OW Cert: Permuteran/Menjangan, Late June Sanity Check

[TuDiveOrNotTuDive]

Hey folks. Looking for a quick sanity check on a trip I'm currently planning a trip to Bali with family in late June, early July for about 2 weeks.

Two of us are certified but not a ton of experience (AOW + ~40 dives, OW + ~10 dives), and the two have never dove before. My mom and sister (20's) are interested in getting certified on this trip, even though diving is not necessarily the main focus of our trip. We want to get the certification done early in the trip so we can quickly asses how much they like it, and possibly add more diving on the backend of the trip if it resonates with them. We figured it made sense to just bite the bullet and get certified instead of going the Discover Scuba route.

The current plan is do an OW certification up in Permuteran and dive around Menjangan Island one of the days as part of their checkout dives. Most dive shops I've contacted have quoted 3 days for the certification. My brother and I would dive with the shops the first day while they're doing their pool work, the second day we could go out with them and dive again near Permuteran, and then the final day we'd all go together to Menjangan.

Now the sanity check:
I chose Permuteran for 2 reasons.
1. Based on write ups, it seems to be a much calmer/slower area, both in terms of the ocean currents and also the busy-ness of other divers and snorkelers. That being said, Tulamben was also a place that other folks seemed very happy with that might fit this. The Nusas sound very rough for an OW cert, although my mom would really like to dive with the mantas at Manta Point later in the trip if we can.
2. We are planning on hiking Mt. Ijen which is just across the water on Java. This means we already need to travel all the way up to the Permuteran/Gilimanuk area, so the main complaint I've read about Menjangan being far is moot. The hike is strenuous and tops out around 7800ft/2400m. Because of this, I am thinking it makes sense to do the hike BEFORE the OW Cert/Diving instead of after.

A rough itinerary would look like the following.
- Day 1: Land at Denpasar around noon. Travel to Gilimanuk. Stay in Gilimanuk.
- Day 2: Ferry over to Java, explore Banyuwangi. Prep for hike.
- Day 3: Do the 1-3am start hike (with a guide) to Mt. Ijen. Finish hike. Make our way to Permuteran.
- Day 4-6: OW course/Dive.
- Day 7-9: Make way back to Ubud, do Ubud things.
- Day 10-12: <undecided, but potentially more diving? Manta Point? Topside at Nusa Lembongan? Down South?>
- Day 13: 5PM flight out.

Does this itinerary make sense? We have a 3-4 days unplanned at the end of the trip which we'd like to be somewhat flexible with depending on the how much they enjoy their certification. Again, I'm not super sure about Manta Point.
The first couple days will be quite strenuous, especially with the crater hike.

Any strong recs. on dive shops up in Permuteran? I've started email threads with most, and am leaning towards a Sea Rovers for a SSI certs and diving.

 

[Johncn]

I can’t speak to Sea Rovers, but just got done with a week of staying and diving with the Mimpi Menjangan…right up the road from Pemuteran. We have dive with their shop numerous times over the years, and so have our children.

As far as accommodations go, you can’t go wrong with the Mimpi…even if taking your course elsewhere (transport is no problem). They have reasonably-priced Balinese bungalows with private walled compounds, cut stone hot spring tubs, indoor / outdoor marble bathrooms, with strong room AC, good wifi and breakfast included.

They also have patio rooms with access to three public hot spring tubs, and two fresh water pools in a gorgeous setting. Includes two pics of pool where the dive training happens. Great food at the restaurant, and every morning at breakfast a view the four volcanoes: Ruang (currently venting; Padil, Ijen, and Kookamani (sp?). The SPA (autocorrect error!) is very good as well. Highly recommended.

Good luck!

 

[frogfish]

Pemuteran/ menjangan are nice and ideal for open water as the diving is easy and in Menjangan you will see healthy walls with all the usual reef suspects. I love this area as it is low key compared to other parts of Bali. East Java is spectacular as well, if you have time there is a lot to explore.

A couple of comments on your itinerary:

- Travel time from airport to Gilimanuk will be around 4 hours, you may want to stay closer to the south to recover from flights; for instance you could go to Ubud first, then travel to Pemuteran or Banyuwangi

- Ijen is really spectacular, but the challenge these days is to avoid the crowds, which is fairly easy if you are ok not to see the 'blue flames' which require you to visit in the middle of the night; if you go in the early morning (e.g. start the hike before 7:00 am when everyone is leaving, you should have clear weather and almost be in your own).

- I would not hesitate to spend a night or two around in the hills around Banyuwangi: beautiful scenery, easy access to Ijen.

Have a great trip !

 

[diveUAE]

I’ve not hiked mt. Ljen, but I think trying to do that on day 3, then start certification on day 4 might be a bit optimistic and set your mother and sister up for disappointment.
Not that the pool sessions are super hard, but most likely they will be tired and have sore legs, so at the same time doing something for the first time might not be the best idea.
Also staying an extra day to do a few dives as certified divers could be a good idea.

Getting anywhere in Bali is a pain and takes much longer than you think. This is especially true in the south and in Ubud - recommend you get a place in Ubud, where you can walk to markets/restaurants etc. I would not try to go to Lembongan to stay - but have a look at Padang Bai, for diving and exploring

 

[JohnN]

I dove with Sea Rovers and would do so again. They have small groups ~6 divers (no cattle boat) and their boats are fast

 

[Cali_diver]

Can I suggest that you do the theory and pool work at home and only do your ow dives while on vacation. It is usually pretty easy to arrange if you use the same agency.

 

[Grm]

Second the above, much better if you can do the confined water before you go - if not all the e learning which the dive center you choose in Pemuteran can set you up with. I’ve been go for years and love Pemuteran and Menjangen for diving, very quiet and chilled - always use Karin at Bali Diving Academy.
Definitely do the volcano first, we loved it and went as an overnight (1.00am) depart from Pemuteran

 

[TuDiveOrNotTuDive]

We are definitely trying to hit the late night/early morning blue fire hike in Ijen, it's one of the main reasons we're making the extra effort to get to that corner of the island so I think we'll need to brave the crowds.

Regarding adding buffer time: I was also worried about crunching too much in with the hike back to back with the dive course. An earlier itinerary had us taking an extra recovery day in between the hike and the start of the class. @frogfish, any recs for specifics to do around Banyuwangi?

Travel time from airport to Gilimanuk will be around 4 hours, you may want to stay closer to the south to recover from flights
Yeah, I thought about reversing the direction of travel here, or at least spending the first night down south before trekking up to Gilimanuk. We are also very much trying to get the hike to line up with a weekday to hopefully have less crowds. We also wanted to get the dive cert done earlier in the trip in case we wanted to make adjustments at the end to do some more diving. Not opposed to resting down south the first day before heading up to Banyuwangi though...

Can I suggest that you do the theory and pool work at home
They'll definitely be doing the theory online/before going out to Bali. Doing the pool work before hand though is going to be hard to do given time constraints here. We're spread out across the States which makes it hard for me to help get them setup with a shop etc.

always use Karin at Bali Diving Academy
I'll give'em a look. I think I sent them an email as well. Anything in particular about them that stood out to you?

I would not try to go to Lembongan to stay - but have a look at Padang Bai, for diving and exploring
Noted. Any particular reasons to avoid staying at Lembongan? We were mostly considering staying there for an earlier start to Manta Point since we read you can get down south a bit earlier than all the day trippers from Sanur if leaving from Lembongan.

 

[Grm]

I used Bali Academy when they used to be based on the beach, now the main strip- back then there were only 3 or so dive shops there. Their guides are always great, I like the fact they employ locals and from what I have seen on my trips their standards of teaching are very good (last 15 years as a DM)
For Manta point it is hard to avoid the crowds but it might be worth trying to find a dive centre that does it later in the afternoon, this has worked for me in the past as most boats used to seem to be gone by early pm
Itinerary looks very busy though and you’ll burn quite a bit of time travelling I would just do Ijen/Pemuteran and Ubud