Tony from TWD is a really nice bloke. As I said, we loved the one week we had there in 2012 (after a week's liveaboard) we are going for just over 2 weeks in August. Only thing to watch on the scooters, turning right into TWD shop carpark and into the road to the accommodation, make sure you are not being overtaken. Also, when coming out of the road from the accommodation onto the main road, make sure you have a good view before taking off. The scooters do not have great pick up and the cars/trucks can hurtle down the road.
Have a great time.
PS If you want to read about some of the dives etc, see my web site
Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site.
LOL Mike I already found your write-up, and read the entire thing last night!
Thanks...great information. I'd also seen your review on TripAdvisor. Thanks for the tips on the scooters. We've come to the conclusion that having the scooters is one of the biggest benefits of staying at TWD, mainly for our friends. They are an older couple, and long walks in the heat and humidity would be hard for them...plus they will not be diving. By having the scooter, they will have something to do, and a way to get around, while Charlie and I are out diving all day. That was one of my concerns during this trip for the days we're in Tulamben -- what would they do while we were diving? Now I don't have to worry about them feeling like they're trapped at the resort all day. Not that there's much to do or see in Tulamben, but at least they can bop around town or go get some lunch at a warung if they want to.
stay in Amed!!! it's a quiet lil town just 30 min south of tulamben. amed has awesome divng and you can do a trip from there with any Amed dive shop one day to dive liberty wreck. honestly, 2 dives at liberty is enough and it gets very crowded. even better than liberty are the dives in amed. boat dives along beautiful reef with great macro, shore dives off the black sand beach with pygmy seahorses and muck dives off shore with ornate ghost pipefish and all kinds or other great critters. i would recommend diving with adventure divers bali and stay either with them or accross the street on the black sand beach (forget the name). its right across the street on the map.
I'm not too worried about the crowds at the Liberty. By staying at TWD, we can dive it early in the morning and miss the crowds (and see the bumphead parrotfish!). We'll also do our night dives there. I've been reading up on the Liberty wreck, and it seems to me that it's well worth diving several times. I do enjoy underwater photography, and from what I'm reading, I can easily fill up several dives taking shots of all the fascinating critters down there. I prefer to move slowly underwater and focus on one small area setting up for the best shots, rather than trying to take in the whole thing on one dive. And as Luko points out, there are plenty of other diverse sites around there to dive while the crowds are swarming the Liberty. But of course I'm getting all this from reading...I'll have to see for myself. And I promise to come back and post a full report.
I agree with Cedric, Ocean View is the most popular of the places we recommend for our divers, right in front of the wreck, best location in Tulamben and fantastic bungalows. However, there are not many places in the area that are far away. Diving in the Tulamben area is very well organized, you can't go wrong with any of the dive operators in the area
Y'know, I hadn't included Ocean View in my initial searches, because it's not listed as a hotel on TripAdvisor, it's listed as an "Inn/B&B" so I didn't see it. But I did eventually find it and check it out. It looks great, but the problem was that there is only 1 suite and 8 bungalows. We would want the suite, as the bungalows look rather basic...but there's only 1, so our friends would have to be in a bungalow. So there went that idea.
I'm happy with my choice of TWD...I haven't read a single bad thing about them (well, other than some unhappy people on TripAdvisor who didn't like the way they were asked to pay for their stay in cash). I've now got the accommodations all set for all four of the locations we're visiting. I've got the dive operator selected for Padang Bai. Now I just need to select a dive operator in Pemuteran.
