Bali info please

[Skisntrees]

I will be in Bali in mid June. I have been on an extended trip including Palau,Layang Layang,Sipiadan and Malapascua,Philippines......I am stopping in Bali on the way home because after traveling so far it seems silly not to......does anyone have knowledge of the best diving in the area? I have heard something of Nusa Penida but am unsure since the information came from a slightly biased source. Opinions and recommendations solicited please

 

[AquaMarineDiving Bali]

Hi Skisntrees,

I understood that you would like to visit Bali in mid of June and you are interested to dive on Bali during your visit. Excellent!
May I know how long you will stay in Bali and when is the specific period?

If you will stay more than 4 days, I would like to recommend you to join into our dive trips for at least for 2 days.
On the first day of diving, you may dive at Tulamben Bay incl. USAT Liberty Shipwreck for 2 - 3 dives then on the second day of diving, you may dive at Nusa Penida incl. Manta Point for 2 - 3 dives.

Those dive sites are 2 of best dive sites on Bali Island that you must try!.
Tulamben Bay incl. USAT Liberty Shipwreck is an easy dive site, well recommended for all level certification, the current on this site is zero to mild so it is safe enough for non-certified diver.
Meanwhile, Nusa Penida incl. Manta Point is "quite" challenging site and it require minimum Advanced Open Water certified diver with at least 20 dives for diving on these sites.

Please find below the dive site's description for your easy reference.

[h=2]Tulamben[/h]LOCATION: A small village on the northeast coast of Bali
TYPE OF DIVE: Shore diving, wreck, wall, night and deep diving, photography
VISIBILITY: 12-25 metres
CURRENT: Zero to mild currents
DEPTHS: 3-40 metres (average depth 18 metres)
MIN LEVEL: Introductory - suitable for every level and interest
HIGHLIGHTS: Extraordinary diversity of marine life, huge school of big-eyed trevally, 120m shipwreck, beautifully coloured wall, full moon night dive, great photographic opportunities and colour contrast with the black sand, great snorkelling site
CONDITIONS: Black sand slope with a 120m shipwreck, coral gardens and a wall, the fist-sized black stones can make entry tricky when there are waves present

[h=2]Nusa Penida[/h]LOCATION: A 17km long island, off the southeast coast of Bali
TYPE OF DIVE: Boat diving, drift diving
VISIBILITY: 15-40 metres
CURRENT: Mild to strong
DEPTHS: 6-40 metres
MIN LEVEL: experienced
HIGHLIGHTS: Mola-Mola (Ocean Sunfish) in season, eagle and manta rays, sharks, schools of sweetlips, turtles
CONDITIONS: There are dive sites all around Nusa Penida’s northern coast
Very good varieties of hard and soft corals; slopes and drop-offs
The water can get pretty cold at times
Being drift diving, it is not easy to take photographs here

I hope the information above will be helpful and please send your enquiry to info@aquamarinediving.com if you have any further question and I would be delighted to assist you with your queries.
Thank you and have a nice weekend.

Best Regards,
Ira Utami

 

[FT]

Plenty of discussions about Nusa Penida and its challenges on the Indonesia forum, you might wish to check there. We enjoyed diving NP from Nusa Lembongan -- healthy coral and fish, turtles, cute orangutan crabs. I note that May-June is not yet mola mola season (one of the attractions of NP).

 

[Skisntrees]

Hello Ira,
i have sent you, coincidently, an email from gdlaughs@gmail.com. I will not bother to repeat but would appreciate an answer to that email.
thanks
c

---------- Post added May 18th, 2014 at 09:33 PM ----------

Thanks...I will look at 'Indonesia' as you suggest
c

 

[kneptoon]

Tulamben and Nusa Penida are both great dive sights. Besides the Liberty wreck at Tulamben there is some very good muck/critter diving. I would also recommend Menjangan Island. I have dived there several times and there is plenty to see. I prefer the outside sloping wall to the shoreside wall. I have always seen sharks on the outside wall and a lot of turtles. It is a very healthy reef. Mimpi Menjagan hotel has a good dive operation, great guides and they go out to the island. Mimpi is also a great place to stay.

 

[ebiatawodi]

Interesting reading this! Should I be worried that Nusa Penida is on the 2nd day of my AOW course! Considering I have less than 20 dives and currently only OW?

I have been reading a lot about heading to Komodo but I am starting to see that this may be biting more than I can chew.

 

[ebiatawodi]

Did Tulamben (2 day dives - go super early before it gets rammed with people, did one early dive and 2nd had not so great visibility and 1 night dive - thrilling! Spotted a giant moray eel and quite a few turtles)

Manta Point and Crystal Bay - tons of Mantas at cleaning station, great viz, tons of surge) at Crystal Bay...not so much...stayed deep, no Mola Molas. Nusa Penida (PED point) great viz, spotted a huge turtle, nice relaxing drift dive.

 

[R-balljunkie]

surprisingly, good diving in Bali. I didnt think it would be that good, but turned out to be a nice mix of diversity.

I booked my dives thru Nautilus dive shop. very professional dive shop which will layout the schedule of dives they have on the itinerary. i avoided the Liberty wreck. not too excited about a walk in wreck dive saturated with a ton of people. All said, very good experience in coordinating transport from the hotel to the dive site, and back.

good luck and good diving!
c

 

[gekodivebali]

Haven't been bored of my diving in Bali in the last 5 years...

 

[Bubbles below]

Ebiatawodi,
I did my SSI AOW in Bali w 30 dives. I wanted to make sure I was more comfortable in water. I dove as much as I can before my trip to Bali. My speciality included : deep, nitrox, night, and current/waves/tides. For my classes, I dove Padang Bay (Blue Lagoon, Bias Tugal,Jepun) and Nusa Penida (Toyapakey, SD, PED) since I was staying in Candidasa. For my fun dives I went to Manta Point, Crystal Bay, Mangrove, andTulamben (Liberty Wreck and Drop off) It was the most exhilarating trip/classes I have taken. For the fun dive, the guide ratio is 4:1 vs 8:1 in the Caribbean and 6:1 in Europe. If you dive California and Florida, you have to hire a guide most shop doesn't offer w the package. You should be fine on your AOW classes!
Happy Diving!