Nusa Lembongan Or Padang Bai Or Menjanhan?

[billt4sf]

I agree with the boys from Geko. Toyapakeh, Butik, SD, PD, etc are great dive sites. We visited in late May and had a wonderful time. Our last day with James @Padang Bai put smiles on all of our faces. Next time you visit, give us a shout and will will try to met you in Bali.

I think Geko is unusually good at telling you what they can do for you, and what they can't. Most ops that I have gone to are fine, good operators, but often don't describe the risks and conditions very well beforehand.

These days I check out dives ops pretty carefully on ScubaBoard. I feel for the newer divers that don't do so, and even don't know what to ask about. Like I was several years ago.

- Bill & Emily

 

[Lorenzoid]

"Great" compared with what? I suppose it's all subjective. Sure, we saw not one but TWO frogfish on our last dive (PD) of the Lembongan trip--fantastic. But with the strong currents rocketing us along, it was often impossible to stop and look at anything. Overall, we simply preferred Tulamben. We saw much more there. If visiting Bali did not require something like 24 hours of flying for us, I might feel differently. I can certainly appreciate how a frequent visitor to Bali might want to spend some time on Lembongan in addition to all the great places on Bali.

 

[charlier]

"Great" compared with what? I suppose it's all subjective. Sure, we saw not one but TWO frogfish on our last dive (PD) of the Lembongan trip--fantastic. But with the strong currents rocketing us along, it was often impossible to stop and look at anything. Overall, we simply preferred Tulamben. We saw much more there. If visiting Bali did not require something like 24 hours of flying for us, I might feel differently. I can certainly appreciate how a frequent visitor to Bali might want to spend some time on Lembongan in addition to all the great places on Bali.

Good question -after working a week or so in Bali, we visited Nusa Penida for two days, while staying in Padangbai. On a north shore drift dive, a lovely inmature whale shark decided to play with us for about 20 min and only four of us in the water and no pushy photographers. With the requisite trip to Manta Point (first to arrive), about six manta joined us after at the end of the dive. We extended our dive to about 70 min, so we could enjoy the show. Nearby Padangbai, mobulae rays, small balls of snappers, white tip shark, etc. made the dive interesting and fun. Similar to our other dives, we were the only divers in the water. Raja Ampat, Alor, etc. are way more unspoiled, but Bali is easy to access and offered enjoyable tropical diving. Strong currents are ever present in Indonesia, other than the protected muck diving sites.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@charlier, now THAT is the kind of stuff I had in mind when I added on the Lembongan trip. Instead, we ended up seeing yet more nudibranchs, crabs, shrimp, etc. Well, okay, a couple of frogfish, and on one dive someone sighted a Napoleon wrasse way off in the distance. A turtle here and there.

As for the currents, on a weeklong Komodo liveaboard there was only one site that I would say had current as strong as we experienced on Lembongan/Penida. When the current was at least in a cooperative direction, we whizzed along the slope like Superman, though we had to be vigilant to avoid crashing into each other. But of more concern were the potentially dangerous up-currents that wanted to send us to the surface and down-currents that tried to push us off the slope and down into the blue. Then there would be the frequent jangling noise from the dive guides trying to get our attention to herd us this way or that to avoid being swept up or down. Battling the current took much of the fun out of it. The noise from the dive guides just added irritation. We could hardly concentrate on the sights around us.

 

[charlier]

@Lorenzoid, I feel for you. I mostly fall out the mainstream, mostly because after a day of muck diving and looking at tiny sea horses, I am ready to go searching for pristine coral reefs, healthy schools or masses of fish (like really biomass), pelagics, etc. I try to temper my trips with reality, but Bali is a nice compromise. Most of my fellow DMs have similar dive styles, other than the occasional lust for deep rust. Plus, you are in the mark with noise from DMs and other divers. I guess the Indo DMs have a poor view of divers and their overall competence in currents. I wish that yiu were with our group. My wife and I strive to dive in small groups and the only times I will bang my tanks is: a serious safety issue that I cannot immediately deal with (e.g., look at me and calm down) or I see a school of huge rays approaching us. UW noise just distracts from the overall experience. During our whale shark encounter, my wife was the spotter and just pointed both fingers and arms to the general direction - that was enough for the three of us.