Leejnd
Contributor
I posted quite a few questions in this forum some months ago, when I was planning my trip to Bali. Thanks to everyone who helped, I had a FABULOUS trip! Not without a couple bumps...mainly, disappointment with our accommodations at Tulamben Wreck Divers resort...but other than that it could not have gone better.
I'm going to my written trip report here, plus I'll post a few photos in another thread. So...
Candidasa -- this was FANTASTIC! We stayed at the Watergarden Hotel, which we just loved. The rooms were lovely...not *quite* as luxurious as I was expecting, but I think I'd just read a few too many glowing reviews and had set my expectations too high. I like the CandiDasa area -- lots of tourist infrastructure, but without the tackiness or aggressive hawkers of the Kuta/Seminyak area.
We dove with Aquamarine Diving, and just like last time I was in Bali several years ago, they did a truly fabulous job. And we got SO SO lucky...we got up close and personal with two Mola-Mola! (Photos to be posted in a new thread.) Really, everything about them was just first class.
We did two days with them, both at Nusa Penida...day 1 we saw a Mola Mola from afar, then headed out to Manta Point and saw at least a dozen Manta Rays. Day 2 we hit the jackpot! An enormous Mola Mola came up from the deep and swam right by us. He then proceeded to turn around and swam right up in our faces! We ended up probably way closer than we should have been, but that was him doing it, I swear!
I cannot speak highly enough about Aquamarine. Just a first class operation in every way. The boat was fast and very comfortable, the packed lunch was delicious, and the dive guides were very safety conscious (important at Nusa Penida where you have to worry about strong currents and down-drafts). There were plenty of dive guides -- the first day we had just the two of us plus one other diver, the second day it was just the two of us with our own guide. This is important to me -- living in Southern California, we don't even have dive guides on our boats -- you are expected to dive on your own, so I don't need a babysitter and I really dislike being herded along with 10 other divers. But the AMD guides were there just for us, no crowding or herding, and did a great job leading us out to where we'd see the best stuff.
I did have a bit of a rough time at Manta Point -- it was very rolly and surgy, and I...well...let's just say I fed the fishies at the end of the dive while waiting to get up on the boat. And I wasn't the only one! But I was fine once I got back on the boat, and honestly it was WORTH a little barfing to see that many mantas! It was rush hour on the manta ray highway, lemme tell ya.
Tulamben -- this was the only place we had a real glitch, and it wasn't the diving...that was phenomenal, and our dive guide could not have been better. Jinah was one of the best dive guide I've ever had. He made it his mission to ensure that I got incredible photographs of some of the most exotic critters I've ever seen. And what an eye he has! He could spot the tiniest creature, and a couple times he insisted I take shots of something I could barely see and when Id get back to my room and pull up the photo on my computer it would be some rare nudibranch or teensy spindly crab or some otherworldly critter. Best of all he found me a pygmy seahorse! And I got the most awesome shots of it too.
The beach entries were unbelievably easy! I've read some other reviews of Tulamben complaining about the beach entries, but I can only assume these are divers who have never done a shore entry before. We live in Southern California, where beach entries often involve 3 to 4 foot waves, and struggles to get yourself past the surf zone without getting slammed. In Tulamben, even on the roughest day the waves were barely knee-slappers and most days there were no waves at all. We just waltzed right in. Granted you are walking over larger pebbles and rocks, rather than soft sand, which can be a challenge if youre not careful but if you just walk slowly and watch where you are putting your feet, it is easy. Theres NO surf zone.
Now the not-so-good news: we were very disappointed in the accommodations. We stayed at the villas outside of town, and we made it clear during our booking process that one of the couples were not divers, and so would be spending much of their time at the villa. We were told that we would be staying in a VILLA, in suites with king-size beds plus a twin in each. What we ended up with were two very basic hotel rooms stuck in a corner on the lower level of the owners personal house, with queen beds (NOT king) and an extra twin bed in only one room (we didn't have it, so I had no place to stage my photography gear). NOT a villa. We had no sitting area, no living room, no balcony, no view, no shared space for us just two boring hotel rooms. If thats what wed wanted, we would have stayed at the main hotel and not put ourselves through the hassle of being outside of town and having to get transported back and forth any time we wanted to go anywhere.
One day one of our party asked to see the other rooms at the villa location. Turns out there ARE, in fact, actual villas there with luxurious king-bed suites with extra twin beds, balconies, shared sitting areas all that we were promised. But we weren't given them.
Our friends ended up either in their room, or sitting at the pool. Now, I will say that the pool at the villas is much nicer than the one at the main hotel right on the ocean, gorgeous views. But had we known all we were getting were basic hotel rooms, we would have gladly skipped the transportation challenges. About that: my husband and I were loaned a scooter, which made it easy for us but the other couple are older with some mobility issues that made driving a scooter themselves not possible. So we had to rely on the TWD staff to take them back and forth to town for all meals other than breakfast (which is served at the villa).
Another issue: the TWD restaurant. We went there the first day for lunch, and it was horrible. The food was awful, the service people ignored us as they sat in the back laughing it up, there was a TV above our heads playing Indonesian cartoons at full blast we had to actually ask the staff to turn it down so we could talk to each other. That night we wanted to go somewhere else, so we made arrangements for the staff to pick us up in a car and transport us to town (since there was no other way for us to get there). But the driver refused to take us anywhere but the TWD restaurant said his boss wouldn't allow it! We didn't know the layout of the town well enough yet to want to walk around in the dark to find another restaurant, so we ate there same problems. The next night we made it clear we were NOT going to eat there, and the driver was magically willing to take us to another restaurant.
I sent an email to Tony, the owner, complaining of the room situation. To his credit he did respond with an apology, pointing out that he was out of the country at the time, and he offered to give us four free nights if we return. Unfortunately that doesn't do us much good, since we dont have any plans to return to Bali anytime soon.
Menjangan Island -- WOWZA! We stayed at a villa called Jeda Villa, and it was truly the most luxurious place I have ever stayed. I wrote a detailed review of it on Trip Advisor -- here's the link: Pure vacation bliss in tranquil Pemuteran - Review of Luxury oceanview villas with large gardens, Pemuteran, Indonesia - TripAdvisor
We stayed five nights there, but only dove for two days. We dove with Reef Seen, which is the original dive op in the Pemuteran area, and they also run a turtle hatchery. We dove one day at local sites, which was good...maybe not quite as spectacular as some other areas of Bali, but I saw critters I didn't see anywhere else, and it sure was easy diving...right off the beach at the dive shop. I also did one night dive there, which was awesome -- super easy sand entry, NO waves at all, warm water, and some very interesting critters (especially the mandarin fish, which you can only see at twilight).
The second day we dove at Menjangan Island, which was just as good as I remembered. The boat was VERY comfy, NO swells or waves at all for the hour-long ride. What was unusual about this was that we were able to bring along our non-diving friends, as they can mix snorkelers and divers on the same boat: the divers drop in over the shallow reef then swim out to the drop-off and head down the wall to go deep, while the snorkelers remain near the boat in the shallows and there's plenty to see. The coral was rich, alive and colorful, and the critter count was way up there.
After Pemuteran we headed to Ubud for a few days, and really no trip to Bali is complete without spending some time there, just for the culture and art.
All in all a really wonderful trip, and again, thanks to all of you who helped me make my decisions. Feel free to ask me any questions!
I'm going to my written trip report here, plus I'll post a few photos in another thread. So...
Candidasa -- this was FANTASTIC! We stayed at the Watergarden Hotel, which we just loved. The rooms were lovely...not *quite* as luxurious as I was expecting, but I think I'd just read a few too many glowing reviews and had set my expectations too high. I like the CandiDasa area -- lots of tourist infrastructure, but without the tackiness or aggressive hawkers of the Kuta/Seminyak area.
We dove with Aquamarine Diving, and just like last time I was in Bali several years ago, they did a truly fabulous job. And we got SO SO lucky...we got up close and personal with two Mola-Mola! (Photos to be posted in a new thread.) Really, everything about them was just first class.
We did two days with them, both at Nusa Penida...day 1 we saw a Mola Mola from afar, then headed out to Manta Point and saw at least a dozen Manta Rays. Day 2 we hit the jackpot! An enormous Mola Mola came up from the deep and swam right by us. He then proceeded to turn around and swam right up in our faces! We ended up probably way closer than we should have been, but that was him doing it, I swear!
I cannot speak highly enough about Aquamarine. Just a first class operation in every way. The boat was fast and very comfortable, the packed lunch was delicious, and the dive guides were very safety conscious (important at Nusa Penida where you have to worry about strong currents and down-drafts). There were plenty of dive guides -- the first day we had just the two of us plus one other diver, the second day it was just the two of us with our own guide. This is important to me -- living in Southern California, we don't even have dive guides on our boats -- you are expected to dive on your own, so I don't need a babysitter and I really dislike being herded along with 10 other divers. But the AMD guides were there just for us, no crowding or herding, and did a great job leading us out to where we'd see the best stuff.
I did have a bit of a rough time at Manta Point -- it was very rolly and surgy, and I...well...let's just say I fed the fishies at the end of the dive while waiting to get up on the boat. And I wasn't the only one! But I was fine once I got back on the boat, and honestly it was WORTH a little barfing to see that many mantas! It was rush hour on the manta ray highway, lemme tell ya.
Tulamben -- this was the only place we had a real glitch, and it wasn't the diving...that was phenomenal, and our dive guide could not have been better. Jinah was one of the best dive guide I've ever had. He made it his mission to ensure that I got incredible photographs of some of the most exotic critters I've ever seen. And what an eye he has! He could spot the tiniest creature, and a couple times he insisted I take shots of something I could barely see and when Id get back to my room and pull up the photo on my computer it would be some rare nudibranch or teensy spindly crab or some otherworldly critter. Best of all he found me a pygmy seahorse! And I got the most awesome shots of it too.
The beach entries were unbelievably easy! I've read some other reviews of Tulamben complaining about the beach entries, but I can only assume these are divers who have never done a shore entry before. We live in Southern California, where beach entries often involve 3 to 4 foot waves, and struggles to get yourself past the surf zone without getting slammed. In Tulamben, even on the roughest day the waves were barely knee-slappers and most days there were no waves at all. We just waltzed right in. Granted you are walking over larger pebbles and rocks, rather than soft sand, which can be a challenge if youre not careful but if you just walk slowly and watch where you are putting your feet, it is easy. Theres NO surf zone.
Now the not-so-good news: we were very disappointed in the accommodations. We stayed at the villas outside of town, and we made it clear during our booking process that one of the couples were not divers, and so would be spending much of their time at the villa. We were told that we would be staying in a VILLA, in suites with king-size beds plus a twin in each. What we ended up with were two very basic hotel rooms stuck in a corner on the lower level of the owners personal house, with queen beds (NOT king) and an extra twin bed in only one room (we didn't have it, so I had no place to stage my photography gear). NOT a villa. We had no sitting area, no living room, no balcony, no view, no shared space for us just two boring hotel rooms. If thats what wed wanted, we would have stayed at the main hotel and not put ourselves through the hassle of being outside of town and having to get transported back and forth any time we wanted to go anywhere.
One day one of our party asked to see the other rooms at the villa location. Turns out there ARE, in fact, actual villas there with luxurious king-bed suites with extra twin beds, balconies, shared sitting areas all that we were promised. But we weren't given them.
Our friends ended up either in their room, or sitting at the pool. Now, I will say that the pool at the villas is much nicer than the one at the main hotel right on the ocean, gorgeous views. But had we known all we were getting were basic hotel rooms, we would have gladly skipped the transportation challenges. About that: my husband and I were loaned a scooter, which made it easy for us but the other couple are older with some mobility issues that made driving a scooter themselves not possible. So we had to rely on the TWD staff to take them back and forth to town for all meals other than breakfast (which is served at the villa).
Another issue: the TWD restaurant. We went there the first day for lunch, and it was horrible. The food was awful, the service people ignored us as they sat in the back laughing it up, there was a TV above our heads playing Indonesian cartoons at full blast we had to actually ask the staff to turn it down so we could talk to each other. That night we wanted to go somewhere else, so we made arrangements for the staff to pick us up in a car and transport us to town (since there was no other way for us to get there). But the driver refused to take us anywhere but the TWD restaurant said his boss wouldn't allow it! We didn't know the layout of the town well enough yet to want to walk around in the dark to find another restaurant, so we ate there same problems. The next night we made it clear we were NOT going to eat there, and the driver was magically willing to take us to another restaurant.
I sent an email to Tony, the owner, complaining of the room situation. To his credit he did respond with an apology, pointing out that he was out of the country at the time, and he offered to give us four free nights if we return. Unfortunately that doesn't do us much good, since we dont have any plans to return to Bali anytime soon.
Menjangan Island -- WOWZA! We stayed at a villa called Jeda Villa, and it was truly the most luxurious place I have ever stayed. I wrote a detailed review of it on Trip Advisor -- here's the link: Pure vacation bliss in tranquil Pemuteran - Review of Luxury oceanview villas with large gardens, Pemuteran, Indonesia - TripAdvisor
We stayed five nights there, but only dove for two days. We dove with Reef Seen, which is the original dive op in the Pemuteran area, and they also run a turtle hatchery. We dove one day at local sites, which was good...maybe not quite as spectacular as some other areas of Bali, but I saw critters I didn't see anywhere else, and it sure was easy diving...right off the beach at the dive shop. I also did one night dive there, which was awesome -- super easy sand entry, NO waves at all, warm water, and some very interesting critters (especially the mandarin fish, which you can only see at twilight).
The second day we dove at Menjangan Island, which was just as good as I remembered. The boat was VERY comfy, NO swells or waves at all for the hour-long ride. What was unusual about this was that we were able to bring along our non-diving friends, as they can mix snorkelers and divers on the same boat: the divers drop in over the shallow reef then swim out to the drop-off and head down the wall to go deep, while the snorkelers remain near the boat in the shallows and there's plenty to see. The coral was rich, alive and colorful, and the critter count was way up there.
After Pemuteran we headed to Ubud for a few days, and really no trip to Bali is complete without spending some time there, just for the culture and art.
All in all a really wonderful trip, and again, thanks to all of you who helped me make my decisions. Feel free to ask me any questions!
