sonar
Contributor
Hi all,
Just got back from a month of budget travelling. Was really nice. It wasn't just diving but also did regular holiday stuff. I figured dropping a short report here because others were very usefull for me while planning.
Padangbai
Made two dives at the SS Liberty, a 120m wreck that is broken into 3 pieces and totally covered with coral. The site is about an hour away from the town. I think (not sure) that it's budgetwise better to dive from Padangbai than from the expensive looking resorts at the site. The wreck (cargo war ship) is totally covered in coral, the site looks more like huge coral garden than the typical wreck. There are absolutely no currents and we had great vis (30m+)
I dove with a German owned operation called "Blue Bubble Bali". A nice small shop with 1 insructor and 1 DM. Both great lads. They had good gear and both were good in spotting macro stuff. I am waiting on the pictures from someone else, I will upload them later. Their site is bluebubble-bali.com, the owner is called Christian. Definitely recommend them!
Padangbai itself is nice for maybe 2 days but not so special, even though I heard from other travellers the divesites close by are very nice. It's usually the hub to go to Gili Islands/ Lombok
Komodo
Of course the main reason for my trip. I wanted to do a live-a-board trip but was a bit worried about the costs. Initially I wanted to dive with CN Komodo (see: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/373223-trip-report-cn-dive-komodo.html) I had some contact by email and facebook but it was a bit vague. Once I arrived I couldn't find their store untill I was given the home address of Condo, the owner. Because my friends had recommendations from a direct friend we decided to check Danny'sss out first.
Their store is a bit of the mainroad of labuan Bajo. The operation is run by the family of the owner (danny). His sister runs the office, her English isn't very good but she can contact Danny through the radio. We booked for three and paid each 3.5 million for three days. It was low season so prices will be higher in high season. Their equipment is good and well maintained. Sometimes they rent additional gear elsewhere if there are for example 5 divers who all need an XL bcd but generally they own enough.
The boat is surprisingly nice. Danny bought it two years ago and renovated it totally, including a brand new engine. There is enough space for about 10 divers (daytrips) or 5 live-a-board guests (or 5 couples). On the 2nd floor there are 5 twinbeds which are divided by some space because they lay in separate wooden grids. There is also a fresh water shower, a sundeck and more than enough space to hang out. Food is included (and goooood!!), you can order beers ahead. They charge 20k a beer, which is fair but you can also bring it yourself to save some cash
We dove with two DMs (Danny had a cold and only joined 1 dive). Both very good, one was freelancing, the other was 90% of the times there. They were good guides even though one them used his stick underwater a bit too much for my taste. He was a very good spotter though.
I won't say anything about the dives because they were just awesome. We saw all that was hoped for. All attached pictures are from Komodo.
Regarding the differences between CN Komodo and Danny'sss I think that CN has more experienced DM's & Danny'sss has a better boat. Danny was very positive about Condo's operation though.
The site is Index of / (doesn''t work here though) Danny's email is key.me77@yahoo.com. Telephone 085239334873
Totally recommend this place for the budget traveller.
Gili
Gili Trawanang is a really cool place to hang out on the beach, get drunk, eat good and party hard. I don't recommend it for diving though. I did 1 dive, a friend did 5 and his gf did her AOW. We did so with "Trawanang Diving". One of these terrible factory dive schools. We did so because they dove the site we wanted to visit at the time we wanted. No idea why she booked her aow there.
You go aboard with about 30 divers and jump in with groups of +/- 5. They do pay attention to avoiding meeting others underwater though. The DM's and instructors are mainly overworked and don't pay any attention to students/ guests apart from the necessary. On the boat they sit above while the customers are downstairs. At the divesite they are really pushy about getting in the water; it's just not a relaxed environment. The price of a single dive is 38$ at all shops in Gili. Nitrox is 10$ extra.
The instructor who taught my friend the aow was busy & would basically tell her the standard riddle from the book and end with 'any questions?' If not she would jump off asap. During the night dive my friend panicked and surfaced after <15 minutes which was no problem to pass because 'she handled her panic well' Not sure if that is a correct way..
The shop is nice though, the equipment is good and they have nitrox (plus a bar in the swimming pool, maybe that was why we booked there
) Divewise it's not as bad as I heard from divers at other locations but 10 (or even more) shops is way too much for the quality of the sites.
On a non-diving tip; I can really recommend the 4 day boat trip from Gili to Komodo that is offered everywhere. Beautifull views, perfect to meet other travellers, basic conditions but it pbb costs less than your daily budget. I paid 1.4M in april.
I will upload more pictures once I receive them from my, still travelling, friends. I don't own a underwater camera but borrowed one from another diver. Not all pictures are taken by me (especcialy the sharp ones aren't lol)
Hope someone can benefit from this report. Of course I am willing to answer all your questions.
Now back to work..
The boat below is Danny'sss, the shop is Blue Bubble Bali in Padangbai (at the beachfront)
Just got back from a month of budget travelling. Was really nice. It wasn't just diving but also did regular holiday stuff. I figured dropping a short report here because others were very usefull for me while planning.
Padangbai
Made two dives at the SS Liberty, a 120m wreck that is broken into 3 pieces and totally covered with coral. The site is about an hour away from the town. I think (not sure) that it's budgetwise better to dive from Padangbai than from the expensive looking resorts at the site. The wreck (cargo war ship) is totally covered in coral, the site looks more like huge coral garden than the typical wreck. There are absolutely no currents and we had great vis (30m+)
I dove with a German owned operation called "Blue Bubble Bali". A nice small shop with 1 insructor and 1 DM. Both great lads. They had good gear and both were good in spotting macro stuff. I am waiting on the pictures from someone else, I will upload them later. Their site is bluebubble-bali.com, the owner is called Christian. Definitely recommend them!
Padangbai itself is nice for maybe 2 days but not so special, even though I heard from other travellers the divesites close by are very nice. It's usually the hub to go to Gili Islands/ Lombok
Komodo
Of course the main reason for my trip. I wanted to do a live-a-board trip but was a bit worried about the costs. Initially I wanted to dive with CN Komodo (see: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/373223-trip-report-cn-dive-komodo.html) I had some contact by email and facebook but it was a bit vague. Once I arrived I couldn't find their store untill I was given the home address of Condo, the owner. Because my friends had recommendations from a direct friend we decided to check Danny'sss out first.
Their store is a bit of the mainroad of labuan Bajo. The operation is run by the family of the owner (danny). His sister runs the office, her English isn't very good but she can contact Danny through the radio. We booked for three and paid each 3.5 million for three days. It was low season so prices will be higher in high season. Their equipment is good and well maintained. Sometimes they rent additional gear elsewhere if there are for example 5 divers who all need an XL bcd but generally they own enough.
The boat is surprisingly nice. Danny bought it two years ago and renovated it totally, including a brand new engine. There is enough space for about 10 divers (daytrips) or 5 live-a-board guests (or 5 couples). On the 2nd floor there are 5 twinbeds which are divided by some space because they lay in separate wooden grids. There is also a fresh water shower, a sundeck and more than enough space to hang out. Food is included (and goooood!!), you can order beers ahead. They charge 20k a beer, which is fair but you can also bring it yourself to save some cash
We dove with two DMs (Danny had a cold and only joined 1 dive). Both very good, one was freelancing, the other was 90% of the times there. They were good guides even though one them used his stick underwater a bit too much for my taste. He was a very good spotter though.
I won't say anything about the dives because they were just awesome. We saw all that was hoped for. All attached pictures are from Komodo.
Regarding the differences between CN Komodo and Danny'sss I think that CN has more experienced DM's & Danny'sss has a better boat. Danny was very positive about Condo's operation though.
The site is Index of / (doesn''t work here though) Danny's email is key.me77@yahoo.com. Telephone 085239334873
Totally recommend this place for the budget traveller.
Gili
Gili Trawanang is a really cool place to hang out on the beach, get drunk, eat good and party hard. I don't recommend it for diving though. I did 1 dive, a friend did 5 and his gf did her AOW. We did so with "Trawanang Diving". One of these terrible factory dive schools. We did so because they dove the site we wanted to visit at the time we wanted. No idea why she booked her aow there.
You go aboard with about 30 divers and jump in with groups of +/- 5. They do pay attention to avoiding meeting others underwater though. The DM's and instructors are mainly overworked and don't pay any attention to students/ guests apart from the necessary. On the boat they sit above while the customers are downstairs. At the divesite they are really pushy about getting in the water; it's just not a relaxed environment. The price of a single dive is 38$ at all shops in Gili. Nitrox is 10$ extra.
The instructor who taught my friend the aow was busy & would basically tell her the standard riddle from the book and end with 'any questions?' If not she would jump off asap. During the night dive my friend panicked and surfaced after <15 minutes which was no problem to pass because 'she handled her panic well' Not sure if that is a correct way..
The shop is nice though, the equipment is good and they have nitrox (plus a bar in the swimming pool, maybe that was why we booked there
) Divewise it's not as bad as I heard from divers at other locations but 10 (or even more) shops is way too much for the quality of the sites. On a non-diving tip; I can really recommend the 4 day boat trip from Gili to Komodo that is offered everywhere. Beautifull views, perfect to meet other travellers, basic conditions but it pbb costs less than your daily budget. I paid 1.4M in april.
I will upload more pictures once I receive them from my, still travelling, friends. I don't own a underwater camera but borrowed one from another diver. Not all pictures are taken by me (especcialy the sharp ones aren't lol)
Hope someone can benefit from this report. Of course I am willing to answer all your questions.
Now back to work..
The boat below is Danny'sss, the shop is Blue Bubble Bali in Padangbai (at the beachfront)
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