Tulamben - where to stay? Mimpi, Liberty, Seraya, TWD, Tauch...which is best?

[Luko]

For 3 years now, i have been staying at TTT, my wife loves it. Very nice grounds and pools, cannot be better thought for such a medium sized place. Breakfast is really good on Indo standards, as well as the lighter meals, never had dinner because I prefer to dine outside my hotel.
I am not using their dive centre though, looks too regimented for me, therefore LDC sends me a car for free everyday to pick up and dive with their centre.
The advantage of TTT is also that they are right in the centre of Tulamben, so the few restaurants (Sandhya mainly) are only 5 minutes walk away.

Ocean view would be my second pick, even better located than TTT, closer to the Wreck and right on the beach, but a little further away from Tulamben centre, needs 15mn walk to go the restaurants. I found Mimpi to be very "dark", lacks the airy openness of TTT.

 

[gekodivebali]

+1 for ocean view: Ocean View Tulamben - Home
If you're willing to venture a little further away from the wreck (couple of Km), then Villa Alba may be a great addition to the resort scene. A great mix of Scottish and Sichuan atmosphere!

 

[Leejnd]

Thanks for all the great info! At this point I've narrowed it down to Tulamben Wreck Divers beachfront villas, and Tauck Terminal. I'm leaning towards TWD - the pricing is excellent, it seems like an awesome value, and they offer unlimited guided dives for $115 per day. Given that they charge $38 per dive individually (which is high for the area, most seem to be around $25), if we do five dives a day (which we will, including a night dive) then it's a great value. The scooter issue is the only hang-up - not a problem for my husband and me, but it may be for the other couple, who are in their 70's. I'm checking with them...if they're okay with it, then that's probably what we'll go with.

If they're not okay with the scooters, then Tauck Terminal is the next best option. Villa Markisa does look spectacular, but it's that mandatory $40 full board that knocks that one off the list. Too bad...I would have probably picked them. But the rebel in me severely dislikes anyone telling me where I have to eat!

Our trip isn't until September, but I promise to come back and post a full report!

 

[SpeckledGrouper]

We stayed at Villa Alba for New Years 2013. The resort and rooms are immaculate, 2 pools, one is infinity oceanfront. The house reef is quite good, cool critters including leaf fish. Breakfast was plentiful and included in the rate. We also opted to eat the other meals there as well, reasonable and decent portions. Staff was great and the dive guide had no problem carrying all my gear into the water, where I could put it on comfortably (I have 2 bad knees and cannot walk with gear on), at the Liberty and house reef. Wi Fi worked great and was included. I would definitely recommend Villa Alba.

 

[clownfishsydney]

In 2012 we stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers beachfront villas. Brilliant location and rooms. Yes, they are about 800 m north of town, but as stated above, you get a free scooter to use. If scooter riding is not for you (it is not like the rest of Bali, very little traffic), then their other accommodation is also very nice. We are going back again for two weeks this August.

Last year our club did a trip to Villa Markisa. Everyone loved it so much there is another trip going there this June.

Correction: Villa Alba is what I meant

 

[Leejnd]

Okay well I had to check out Villa Alba, which I hadn't included in my search...it looks beautiful, but the rooms are smaller than the TWD villa rooms, and it's a bit out of town. In fact that's why I hadn't heard of them -- they are not listed among the Tulamben hotels on TripAdvisor, they are listed in Kubu. And without any kind of transportation, that makes it not quite as desirable.

So...final decision: Tulamben Wreck Divers. I've been chatting with Tony, the owner, and everything sounds great! They loan you motorbikes for the duration of your stay, which means we can get around easily. I saw a photo of the bikes, and they are quite nice and easily large enough for two to ride on one. Our friends are happy with the motorbike - he used to ride motorcycles, and since both of them can fit on one, they'll be fine with them.

We're actually going to be in Bali for almost three weeks --5 nights in Candidasa, 4 nights Tulamben, 5 nights Pemuteran, 4 nights Ubud. We'll be diving Nusa Penida (from Candidasa), Liberty and other local sites (Tulamben), and Menjangan Island (Pemuteran). So I think we'll get our fill. Watch for my full report, coming in October!

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Okay well I had to check out Villa Alba, which I hadn't included in my search...it looks beautiful, but the rooms are smaller than the TWD villa rooms, and it's a bit out of town. In fact that's why I hadn't heard of them -- they are not listed among the Tulamben hotels on TripAdvisor, they are listed in Kubu. And without any kind of transportation, that makes it not quite as desirable.

So...final decision: Tulamben Wreck Divers. I've been chatting with Tony, the owner, and everything sounds great! They loan you motorbikes for the duration of your stay, which means we can get around easily. I saw a photo of the bikes, and they are quite nice and easily large enough for two to ride on one. Our friends are happy with the motorbike - he used to ride motorcycles, and since both of them can fit on one, they'll be fine with them.

We're actually going to be in Bali for almost three weeks --5 nights in Candidasa, 4 nights Tulamben, 5 nights Pemuteran, 4 nights Ubud. We'll be diving Nusa Penida (from Candidasa), Liberty and other local sites (Tulamben), and Menjangan Island (Pemuteran). So I think we'll get our fill. Watch for my full report, coming in October!

Sounds like your going to have a great time in Bali. I will be staying at Liberty Dive Resort while in Tulamben. It's right in my budget considering I'll be paying for three people.

 

[MA]

I stayed at liberty . I agree with wisnu that tulamben ocean view looked gorgeous. For what you're after I would stay there and dive with liberty!

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I was just checking out Tulamben Wreck Divers Resort. I really like the ocean view. Checking out there dive package prices. It's 3 of us traveling so accommodation pricing can be tricky.

---------- Post added February 8th, 2014 at 11:09 PM ----------

I stayed at liberty . I agree with wisnu that tulamben ocean view looked gorgeous. For what you're after I would stay there and dive with liberty!

What's the advantage of staying at Tulamben and diving with Liberty? Are the logistics involved simple?

 

[clownfishsydney]

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.