Luko
Contributor
Wow... I hardly believe this could even happen in Bali. I would have left after one night.
I have always been welcomed in Bali with people that go beyond anything to make you feel happy. (Except maybe in Sanur or Kuta)
Bali Trip Report - Sep/Oct 2014
- Thread starter Leejnd
- Start date
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I have always been welcomed in Bali with people that go beyond anything to make you feel happy. (Except maybe in Sanur or Kuta)
OP
Leejnd
Contributor
I totally agree...I did not have a single negative experience with a single other person during our entire 3-week stay in Bali. And maybe we should have left TWD right then. But we decided to let it go and see how the rest of the stay went. Was that the right decision? Don't know...maybe we would have been better off just picking up and leaving. But we didn't. It wasn't a horrible stay...it just wasn't what we'd been promised.
On the other hand, I did get to spend four incredible days diving with Jinah...and that made it all worthwhile. Seriously, he was awesome!
And in the long run it was one blip in an otherwise fabulous trip. I don't mean to focus so much on this one negative aspect when there was so much that was over-the-top fantastic.
Warmwater Wank
Contributor
LeeAnne--Having just come in off my porch from watching the sunrise on Agung (with a cuppa 3in1 Nescafe in hand) I can only say bummer on the TWD biz. Well, of course that's not all I can say so let me just toss this in. We were at those villas 5 years ago and they are really nice. (If you get one of course, which we did.) The location is not a plus for diving though when the dive shop is a klic or two away. (Uh, kilometer not "click" as in the virtual reality realm!) My wife did NOT enjoy being on the back of a small motorbike, bumping down that driveway!
So, not to disparage, I'll just pass along that Liberty Dive Resort's new area is a place you undoubtedly would enjoy. If you are ever going back, do check it out. A real BIG plus is location (location, location...). Maybe 150 yards walk to the beach in front of the wreck (I think it might be a tad shorter actually). Being close is not the only reason to go there though. It is well run and beauty-fully landscaped. Very comfortable bungalows in the new area, their restaurant is quite decent too. (The soto ayam was delish compared to the bowl we had upstairs at Wayan's in town!) Sorry to hear about what you ran into, at least the rest of the trip sounded fine.
Whup, gotta git. A 2 tank dive at Melasti this morning, a late afternoon one on the wreck during "shift change" (uh, tourist shift as in they head back to Denpasar or elsewhere). Hoping I can maintain the pace for another 10 days. Ok, ok. Now I will shut up! // ww
So, not to disparage, I'll just pass along that Liberty Dive Resort's new area is a place you undoubtedly would enjoy. If you are ever going back, do check it out. A real BIG plus is location (location, location...). Maybe 150 yards walk to the beach in front of the wreck (I think it might be a tad shorter actually). Being close is not the only reason to go there though. It is well run and beauty-fully landscaped. Very comfortable bungalows in the new area, their restaurant is quite decent too. (The soto ayam was delish compared to the bowl we had upstairs at Wayan's in town!) Sorry to hear about what you ran into, at least the rest of the trip sounded fine.
Whup, gotta git. A 2 tank dive at Melasti this morning, a late afternoon one on the wreck during "shift change" (uh, tourist shift as in they head back to Denpasar or elsewhere). Hoping I can maintain the pace for another 10 days. Ok, ok. Now I will shut up! // ww
Foxtrot16
Contributor
Concur with Liberty Dive Resort - will be back there next Wed for my third time.
Karl
OP
Leejnd
Contributor
I'm jealous! TEN DAYS of diving in Bali? Aw man that's just not fair.
If I ever do get back to Bali, I hope to be able to take Tony up on his offer for four free nights in an ACTUAL villa. I have no problem bumping on the back of the scooter -- I've ridden enough miles on the back of my husband's Ducati. But if for some reason I'm unable to take advantage of his offer, I will most certainly consider Liberty Dive Resort. I hear nothing but great things about it.
Honestly, when I was doing all my research, staying a couple kilometers outside of town seemed like no big deal. But now that I've been there and seen for myself how much more convenient it would be to stay right at the wreck, that would be my preference. I likely would have done more dives if I could have just walked right to the water from my room. Not that I'm complaining about the number of dives I did...heck I did four dives a day for four days straight! But yeah...your point is made.
clownfishsydney
Contributor
I fail to see that being dropped only at TWD's restaurant is a problem. It is less than 2 minutes walk to at least half a dozen other restaurants. The village is totally safe, even late at night. Surely during the day you saw the restaurants. I also find it hard to see how the food and service could drop so badly in less than two months.
I also do not concur that the rooms you were in were comparable to "hotel rooms". They are much better than that, with a garden in front, ocean only a few metres away and a great pool a few seconds walk.
I think if you were not happy, you should have contacted the co-owner of TWD (he runs the shop) and asked what could be done.
I also do not concur that the rooms you were in were comparable to "hotel rooms". They are much better than that, with a garden in front, ocean only a few metres away and a great pool a few seconds walk.
I think if you were not happy, you should have contacted the co-owner of TWD (he runs the shop) and asked what could be done.
OP
Leejnd
Contributor
Okay so I really didn't post my report so I could get in an argument about my impressions. My opinions are valid, whether you like them or not. Feel free to post your own report, but I would appreciate it if you would stop calling mine into question.
My final comments to you (and really, I have no intention of further defending my opinions, as they do not require defense):
1. I fail to see how you cannot understand what I have repeatedly said about that first night at the TWD restaurant. We had JUST arrived, and had been only to the shop, to lunch at the TWD restaurant, and to the villa. We had no idea what other options were nearby. Furthermore, I have explained more than once that the couple we were with are older, and have some mobility issues. Tulamben is not an easy place to walk around in when it's dark, especially when you are not so steady on your feet. The sidewalks are broken and uneven, there is little light, and we didn't want to wander around in the dark with no idea where we were going. The driver dropped us off right at the restaurant...it was easiest just to eat there. We were also hoping that maybe the night crew was different from the day crew, and we were willing to give them another chance. Unfortunately, as I've said numerous times now (this being the last), the food was awful and the service sucked. I can't tell you how or why the food and service could drop so badly in less than two months. I wasn't there two months ago. I can only relate my own experiences.
Also note that I am not a complainer in general. Did you read any of my TripAdvisor reviews for which I provided links? We were thrilled with every other meal we had in Tulamben. But the TWD restaurant was awful. For us. End of story. I'm glad you had a better experience than we did. And I hope they read my review and pick their quality back up again, for their future guests.
2. The rooms most certainly ARE comparable to hotel rooms. In fact that's all they are. Tell me what part of the rooms are more than a hotel room? We each had ONE cinderblock room, with a queen bed (NOT a king as promised) and a table, and a basic bathroom. No other space. No veranda. No living room or lounging area. Only the room, the common dining area with tables (often filled with the guests from the other villas), and the pool. We had no view...the room is on the ground floor with shrubbery between our room and the ocean. You see nothing out your window but shrubs. We had to leave the room and go to the dining area or pool to see the ocean. Yes the property is on the ocean, but we couldn't see it from our room.
This was not a villa. Well, let me clarify: yeah, it's a villa, but it's TONY'S villa! Which we weren't allowed in. All we got were the two dark rooms down in the corner. Compare this to the two other villas we stayed at, for which I provided links to my reviews.
The property itself is lovely, and the pool has great ocean views. I've made that clear. And I've also made it clear that if we were given one of the actual villas, we would have been quite happy. But we weren't. End of story.
3. I did contact the owner. He offered us a free villa stay in the future.
I am not making any of this up. And I can't help but wonder why you insist on debating it with me. Are you friends with the owner?
Shasta_man
Contributor
This summary came across as balanced. It's impossible to satisfy the "your experience doesn't match mine so it can't be true" thing. There is ALWAYS somebody who loved the place you thought poor. It's just a datapoint in the negative column, toward the whole equation of whether we should go there. I also hate the "so we'll give you X free if you ever spend 10 grand to come back". Thanks for your opinions.
Thanks for your opinions.
OP
Leejnd
Contributor
This summary came across as balanced. It's impossible to satisfy the "your experience doesn't match mine so it can't be true" thing. There is ALWAYS somebody who loved the place you thought poor. It's just a datapoint in the negative column, toward the whole equation of whether we should go there. I also hate the "so we'll give you X free if you ever spend 10 grand to come back".
LOL! Thanks.
Yeah, I probably shouldn't have even bothered trying to justify my opinion. If he had a better experience there than I did, I'm happy for him. I had my experience, and I related it as best as I could. And really, I hate to have this thread turn into nothing but a rehashing of the one negative aspect of our trip, when there was so much more that was excellent.And back to the POSITIVE aspects of it...I've been reading other reviews and trip reports about Tulamben, which have really served to reinforce how fortunate we were to have Jinah as our dive guide. So many people have complained about their experiences diving the Liberty...huge crowds, poor organization, one dive guide herding 10 or more divers (half of whom were newbies silting the whole place up with their bicycling), guides who couldn't communicate, or rushed them through the dives, or didn't do any real critter-spotting for them.
Jinah spent four days diving with only the two of us, and sometimes me alone. He made himself available to dive whenever we wanted, at any time day or night, however many dives we wanted to do. Our gear was always ready to go, and well taken care of. He also knew when to avoid the wreck...we didn't even go there during the busiest times. He took us to some other dive sites where there were only a few other divers, but plenty to see. And the dives that we did do on the wreck were truly amazing! A couple times I could see some big groups of bicycling divers with tank-banging guides, but we stayed far away from them. And the critter-spotting! Really, I've never had a guide with such an eye. I never would have seen the frog fish, or the pygmy sea horse, or the long snout elbow crab, without his laser-sharp vision.
And on top of all that, he was just a really nice kid, and fun to be around.
If I do get back to Tulamben someday, I can only hope that he is there for me to dive with again! And if any readers of this report are heading to Tulamben, I would encourage you to dive with TWD and ask for Jinah.
Shasta_man
Contributor
<<bicycling>> HA HA. Their little feet just can't quite touch the ground! People are funny with all their little things, probably me included. One lady I dove with on a liveaboard spent the entire dive actually holding her reg in her mouth. I had a nearly overwhelming urge to go over and try to pull it out. She probably would have fought to the death over it. And her husband spent the whole time down with us, then up near the surface, then down with us, then up...probably holding his breath too...
I feel sorry for the critters sometimes in these places. Everybody has a camera now and wants to blast everything they find with the flash. Hold it up. Zap. Next. No real interest or really checking it out, just zap, what's next on the list. My trip to Raja Ampat included a doctor who was picking up nudibranches to look at them (!!!) and then just dropping them in the water column when done. I realized it when I saw one come floating by. Big or small, I marvel at it all. First that I can see this thing I've only seen in books, now in person, and the amazing "technology" these things have with their scales and teeth and eyes, etc. I thought that was everyone's interest until I started actually diving and found there are many reasons people have for diving, not all of which include appreciation of the wildlife.
I appreciate reports like yours because I want to know what's possible so I can decide if it's a problem and whether I want to deal with it. But it's only one datapoint in the whole equation.
And her husband spent the whole time down with us, then up near the surface, then down with us, then up...probably holding his breath too...I feel sorry for the critters sometimes in these places. Everybody has a camera now and wants to blast everything they find with the flash. Hold it up. Zap. Next. No real interest or really checking it out, just zap, what's next on the list. My trip to Raja Ampat included a doctor who was picking up nudibranches to look at them (!!!) and then just dropping them in the water column when done. I realized it when I saw one come floating by. Big or small, I marvel at it all. First that I can see this thing I've only seen in books, now in person, and the amazing "technology" these things have with their scales and teeth and eyes, etc. I thought that was everyone's interest until I started actually diving and found there are many reasons people have for diving, not all of which include appreciation of the wildlife.
I appreciate reports like yours because I want to know what's possible so I can decide if it's a problem and whether I want to deal with it. But it's only one datapoint in the whole equation.
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