Where to stay and who to dive with in Tulamben and Padang Bai?

[anchochile]

My wife and I will be in Tulamben and Padang Bai in late October/early November, along with our 8-month-old and my mother-in-law. My wife and I are divers; her mother is not. Neither is the 8-month-old. We plan to spend about a week in each location.

The addition of a baby and a non-diving adult make it a bit more complicated than usual to figure out where to stay and who to dive with, so I would love some advice.

Here are our criteria for lodging:

• Needs to be a lovely and pleasant place to spend time, since all of us will be spending a good bit of each day hanging out with the baby while others are diving/exploring. For example an oceanfront location or somewhere with very pleasant views and shaded/breezy outdoor areas would be nice if possible.
• Ideally we would want some sort of suite with at least a mini-kitchen so that we can easily prepare and store baby formula and wash/sanitize bottles (at minimum, we need a refrigerator, sink, and microwave or stove for sanitizing).
• A/C is a must
• Somewhere with good snorkeling nearby would be great if possible, as grandma is an avid snorkeler and it would be nice for her to have the opportunity to take a break from babysitting and look at some coral and fish! Not sure if this is possible in Tulamben/PB.

And for diving operation - I am thinking we will likely go with Geko Dive in Padang Bai, but we are trying to figure out Tulamben:

• Flexible dive schedule - we will probably be doing some dives together while grandma babysits, and some diving on our own while the other gives grandma a break. A flexible schedule and guide who is able to dive whenever we have the opportunity throughout the day would be great.
• An op that will rinse & store our gear between dives would be ideal, so we can maximize family time when not diving.
• I am a photographer and would appreciate excellent quality guides for critter-spotting, etc
• As we will be there for a week, we'd like to be able to explore not just the Liberty wreck, but other dive sites in the area, including maybe some Amed sites.
• Of course, safety is paramount - guides, tank fills, equipment maintenance standards, etc.

Liberty Dive Resort seems like it would check a lot of these boxes, and would be great for flexible diving schedule and excellent guides, but the non-oceanfront location seems like it might not be quite as nice for spending lots of time hanging out at the hotel. Also not sure if they offer suites with mini-kitchen.

Look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Saldiac]

We stayed at LDR earlier this year in May and were really satisfied during our stay. It's within walking distance to the ocean. In fact, a lot of people go to the Puri Madha oceanfront cafeteria area from which you can enjoy the view and watch the divers.
LDR has several pools but I wouldn't recommend swimming in the pool next to the equipment area since some guides/instructors rinse their wetsuits/gear in that pool. We stayed in a luxury garden cottage which was very spacious and there wasn't anybody else staying in that area of the resort so we had the pool all to ourselves!
The guides are very accommodating so I'm sure you'd have no issues getting your criteria fulfilled.

We also stayed at Puri Madha for 1.5 day since LDR was having a multi-day photography contest and was fully booked. So there are a lot of UW photographers and I'm sure there will be plenty good guides.
For tips on guides @Luko will be able to give recommendations.

 

[billt4sf]

Sea Breeze (20 mins from Geko, they can arrange transport) might fit your needs. Also you could ask the guys at Geko.

Sea Breeze Candidasa East Bali | Beachfront Hotel in East Bali

SEA BREEZE CANDIDASA $80 ($̶2̶3̶0̶) - Updated 2019 Prices & Ranch Reviews - Bali - TripAdvisor

 

[Mike Veitch]

I might suggest one of the resorts a little further north (5 mins drive) such as Tulamben Wreck Divers villa, Villa Alba, Siddartha, Relax Bali, or Kubu Indah as ones which may have more of a "kitchen" or suite facilities.

 

[Luko]

Padang Bai : personally i wouldn't want to travel from/to Candi Dasa before after the dives knowing someone is waiting for me (My non diving wife is always waiting for me). You may consider renting Puri Rai's villa, they have a kitchen inside and it's 200m distance from Gekodivers. Check out here <b>Official Website Puri Rai - Padangbai Hotel - Restaurant</b> you may ask Puri Rai hwo their villa is equipped but i can tell the grounds are really pleasant as i'm currently writing this from Puri Rai)
Padang Bai is not the ideal place for snorkeling unless grandma takes the speedboat divetrip to Nusa Penida (that can be arranged by Geko i guess).

In Tulamben she can get her share of snorkeling on the Liberty, Tulamben is probably one of the best places to snorkel along with Sipadan (I take this advice from my daughter who from 10yo. to 20yo. has been snorkeling a good part of the world while i was diving, mostly SEA).
That said I am not a good adviser for kitchen equipped accoms, I've heard about Tulamben dive villa a 4 rooms villa 50€ per night not really far from Liberty dive centre...which i will recommend, independantly of any accoms you'll be staying at : they will assign a private guide for you, they can fetch you at your place at any schedule you want, they will take care of your equipment and they have some of the best non freelance spotters available : ask for Wayan Jhon for instance who's the most senior of their guides, he's a photographer also, so he knows what you want. Make sure you do your buckettlist of critters before .

 

[howswedeofme]

+ for Wayan Jhon at LDR. We requested him per Luko's suggestion and just loved him. We couldn't believe how good he was at spotting and we saw some incredible critters. He even helped make my husband, a formerly devout wreck and big stuff guy, a macro/muck lover! As far as safety, he was very aware of our stability in the surf getting into the water and checking on us frequently underwater. He's also just a fun guy to be around for the day. LDR is incredibly flexible with dive schedules, too. When you book a guide, he's yours for the day. You just tell him when you want to start and then when you come up from the first dive, when you want to go on the second dive. We rinsed and stored most of our gear at LDR as we were staying next door at Toyabali and didn't want to haul everything back and forth.

We stayed at Sea Breeze in Candidasa when we dove with Geko. It wasn't a big deal for us to do the transport, but we were waiting a while to get a ride back to the resort after diving a couple times due to the driver being stuck in traffic. Sea Breeze has a lot of space and is oceanfront, but I don't believe that any of the bungalows have kitchens. We had a mini fridge and I think that was it. I don't recall a microwave but there may have been one. Puri Rai might be a better fit even though it's not an oceanfront property. There's a little beach out in front of Geko that they could go visit but it can be busy with all the boats going in and out.

 

[AlMitch]

Here is a trip report from a few years back when I was basically in the same boat as you.
Scuba Seraya Take Two - Tulamben Trip Report - July 2015

We really enjoyed Scuba Seraya, enjoyed it enough to stay there on 3 separate occasions!! But it really does not have any decent snorkeling right off the beach.

So for our trip this year in late Nov we will be in Tulamben, but this time around we are staying at Ocean View.
Which has the wreck right out in front. I'm looking forward to snorkeling out to it with the 6 year old.
The resort rooms look pretty straightforward with no kitchen, but they will have the kettle and small fridge. And if you need things microwaved just ask the resort staff. They will likely bend over backwards for you!

 

[anchochile]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. We looked into the Tulamben Dive Villa but it doesn't look like they have any suites with mini-kitchen. We'll start emailing all the various accomodation options to see who might be able to offer what we need, as it is very difficult to discern this from their websites.

Good to know that we can easily dive with LDR even if we don't stay there - that sounds like a great option, and the flexible dive schedule will be very important for us.

Puri Rai looks like a great option in Padang Bai - now we just need to figure out our exact dates so we can book something.

 

[billt4sf]

Puri Rai might be a better fit even though it's not an oceanfront property. There's a little beach out in front of Geko that they could go visit but it can be busy with all the boats going in and out.

Puri Rai looks like a great option in Padang Bai - now we just need to figure out our exact dates so we can book something.

I don't think snorkeling on the beach, (or even laying on the beach) in Padang Bai is any good, but I'm sure Geko can arrange a short boat ride around the corner to Blue Lagoon beach for decent snorkeling. The trip to Nusa Penida is 45 mins but I took some friends there for snorkeling and they raved about it.

- Bill

 

[GirlonFire]

I just spend 5 nights at OK Diver Resort. I also dove with them. Super convenient and a good experience all around. Lovely restaurant, 2 pools, your dive equipment is all on location.
I believe they have a very large suite but do check out the website. Not sure if it has a kitchen.