Tulamben too Sleepy?

[Kepen]

Hi Everyone! I’m a long, long time lurker and I have used these forums to plan many a dive vacation. Up until now I’ve been able to answer most of my questions by just doing some additional research here, but I’m stuck and wanted to get your thoughts. My husband and I (mid 30’s, both AOW) will be traveling to Bali for a week in mid-June to dive (hopefully 6 days) and relax. For diving we both really enjoy looking for small little critters but do like to mix it up with a few dives for bigger stuff/drift/coral/etc. I’ve read and reread the differences on the dive sites, but we are really stuck on where to stay, I think we might really enjoy the Tulamben area for diving, but are really nervous since it sounds like we’d be stuck at the same resort the whole time which doesn’t really appeal to us. We’d like to be able to venture out to different (even just a few) restaurants for lunch and dinner and didn’t know if this would be possible in this area? We had thought about diving a few days in Tulamben and then heading to Candidasa/Padang Bai area, but trying to decide if this is too much travel for a week? What are your opinions?

 

[AlMitch]

Its only 1-2 hours max from Tulamben to Padang Bai. So not too much travel. It really depends on what you want. If you just want to kick back and have a good rest then I'd personally just stick around in Tulamben and do a day trip down to Amed (the resort you stay at should be able to offer this no problem) to break up the scenery.
Tulamben does have a great mix of diving. I'll be there in July for visit #2. You can check out my flikr account for some shots from our last trip.
If you stay at one of the resorts in Tulamben itself then there are a half dozen or so restaurants/ resorts you can pop over to for lunch/dinner. So sleepy but not dead.

 

[WhiteSands]

If you are looking for something nice in Tulamben I would recommend Seraya or Alba. Matahari was good value for money. You can rent a scooter to get around. In Padang Bai I highly recommend livingseas. Leon the owner brought us to different and very nice restaurants every night. Depending on what you like, traditional Balinese, Italian, Spanish, etc he knows all the best places.

 

[Luko]

There are a few restaurants in Tulamben, Ok not a lot but at least enough for 5 days (Sandhya, Wayan, Lesehan segara, dive version for a pizza, etc), though you need to stay in tUlamben downtown, not in Seraya which is out 3 km away from the village center. comfortable hotels you may stay at : Liberty dive resort, Ocean View, Tauch Terminal.

 

[maat1976]

We were in Tulamben for a week and it's lovely for diving and sleepy enough to enjoy, but not so dead you will never leave your resort. We stayed at Ocean View. I might try somewhere new just to mix it up... We also dive in Padangbai, which was totally different. Go see Cedric at Geko.

 

[Kepen]

Thanks everyone for all the replies and great suggestions. AlMitch, amazing pictures thanks for sharing! We are really contemplating staying at Seyara for at least a portion of the time and I guess we’ll have to do some thinking about what our priorities are. Thanks for your help!

 

[Mike Veitch]

I think you might enjoy staying in Amed better, more restaurants to choose from. It's only about 15 minutes from Amed to the Seraya area and 20 to the Liberty Wreck and your dive operator can take you to all of the same sites you would dive from Tulamben plus all of the Amed sites

 

[WhiteSands]

Personally I would rather stay in Tulamben because the shore dives are just so much nicer. I dove at Amed but didn't really like the diving there. Currents were strong, vis wasn't as good as Tulamben, and the marine life is not as lush.

 

[nomadasdiver]

Hi, I will recommend the combination between Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan. It might be a little bit longer distance between them but the combination is worthly and exactly what you looking for. Creatures and soft corals in Tulamben area and bigger stuff a( such mantas and Molas on the right season ) and very nice coral walls and plataforms.
I work for a company that can organize this kind of combinations in a very convinience maneer. Please check out our website Planet Nomadas|Dive lembongan,buceo lembongan,surf lembongan|Lembongan

Cheers

 

[Kepen]

Thanks for the additional suggestions, I have been taking a look at Amed as well. Research has been hard for this trip because there sounds like way too many places that look great to go. Thanks for the suggestion Nomadasdiver, I did see that hotel and it looks great, I think Nusa Lembongan may have to wait until next time when we have some more time. I think we're leaning towards staying a few days in Tulamben and then heading towards Padang Bai for a few days to mix it up a bit and hopefully it won't be too much travel. Really appreciate the help!