Honeymooning in Bali?

krukster86 · Sep 23, 2012

Hello,

So I am still in the wedding planning stages with my fiancee right now, but right off the bat, we knew we wanted to do Bali for our honeymoon based on the recommendations of two buddies of mine. I do not know whether to do a "dive resort" or rent a villa and do dives with a local shop. Any opinions/recommendations one way or the other? What areas do you recommend?

Any places to go visit? We want to do 50/50, dive all morning, explore all afternoon/evening over the course of 1.5-2 weeks.

FYI: We are NOT high maintenance and not looking for the "treat me like royalty because it is our honeymoon", so we are fine with inexpensive accommodations. We would like to stay away from anything too tacky/touristy like Kuta, but we are OK with Seminyak.

---------- Post Merged at 06:39 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:38 PM ----------

Also, where is the best diving on the island?

highdesert · Sep 23, 2012

We haven't dived all of Bali, but in five trips there we've learned a few things. The foremost thing I'd offer ....

Just because of the geography of diving locations vs. exploring stuff, I'd recommend that you consider doing "diving days" & "exploring days" rather than trying to split up the days 50/50. If it's your first time to Bali, you can't miss Ubud, the "cultural capitol", which is inland from any diving. There's a range of accommodations from $10 to $600 a day, your choice. The center of town is busy but stimulating (for a while), but the surroundings are idyllic. Tons of restaurants, museums, temples, Balinese dancing, central market, art, etc.

There is also an endless selection of day tours to be done from there ... volcanoes, temples, rice fields, cooking, bicycle tours, lots more. For us, coming from the US like you, we start our trip with the touring/relaxing stuff, as we get our internal clocks re-adjusted. Then we go to our dive destinations(s). Just a thought ... I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice here before long!

JohnN · Sep 23, 2012

Ahhh, babi guling at Ibu Oka. . .

frogfish · Sep 24, 2012

JohnN:
Ahhh, babi guling at Ibu Oka. . .

Yummy !

Bali-Freak · Sep 24, 2012

As well as being able to eat Babi Guling there, Ubud is a really beautiful place for a honeymoon (I had mine there). The only drawback is there's no ocean, but Bali's kind of small anyway so easy to get around. Seminyak is nice too, for a romantic walk on the beach and frolick in the waves.

Hope you have a great married life.

DiveExploreIndonesia · Sep 24, 2012

I would do a bit of a mix: few days in tulamben/ amed area, then few days in menjangan, then few days in south sanur or Seminyak ( sanur is more practical for departure to nusa penida diving ). Of course if you want a more relaxing honeymoon, you can also choose less locations. There is one free e-book on internet that describes all diving spots in Bali, maybe it can help you choose the most suitable diving sites for you. You can find it on link : Free diving Ebook , and I believe it is also mentioned on this forum somewhere.

Rent a villa around Tulamben /Amed where you can find very inexpensive options and dive with one on site operator.
Stay at a dive resort around Menjangan ( around 3 nights should be enough).
Stay at a hotel or villa on the south. The villas are more expensive on the south, so hotel might be the solution and the choices are endless..

I would spend a night or two in Ubud at the end of your trip and enjoy some hiking on the countryside.

frogfish · Sep 24, 2012

What about staying around Manggis/ Candidasa ? This would enable you to stick with your preferred schedule of diving in the morning/ visiting in the afternoon. There are very beautiful excursions starting from there (just get a car and driver), and you will find plenty of threads about the quality of the diving in the area (Mimpang/Tepekong, Padangbai has a few nice macro sites, and it is the closest departure point to Nusa Penida). If you really want to be pampered, you could stay at the Amankila (really not cheap though), or at the Allila Manggis for something more 'reasonable".

There are plenty of good dive shops in Padangbai.

All the best!

Luko · Sep 24, 2012

You should try Nusa Lembongan at least for 3-4 days :
- more authentic than Bali mainland, no cars, only mopeds
- lots of nice accoms, from private villas to more basic bungalows
- nice beaches, ideal for dive & surf & laze vacations
- Great honeymoon restaurant with french chef : Indianna Kenanga
- some of the best diving around.

Tippytoes12 · Sep 24, 2012

I would second the suggestion to visit Lembongan. It has fabulous diving and is really authentic and unspoilt. It has all of the culture of Bali but none of the traffic and hassle. We have stayed and dived twice with World Diving . Their half day 2 dive trips start at about 8 but get you back at about mid day.

Another very romantic and beautiful island with lovely diving is Gili Air.

Don't go to more than two destinations as you don't have loads of time and you want to relax too.

divewench1 · Sep 24, 2012

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