface. There is trash everywhere on Lembongan. The dusty streets are packed with noisy motorbikes, something I had mistakenly believed we would leave behind in Denpasar/Sanur. For some reason, we had the impression Lembongan would be a serene getaway--an island oasis from busy Bali. Nope. But again, I take the blame for not having researched that more thoroughly before deciding to visit Lembongan.
After three days of that reef and the whole Lembongan experience, we were ready to leave. Oh, we still enjoyed most of the dives, and we saw a few interesting things, but in retrospect it just wasn't worth the hassle to us--the ferry, the wild currents, the trash, etc. We really wished we had stayed three more days at Tulamben with Liberty Dive Resort instead of on Lembongan with Two Fish. We saw SO much greater a variety and abundance of stuff in Tulamben (though admittedly mostly macro stuff). We had been aware that Nusa Penida cannot be dived when conditions are poor--we had done our homework, sort of--but we did not fully appreciate just how often conditions are apparently too poor. We were under the mistaken belief that boats leaving from Lembongan have a better shot at reaching the more southern dive sites than day boats from Bali, and I don't think there is any basis in fact for that. I don't know where we had gotten that idea.
If I were to visit Lembongan again, first off, it would be during Mola Mola season. This trip, we really had no choice of time of year. Second, I would opt not to stay on Lembongan but rather take a day boat from Bali that specifically targets Penida and only leaves when conditions are favorable. I found nothing especially attractive about the northern sites on Lembongan and Penida, and what we did like about the experience was outweighed by what we did not.
@Lorenzoid we had a similar experience as well and couldn't wait to get off the island. I think it would be a great place to stay if you are a young backpacker or Aussie looking for a cheap weekend getaway. Sounds like your trip was impacted by the big waves Bali experienced... sorry.
@billt4sf World has big boats and depending on the tide (if low in morning) will get to sites well after all other day boats get there so be prepared for crowded sites. We couldn't even count how many boats were at Manta point. They do separate groups into experience levels so that is great, but we had a huge problem with the crowds at Manta and Crystal. Crazy amount of people with no experience chasing mantas and chasing off the mola molas. We have been to Crystal a few times and it's always the same story...the group in front of us chased off the Mola molas. If you stay at World make sure you stay in Garden rooms. You might want to inquire about their smaller boat and maybe book something private if feasible.
@billt4sf World has big boats and depending on the tide (if low in morning) will get to sites well after all other day boats get there so be prepared for crowded sites. We couldn't even count how many boats were at Manta point. They do separate groups into experience levels so that is great, but we had a huge problem with the crowds at Manta and Crystal. Crazy amount of people with no experience chasing mantas and chasing off the mola molas. We have been to Crystal a few times and it's always the same story...the group in front of us chased off the Mola molas. If you stay at World make sure you stay in Garden rooms. You might want to inquire about their smaller boat and maybe book something private if feasible.
billt4sf
Contributor
This is really useful info, thanks Calidiver and Lorenzoid !
I truly have no interest in going to sites where there are tons of divers, whether mola mola and/or mantas are there or not. We have been to many such sites, I always hate it.
@Lorenzoid I appreciate your feedback immensely, but I don't understand what you said about getting to Penida is as easy from south Bali (in our case it would be from Padang Bai) vs. staying on Lembongan. Looking at the map, it seems quite clear that Nusa Penida is a lot closer to Lembongan than to Bali mainland.
But yeah, maybe Lembongan is a bad idea. THANKS both of you.
- Bill & Emily
I truly have no interest in going to sites where there are tons of divers, whether mola mola and/or mantas are there or not. We have been to many such sites, I always hate it.
@Lorenzoid I appreciate your feedback immensely, but I don't understand what you said about getting to Penida is as easy from south Bali (in our case it would be from Padang Bai) vs. staying on Lembongan. Looking at the map, it seems quite clear that Nusa Penida is a lot closer to Lembongan than to Bali mainland.
But yeah, maybe Lembongan is a bad idea. THANKS both of you.
- Bill & Emily
Well I know a few posters really like it there, I think Luko has had some positive experiences so not all bad obviously. We even gave it a second chance and still experienced the same crowds if not worse. I think if you make it to Raja and Komodo you will get your fill of mantas without the crowds and if you dive Padang Bai and Gili Tepekong you have a great chance at seeing a Mola Mola. Have a great time!!
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