Help me plan a crazy day of Bali diving

Hi

We stayed at the Matahari Tulamben Dive Center last summer. In my opinion it is a very good option for your. The transport to Tulamben is not too far, the hotel cheap and clean and you can dive very independently. The dive places just in front of the hotel are great. You have the famous wreck, the drop off and the coral garden. To see the most of it I recommend to dive with a guide, he showed us a lot of small things. It was great. What we missed was a place to relax between the dives as we intended to stay for a week (but this won't be a problem due to your short stay). I can't rate the dive equipment as we brought our own stuff with us but it didn't seem too up to date (maybe I got it wrong..).

Maybe you should also consider Padang Bay? We loved to dive Tepekong, Mimpang and the sites just in front of Padang Bay (Jepun etc.). We dived with Herbie from Scuba libre Bali. He is independent so you can check with him, how many dives, where to stay and so on.

If you have any questions, I'm glad to help you.

awesome, thanks for the info.. I'll have all my own gear except regulators (please, santa this year)..

any dive site i HAVE to go to in bali or will i be happy at tulamben? I hear a lot about manta point but i dunno if its "manta season".. if they have a season haha..

racerx_:

i dunno if its "manta season".. if they have a season haha..

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Bali has Manta all year around, so it'd be on my list, also Tulamben is a 'must-do, with Tepekong, Mimpang and Blue Lagoon (Tanjung Jepun) at Padang Bai being also on your maybe's.

Hmm just when I decided on sticking to Tulamben you go messing with me haha.. Just not sure I can fit manta and Tulamben in to one day of diving..

Know any cheap places to stay in Tulamben?

The manta point is a fabulous dive site next to Nusa Penida (we had 6 mantas just for the three of us!). I think it would be possible to do some diving on this site on your diving-day in Bali but don't forget that it takes some time to go there (most of the boats leave Padang Bay for Nusa Penida, so first you have to get there). In my opinion Tulamben is better as you can do us much dives as you want and in addition it us much cheaper!

Recommended dive sites near Tulamben are the Liberty Wreck, Coral Gardens (right next to each other), and Seraya Secrets.

Liberty Dive Resort is very friendly, clean, and cheap.

With your limited time frame, I'd suggest you take a boat from Sanur to Lembongan/Nusa Penida and dive what they have to offer, and forget Tulamben. I'm not downplaying the quality of Tulamben, but only considering your time. You will have a 3+ hour drive each way for Tulamben, and to me that's a lot for the time you would have there.

I just spent 6 months diving in Bali and had the opportunity to dive most sites there multiple times. With the time frame you have mentioned this is what I would suggest: Arrange transport to Tulamben for the evening you arrive, it's about a 2.5 hr journey from the airport. If you have the energy to do a night dive, get after it; otherwise just relax. Tulamben is set-up nicely with multiple dive-ops, restaurants and hotels all primarily on one road. The diving is quite literally across the street and the USAT Liberty is one of the most easily accessed shore entry/wreck dives in the world. There are a number of sites all along the same stretch of shoreline. You should be able to squeeze in 3-5 dives while you're there, depending on how aggressive you want to get. Whether you did a night dive or not, I highly recommend doing an early morning dive on the wreck. Starts out in the dark and you finish during the breaking light of dawn and you'll get to see quite an array of wildlife before any crowds show up. That is the one nice thing about the Liberty, it's been there so long and has so much life on it, you're almost guaranteed not to have a boring dive. Mix in a few of the other sites and you'll have a great time.

Nusa Penida is a beautiful Island, as is the diving that surrounds it but Molas are fairly seasonal and that season is over right now and as for Manta Point, it's completely hit or miss. You could get 20 mantas, you could get none but one thing you will definitely get is cold. Manta Point is the one site that the temperature averaged around 20* or less during the time I spent there and the only spot where the surface conditions were always miserable. That being said, if you like drift dives and want to relax just a bit more (no long bus rides) you could stay closer to Sanur (30-40 min from the airport) and take a 3 dive day trip to Penida.

Either way you shouldn't be disappointed but as far as diversity on your dives I think Tulamben is your best bet.

Safe diving!

Sorry for the mini thread-jack :cool2: I'm gonna have a few days in Bali next October. I would seriously be interested in Manta's, not interested in shore diving Tulamben, or the wreck. Questions...

1. Where to stay, area and hotel (pref with pool and beach)
2. Who to dive with.

Thanks