Trip Report Padangbai (Bali) Report: Geko Divers August '23

[Cali_diver]

Water temps were really off/strange in Komodo as well. It was so confusing trying to figure out where we wanted to go... It was cold in the south and warm in the north. Sangeang was like a bath tub.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I did 16 dives. I also bought a low pressure inflator hose for my BCD.
Worked out to being around US$39 per dive.
Cons... low season so no trips to Nusa Penida or Crystal Bay as they require 4 divers for longer boat trips.
Visibility not the best but really not much of an issue for me.

Komang my guide was decent but he found I can find a lot of things by myself. I had to stop him giving me safety stop signals at 45 mins when at safety stop level. I often come shallow to take photo and videos at shallow depths for 15 - 20 minutes. Being near 5m depth does not mean finish the dive especially when you still have 90 bar left. I asked why he was signaling dives at 45 50 or 55 minutes and Komang said that was Geko Divers policy. Yet on this forum I told him Rico wrote that divers were not restricted on dive times. So there is an issue when the boss is not there. Yeah I know the water temp was cold but I was fine with it.

Different guide for the night dive. Every time I would find something to video and start doing so the guide would come over and point his dive torch at what I was filming completely ruining the video. Several times I had to wave him away. It's nice to be helpful but feck off with your dive torch when someone is already got video lights on taking a video. In the end I had to make sure I was 20m away from the guide so he would not light up what I was taking photos or video of.

Pros, local sites are good especially Drop Off. Also a lunch provided. Lot's of good local places to eat at as well as western food like Absolute next to Geko Divers and Omang. I rented a scooter for the whole time which was nice.

Lot's of good marine life, So for say a Tiger Mantis in a hole guiding to that was simple. No Mantas or Mola this trip..
Same for sea horse which is found in one small area. A day trip to Tulamben is fine not too far away.

Seven dives were done at Blue Lagoon. Drop off three times. Jepun twice, Coral Garden and Bias Tugel once.

 

[JonnieB]

Komang my guide was decent but he found I can find a lot of things by myself. I had to stop him giving me safety stop signals at 45 mins when at safety stop level. I often come shallow to take photo and videos at shallow depths for 15 - 20 minutes. Being near 5m depth does not mean finish the dive especially when you still have 90 bar left. I asked why he was signaling dives at 45 50 or 55 minutes and Komang said that was Geko Divers policy. Yet on this forum I told him Rico wrote that divers were not restricted on dive times. So there is an issue when the boss is not there. Yeah I know the water temp was cold but I was fine with it.

Different guide for the night dive. Every time I would find something to video and start doing so the guide would come over and point his dive torch at what I was filming completely ruining the video. Several times I had to wave him away. It's nice to be helpful but feck off with your dive torch when someone is already got video lights on taking a video. In the end I had to make sure I was 20m away from the guide so he would not light up what I was taking photos or video of.

Lot's of good marine life, So for say a Tiger Mantis in a hole guiding to that was simple. No Mantas or Mola this trip..
Same for sea horse which is found in one small area. A day trip to Tulamben is fine not too far away.

Seven dives were done at Blue Lagoon. Drop off three times. Jepun twice, Coral Garden and Bias Tugel once.

Ending the dives with half a tank is a no go...this didn't happen when I was diving with Geko last year. We always breathed the tank "dry" and like you, there's lots to see at 5 meters or less so I spend a lot of time there finishing off a tank.

Yes very annoying when a guide tries to "help" by over-lighting your shots!

No dives at the Jetty...best macro site in PB?

Thanks for the nice posts and this wrap-up. I'll be back in PB in a couple months and will spend a week or so in PB...probably with Gekko again.

 

[Blackcrusader]

No dives at the Jetty...best macro site in PB?

Do you know exactly when you will be there next as in dates? I would like to dive again before joining up with some buddies in May.
If there were longer dives and more sites I could be tempted to return. I like the fact I am a 5 hour direct flight away from Bali.

I asked about the Jetty dives and was told most of the critters are gone now. As I did not do a jetty dive as they suggested not diving there so cannot confirm. One of my good friends just had Sinus surgery so we plan on a two week trip in May. It could be 5 days in Padang Bai followed by 5 days in Lembongan, or two weeks in Sodwana Bay in South Africa. We dived Bali for three weeks September to October 2022 but not Padang Bai.

I posted my dive times in this thread so hopefully Geko Divers will see this..

Question - Help me decide between Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan

I'm planning a (covid delayed) trip to Komodo in October next year. On the way home through Bali I'm planning on diving a couple of days and tossing up between Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan. I have dived both before, some years ago. Seeking 'the wisdom of the tribe' on a few of questions: If...

scubaboard.com

 

[matts1w]

Interesting stuff. One of the key players at Geko has left Bali, and it will be interesting to see how that all shakes out.

The jetty has always been consistently inconsistent. There have been times in the past when the critter population cools off and where conditions pretty much always suck. It has also been closed off to diving at times by the government and also by tension with locals who fish it.

I hope it upcycles again. When the jetty is good it is my favorite spot in Bali.

 

[JonnieB]

Do you know exactly when you will be there next as in dates? I would like to dive again before joining up with some buddies in May.
If there were longer dives and more sites I could be tempted to return. I like the fact I am a 5 hour direct flight away from Bali.

I asked about the Jetty dives and was told most of the critters are gone now. As I did not do a jetty dive as they suggested not diving there so cannot confirm. One of my good friends just had Sinus surgery so we plan on a two week trip in May. It could be 5 days in Padang Bai followed by 5 days in Lembongan, or two weeks in Sodwana Bay in South Africa. We dived Bali for three weeks September to October 2022 but not Padang Bai.

I posted my dive times in this thread so hopefully Geko Divers will see this..

Question - Help me decide between Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan

I'm planning a (covid delayed) trip to Komodo in October next year. On the way home through Bali I'm planning on diving a couple of days and tossing up between Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan. I have dived both before, some years ago. Seeking 'the wisdom of the tribe' on a few of questions: If...

scubaboard.com

I'll be in Bali from 27 February thru 24 April but my diving plans are limited to Amed/Tulamben. I may be back in May/June for a safari from PB and the north coast all the way to Permuteran/Secret Bay.

 

[Dan]

It worked and we dived down to 30m within the first 10 mins of our first dive to see two molas that Rico had spotted. Brilliant.

Yep, a lot of Mola Mola were seen last August. I saw 10 of them in 4 dives (3 in Crystal Bay, 3 in Blue Corner, 2 in Sental and 2 in Manta Bay).

The ones in Crystal Bay were so used to divers and letting us come closer to get a better look at them.



We are coming back to these dive sites again in August 2024.

 

[gekodivebali]

Hi Everyone, this is Rico the owner of Geko. Yes indeed i was on holiday when you were diving with us. It is unfortunate that these incidences occur when i am not around as i would have guaranteed this would not have happened. I have personally addressed the situation with all my dive guides and made it crystal clear that there is NO TIME LIMIT at Geko Dive. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday and we do hope to dive with you in the future! You are always welcome to request me as your guide if you would like! I do love diving especially for Macro! The diving has been good recently even though it is rainy season! Vis is a bit low (15-20m) but water temperature is 28c. I wish you all a wonderful day.

 

[JonnieB]

Hi Everyone, this is Rico the owner of Geko. Yes indeed i was on holiday when you were diving with us. It is unfortunate that these incidences occur when i am not around as i would have guaranteed this would not have happened. I have personally addressed the situation with all my dive guides and made it crystal clear that there is NO TIME LIMIT at Geko Dive. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday and we do hope to dive with you in the future! You are always welcome to request me as your guide if you would like! I do love diving especially for Macro! The diving has been good recently even though it is rainy season! Vis is a bit low (15-20m) but water temperature is 28c. I wish you all a wonderful day.

Back in May...hope it's still 28°

 

[Blackcrusader]

Hi Everyone, this is Rico the owner of Geko. Yes indeed i was on holiday when you were diving with us. It is unfortunate that these incidences occur when i am not around as i would have guaranteed this would not have happened. I have personally addressed the situation with all my dive guides and made it crystal clear that there is NO TIME LIMIT at Geko Dive. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday and we do hope to dive with you in the future! You are always welcome to request me as your guide if you would like! I do love diving especially for Macro! The diving has been good recently even though it is rainy season! Vis is a bit low (15-20m) but water temperature is 28c. I wish you all a wonderful day.

Thanks. I'll be back for sure. I hope to bring a couple of buddies as well
So water temp back to 28c after I left. I love those chilly dives.