Diving at Bali during Christmas/New Year Holiday?

[DivingChipmunk]

Hello,

We are planning a 2 week trip to Bali and Komodo for the 2019 Christmas/New Year holiday. We are beginner divers (my husband about 20 dives and me 50) and will get AOW in Nov.

We have found a 5 day LOB for Komodo, but are not sure about diving in Bali in Dec.
From my research online, seems that Dec is NOT a good time to dive in Bali, due to the rain season.
How bad is it? Low visibility? Strong currents? Is it worth diving there in Dec at all or should we just plan to do things topside?

We are looking for a destination with interesting topside (with landscape for hiking, jungle, natural beaches, etc) and good (but not too challenging) diving, landbased or LOB. This is not a diving only trip. We considered Maldive first, but its topside doesn;t seem interesting enough to us.


Any wisdom to share or destination to recommend? We are also interested in Raja Ampat, but it seems to be much harder to get to than Bali/Komodo.

Thanks!

Sue and Scott

 

[Wisnu]

We spent end of year 2018 in Tulamben Bali, stayed at Puri Madha for a week.
For this trip, we dived 2 - 3 morning dives / day and then on the afternoon we allocated for topside activities around the area.
Indeed, December - February is rain season there. It more affected our topside activities than diving. We didn't loose any dive from our plan. We changed to another location if the site is not diveable - poor visibility due to the river.

Lot of hiking and water fall trekking in Bali. Could be very slippery and flash flood during rainy season.
Nusa Penida is far drier than the mainland. The landscape is amazing, far more beautiful than Bali mainland. Infrastructure is very poor though.

Here some pics both underwater and topside from 2018.trips in August and December 2018 - January 2019.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmieewzh

 

[Luko]

Same as Wisnu, we stayed the Xmas week in Bali/ Tulamben last year, no rain except on the first night yet not as clear viz as in august ...great diving tho.
Everyone we told us we were lucky to have such excellent conditions

 

[DivingChipmunk]

THanks Wisnu and Luko for sharing your experience. Wonderful pictures Wisnu!
I tinink we will keep our plan for Bali and hopefully we can get lucky as well with the weather.

With the current plan, we will have about 3 to 4 days to dive in Bali. What would be a good location to base at? Padang Bai ? Tulanbem? Is the volcano still an concern? If so, we will want to avoid Tulanbem.

THanks again for all your help!

 

[billt4sf]

I would dive in Bali in December, but I wouldn't mortgage the house to do it.

you just have to understand that there could be not-great conditions.

Also very crowded topside. Personally I really like the rainy season in Bali, though not the crowds at Christmas.

- Bill

 

[happy-diver]

Here some pics both underwater and topside from 2018.trips in August and December 2018 - January 2019.

I find close up photography unnatural and I border on becoming physically ill

This combination of photos however are the most beautiful I have ever seen

Thank you Wisnu.

 

[Wisnu]

THanks Wisnu and Luko for sharing your experience. Wonderful pictures Wisnu!
I tinink we will keep our plan for Bali and hopefully we can get lucky as well with the weather.

With the current plan, we will have about 3 to 4 days to dive in Bali. What would be a good location to base at? Padang Bai ? Tulanbem? Is the volcano still an concern? If so, we will want to avoid Tulanbem.

THanks again for all your help!

I personally prefer Tulamben, but with only 4 days then padang bai will give you more choice and flexibility from macro at the jetty to manta at Nusa Penida. You can also dive tulamben from padang bal but not for early morning or night diving.
From padang bai is also easier to get to main topside tourist destination.
Bring along umbrella or rain coat (not for diving

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Got back from our wonderful vacation to Indonesia about a week ago. We had a GREAT time diving there and would like to thank you all for your advice and suggestions.

We had 15 dives in a in DDK at Komodo. Those days were like a dream and it brings a smile to me every time I think about them. Luko, thank you for your trip report on Yoshi! We stayed at the same suite where you stayed,and truly enjoyed all the dives and our time on the boat. I especially like the pacelines of 8 or more manta rays at Manta Alley and the colorful corals at Crystal Rock, Canibal Rock, 3 Sisters, etc.

We then dove for 3 days in Nusa Penida with Blue Corner Penida. It was cold at Manta Point but we did see 3 Mantas. Even colder at Crystal Bay . The next two days we dove at reef sites in the north, SD, PED, Sental, all warm and fishy and full of nice corals.

We can't wait to go back to Indonesia for our next diving trip, maybe to RA? Like many of you on this board, we are now addicted.

Thank you all again and happy near year!

 

[Tippytoes12]

Oh, so pleased that you loved Indonesia. Nowhere else matches it in the world IMVHO. Do you have any pictures ?

 

[Wet Wiskey]

Thanks for your posts on Bali.
Great pics Wisnu.