Tulamben

[bearteacher.tw]

Please suggest the best resort with good DMs and service in Tulamben for me.

Thanks.

 

[carolsarinah]

There are only two groups that I would dive with out there. Tauch Terminal and the Mimpi resport. Most recently I have been with Tauch. It is clean and efficient. Nothing great. Mimpi is now under new management so I can not be so certain.

Make sure you dive the liberty early in the morning BEFORE the day trippers arrive and muck it up!

Carol

 

[Zippsy]

Don't let this cloud your judgement but... My wife and I stayed at Mimpi in early 2002. The place is beautiful and the service from non-diving staff was great. Unfortunately, we had the divemasters from hell. They surely must be gone by now though. Imagine a DM with fewer than 100 dives who tries to dig out garden eels "so you can see them better", throws stones down holes "to encourage the octopus to come out", breaks off pieces of huge fans trying to steady herself in the water, kicks away cuttlefish because they scare her..... get the point? She freely admitted to us that she did not like diving and that she only did it to stay in Bali with her boy friend. She seemed a touch looney to me.

The BF DM had much better (very good) skills but we also had a ugly incident with him on one dive too. Imagine the bed-side manner of a Nazi doctor given to a gypsy patient during war crime experiements to see how little blood a human needs to survive.

As a general lesson I learned on this trip - if you pay good money for a dive trip, immediately ask for another DM (or change resorts) if the one DM you get assigned is not up to par.

 

[dixiediver25]

I have dived with both Tauch Terminal, and Mimpi at Tulamben. Tauch was great all 4 times I have stayed there. Mimpi was good the one time I stayed there. Another alternative is a safari with one of the dive shops out of Kuta/Sanur. I would recommend Aquapro, and ask for "Prass".
Most of the expat DM/Instructors have left Bali, so you will probably have an Indonesian DM. They are truly "hit or miss", real good or bad.

 

[annie]

I agree the Indonesian divers are hit and miss . . and you can also assume that they won't be able to help much if you do get into trouble.
If you are in Padangbai, I recommend you take a trip up to Tulumben with Helena of Diving Groove (if she's still there) - she was excellent.
The best way to do Tulumben is to do a couple of guided dives, then you can do the Liberty by yourself with your buddy off the beach (if you feel confident) for just the price of the air fill / gear.

 

[frogfish]

I would say that in Indonesia you should have you own equipment. Dive guides I have seen were in general excellent, except in Tulamben !
To dive Tulamben if the DM is very important to you I would suggest Geko Dive in Padangbai - very well run dive shop with good quality equipment. They do day trips to Tulamben, Tepekon and Penida

 

[Shanhai]

I found that my dive guide at Tauch Terminal to be pretty good. They were very safety conscious, almost to the point of being annoying, but this is good right?

During the check dive and the first few dives, they were very careful in asking our air etc, but shortly after we became used to each other, the DM was primarily concerned with showing us a good time, and pointing out things that we normally would not know were there.

I enjoyed going into Liberty looking for "flashlight fish", something I would not have done without the guidance of our DM. With that said, it's really like a game of craps, even the best DM can be annoying if you and the DM don't mesh. If you don't like them, first see if it is your problem, and if it isn't, simply ask to change dive guides.

 

[bearteacher.tw]

There were big waves in Tulamben these days.

The visibility was just ok.

Not easy entry and getting out.

 

[debcov]

I just returned from a 3 week trip in Bali (amy - June) and made several dives...I stayed in Amed at Amed Cafe Hotel. Its nice, clean, with a/c and pool. It is not bungalow style, so you will not get bitten by misquitos at night as they have glass, as opposed to wooden windows. Its in the "main" part of Amed, which is very spread out. I recommend staying in Amed as its only 20 min away from Tumbulan and you should get to the wreck early before everyone else so you can enjoy it. It is not resort like high scale, but still nice, esp on the budget. Ask for discount, as with all places in Bali, and most times they will give one...as tourism is down.

I dove with Eco Dive in Tumbulan with a DM named "Okta". I had no problems and I enjoyed diving with him as he was able to find most of the things I wanted to photograph, including a sea horse. He was enjoyable to dive with. The entry and exit at the Liberty is a bit rough as there are rocks there and waves, however Okta has cousins there who were able to help me (I had severely injured my knee the day before, so it was a little hard to walk).

I do not know ur diving level, so you may want to check out the level of the DM more than I did. But overall, I had a good experience there. I agree with the other posts who recommend having your own equipment. At least when I brought mine, I know how it works, I know it works, etc.

I enjoyed all my dives at Tumbulan. The fish are friendly sometimes to the extent I was afraid the surgeon fish were going to hit my head with their barbs.

Again...make sure you arrive early, and enjoy your trip!

 

[juggernutt]

Anyone familiar with Spicedive or scuba bali?
Is baruna anygood?