Indonesia where to stay.

Hi all,

I'm off to Indonesia for 4 weeks in April, my plan is to dive Bali, Lembeh and Komodo.
I understand that for Bali, Pulau Menjangan is the place to go. But where should I stay? Any suggestions? My ideal accomodation is a quiet hut on the beach with a fan, no air con.

Same for Komodo, I'll be staying at Labuanbajo and the surroundings. For Lembeh, I'm considering divers Lodge.

So any suggestions?

froggie01:

Hi all,

I'm off to Indonesia for 4 weeks in April, my plan is to dive Bali, Lembeh and Komodo.
I understand that for Bali, Pulau Menjangan is the place to go. But where should I stay? Any suggestions? My ideal accomodation is a quiet hut on the beach with a fan, no air con.

Same for Komodo, I'll be staying at Labuanbajo and the surroundings. For Lembeh, I'm considering divers Lodge.

So any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Can't speak to either Lembeh or Komodo, but Jalan Pulau Menjangan is quite a hike to Menjangan Island (where I'm guessing you want to dive)

When I was there in 2011, most of the dive operators shared a big cattle boat, IIRC Werner Lau and Sea Rovers were the only operators with their own boats. This makes a difference unless you like spending an additional 30-45 minutes each way because of a slow cattle boat.

For lembeh I can only recommend twofish divers, who I will be staying with again this may. Excellent value for money and similar to divers lodge I think. Have heard good things re divers lodge, though I think there is longer travel times to the dive sites from their location? Similar prices though to twofish, NAD, black sand divers, all of which are similar in costs. Lembeh is THE nuts for macro.

Komodo not been but heard its the bomb.

Bali, I hear mixed reviews for manjangan. Some say a bit bland, some say great reefs. They have macro and there is a macro dive site alled puri juti nearby, or something like. But still some distance to get there still. It's a trek to get to from airport. I would say better off going to nusa lembongan and diving there and penida. Fantastic reefs, mantas for sure, possible mola mola of lucky in April as off season, plus you can travel from lembongan and do day trip to tulumben and dive liberty wreck (can be organised at twofish branch on lembongan). Or stay in tulumben itself. I think if u r going Komodo then poss not bother with manjangan. Maybe check out Bali mainland also.

Either way you are in for some treats I think.

Stayed about a month in Labuan Bajo a few years ago. I think the place we stayed was called The Garden - it was a collection of huts up on the hill. I think the name of the company we dove with was Bajo Dive Club - Owned by a German couple; I think this is the site: Komododiver.

I did not go to Komodo but went to Rinca to see the dragons.

Castle Rock was a great dive site. The current here could be crazy fast!

MT

Try Puri Madha in Tulamben Bali. It's a place on the beach just to the west of the public access dive park. Inexpensive simple rooms, nicer bungalows under a coconut tree forest. You can find clean nitrox or air from the higher end resorts slightly to the west, who will deliver tanks to your door steps. Shore diving is amazing.

Try Kerti Inn in Padangbai Bali for cute bungalows or simple rooms, Toppi Inn has a few simple rooms too. It's a good hub for diving many sites.

If you make it to Bunakan after Lembeh, look up Living Colors - they have an Indonesia partner next store - Lorenzo II with little inexpensive simple bungalows. Dive with Living Color.

Lembeh - I stayed with NAD, which was ok.

Have fun!

Tulamben Wreck Divers in Bali have accommodation that is high quality. The dive operation is excellent and the diving is amazing. Highly recommended.

for Menjangan Island, I would suggest you to stay in Mimpi Resort, is so convenience (nice and cozy room and it has a hot water pool also, but there's no Internet /Radio /TV or cable though), the boat to the Menjangan Island just walk away from the room hotel and the hotel itself has a dive center and will provide you all things you need for your dive trip to Menjangan island.

In Menjangan Island itself there's no accommodation; you need to spend the night on the other side of the channel. I spent a night in Permutaran, perhaps a 15-minute ride by car? I've liked the hotel a lot. You can check it out at ADI ASSRI HOTEL - Mountain View and Beach Front Cottages, to see whether it's the kind of thing you're looking for.

However, if you only have a couple of days to dive, you may wish to consider to dive at Tulamben Bay instead, particularly if you like wreck dive. Diving the US Liberty, from the shore, is such a fantastic experience: great views, nice swim-throughs, lots of different kinds of fish... Have you watched this video? Diving in Bali - YouTube

As for operators, my experience with Aquamarine Diving-Bali could have not been better. But I've heard there are more good operators, of course.

Hope you will enjoy Bali as much as I did!

i've do with my wife a similar trip 3 times..
first year we do.. one week in pemuteran, 4 days in tulamben, one week in padang bay and one week in komodo LOB..
second year.. one week in tulamben, one week in nusa lembongan and one week in komodo LOB..
last year we do one week in tulamben and two weeks in komodo, one land based on a small island near the park and one LOB...

for us the best place in bali for diving is tulamben.. tulamben is not only the wreck... in second position nusa lembongan/penida is great place for action diving and beautiful corals.. not like komodo but very nice.... mejangan is ok, good corals.. some macro.. but im not very impressed... lack of fish everywere.... the last place for me was padang bay.. not for the diving itself... but we found the worst accomodation and the worst food of all our bali experience.... we never return to padang bay.. never

komodo is different story.. we have already planned the 4th LOB for the next summer... for us the LOB is the best option for komodo... labuan bajo is very far from the park and sometimes the sea is rough... to much hard time on the small diving boats... if you dont like LOB and want a land based accomodation look some island near the park.. like kanawa(beautiful island, poor acco, poor-stupid managment:depressed or the komodo resort(pretty island, better managment, some lux acco)... but with the same price of the komodo resort you can do a great LOB... and its better at all! someone say that he want a nice white beach.. in one week land based diving in komodo(kanawa) we saw the beach every day only at 7.30am and when we come back, near the sunset not a restful week

bye bye
fabio

ps:sorry for my basic english..

Boletus, sorry to hear your experience of Padang Bai was not as good as you expected. It is a small Balinese fishermen village after all, not a succession of luxury resorts like other places.
There are nice food options in town:
Depo Segara or PB Cafe for seafood.
Martini for Indo food.
Omang omang, Topi Inn, PuriRai or ozone for Western food.
If you want more upmarket food, Amankila or Alila offer great dining options for special nights and are only 15 minutes away...

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 03:32 PM ----------

For hotels in Padang Bai, I can recommend Puri Rai (50-60Usd) or Lemon House (10$). Book early since these are popular choices.
If you're looking for quieter options, check some of the guesthouses around Mimba.