What Am I Missing?

[adventureswithwill]

In Bali at the moment and have around a month before I need to be in Jakarta, want to try and do as much diving as possible and probably have two and a half - three weeks. Currently in Tulamben and enjoying it so far, is it worth also going to Amed or are most of the good dive sites in Amed accessible from here (also what are dive sites I shouldn't miss while here? Already planning the regular sites like Liberty, Drop off, Seyara secret or whatever it's called)?

The rest of my plan is to basically dive in and around Pulau Menjaran using Pemuteran as my base, is this the best town to dive from? Is there anything else along that north coast worth stopping for?

I've already dived Nusa Penida/Komodo before and will go to Nusa Lembongan to do my DMT later in the year. Is there anything else that I am missing that wouldn't be too out of the way considering I'm already northish and heading towards Gilimanduk? Thanks in advance, advice here is always incredible.

Will make sure I come back and share my experiences as always.

 

[Luko]

I like Amed's Japanese wreck, even better at night for incredible nudi action, also bumblebee shrimps.
JW is far away from Tulamben, it will be seldom dived from Tulamben. Baliku dive centre is THE specialist for the JW. They also provide diving for Golden rock, Gili Selang and all the easternmost highvoltage sites of Bali.

In Tulamben, I like the Liberty slope 50m east of the wreck for great black sand diving. Also Melasti, Puri Segara, nearby Seraya, lots of supermacro stuff.
A few km west of Tulamben Kudo is worth a trip for the wreck and the incredible coral fish life around.

On your way to Pemuteran, you should stop 2 dives day at Puri Jati (Seririt). Muck diving as well. If anyone recommends a good dive operation from Lovina or Seririt, specialized on PJ, I am all ears as well.

 

[Wisnu]

I also like Amed Melasti (not the one Luko's fav in tukad abu), we saw 2 dozens harlequin shrimps.

in Gilimanuk, don't miss secret bay (muck diving); shallow and very cold water; last time there was19C - and if you have strong belly, after diving try ayam betutu mbak Lina, super hot.

 

[adventureswithwill]

Thanks for the advice guys, been seeing lots of bumphead's over the past few days in Tulamben and saw a boat load of interesting and weird nudi's and a seahorse at Seraya Secrets today. Will do two more dives in Tulamben and then head to Amed on your advice. Still haven't seen any harlequin shrimps unfortunately, so hopefully I get some at Amed Melasti. Is Gili Seleng worth diving this time of year (if possible?).

Is there any accommodation/dive operations out of Puri Jati? My plan is just to get bemos to Pemuteran, so might be too difficult to organize if I need to do it with a company out of Lovina? Also do people recommend any particular operator out of Pemuteran?

Thanks again for the responses, really appreciate it!

 

[Luko]

Still haven't seen any harlequin shrimps unfortunately, so hopefully I get some at Amed Melasti.

Also saw 7 harlequins in one dive on Amed Melasti last year, however other interesting critters were missing.

Is there any accommodation/dive operations out of Puri Jati? My plan is just to get bemos to Pemuteran, so might be too difficult to organize if I need to do it with a company out of Lovina?

Good luck for gettig a company response out there in the north... I am still waiting for theirs. Looks like e-mails aren't their favorite communication tool.

Also do people recommend any particular operator out of Pemuteran?

Sea Rovers, nice people. I also like their fantasy of being pirates.... arrrhhh ! They may probably arrange for PJ out of peak season, ask'em.

 

[JohnN]

Sea Rovers, nice people. I also like their fantasy of being pirates.... arrrhhh ! They may probably arrange for PJ out of peak season, ask'em.

+1 on Sea Rovers. They also have the fastest boat (a 6-pack when I dove with them) in that area. So unless you like spending an extra 30 minutes with 40 of your closest friends on a cattle boat. . .

They also go to Secret Bay, a very nice muck dive

 

[divewench1]

In Pemuteran, I fully recommend Reef Seen Divers resort, Amanda and Adrian will be happy to help:

website Diving in north Bali | Reef Seen Divers' Resort

landline: +62 362 93001 or mobile: +62 8123 894051,

 

[Wisnu]

Is there any accommodation/dive operations out of Puri Jati? My plan is just to get bemos to Pemuteran, so might be too difficult to organize if I need to do it with a company out of Lovina? Also do people recommend any particular operator out of Pemuteran?

!

Zen diver is very poor on replying your e-mail. I sent 3 e-mails and none replied. They probably interested on the long-stay resort guest only.
However PJ is very tempting, on the way to Pemuteran from Tulamben we stopped at Zen diver and ask for diving on spot. Once we got a deal (we got reasonable price for 1 night diving and 2 morning diving), we went to find other accommodation. Zen resort is too expensive for us.
There's several accommodation/villa around PJ - all not cheap, published price starting from USD 120, and we ended staying at Puri Surya hotel on the main road, near petrol station. Spacious cottage, 32" LCD TV, own parking garage - for approx. USD 30.
If you travel light using bemo, start from Tulmaben in the morning, then stop at the junction to PJ, and walk around 1 km to Zen diver. if you luck they might have a slot for you. If not, then you can continue your journey to Pemuteran.

 

[Dave1w]

What are you doing when you go to Jakarta? There's some wreck diving there


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[adventureswithwill]

What are you doing when you go to Jakarta? There's some wreck diving there


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I wasn't really planning much of anything, my flight is out of Jakarta so that's the main reason I'm heading there. I do like my wreck diving so that is another good option, especially if I arrive there a bit earlier than expected. Any recommendations on operators and dive sites?

+1 on Sea Rovers. They also have the fastest boat (a 6-pack when I dove with them) in that area. So unless you like spending an extra 30 minutes with 40 of your closest friends on a cattle boat. . .

They also go to Secret Bay, a very nice muck dive

Looks like I'll be going with Sea Rovers, any ideas on their pricing? Says to contact them for pricing which is a pet hate of mine, I guess I can just check when I arrive/call or e-mail them but I like to have an idea of their base rates before I try to negotiate for multiple days diving.

I'll be going to Gili Manuk to catch the boat to Java so was just planning on finding an operator there, but does it make sense to just go from pemuteran instead? Can anybody suggest an operator out of GM?? Also I heard some reports that Secret Bay isn't really worth it anymore, not sure if that's just people trying to drum up business elsewhere or not though.

Zen diver is very poor on replying your e-mail. I sent 3 e-mails and none replied. They probably interested on the long-stay resort guest only.
However PJ is very tempting, on the way to Pemuteran from Tulamben we stopped at Zen diver and ask for diving on spot. Once we got a deal (we got reasonable price for 1 night diving and 2 morning diving), we went to find other accommodation. Zen resort is too expensive for us.
There's several accommodation/villa around PJ - all not cheap, published price starting from USD 120, and we ended staying at Puri Surya hotel on the main road, near petrol station. Spacious cottage, 32" LCD TV, own parking garage - for approx. USD 30.
If you travel light using bemo, start from Tulmaben in the morning, then stop at the junction to PJ, and walk around 1 km to Zen diver. if you luck they might have a slot for you. If not, then you can continue your journey to Pemuteran.

Thanks for the advice, was PJ worth the effort? I'm tempted to put it in the too hard basket, especially if cheapest accommodation is $30 USD and I'm assuming diving won't be the cheap either. Maybe I can organize to meet my dive company for Pemuteran in PJ and then at least I can get a lift on the way back to Pemuteran...


Thanks again for all of the helpful replies guys, I really appreciate it! I dove the wreck again this morning and saw some more bumphead parrotfish, the barracuda and a ton of macro stuff as well. Followed up Batu Belah, saw a black frog fish about 30 seconds into the dive which was really nice and then just a lot of good photo opportunities for nudis, but nothing too exciting.

Then made my way over to Amed and dove with BLD (really nice operation and owner is super friendly guy, I actually thought I booked with Eco Dive but I guess they were full so told me to call BLD and I didn't realize in the confusion - either way not complaining) for a night dive. Did Amed Wall which I enjoyed, lots of nice macro stuff (I'm so much better at spotting at night time than during the day) plus three really big stone fish, lots of mooray eels, cleaner shrimp, box shrimp and some weird ass shrimp I don't know the name of.

Now I will just take a two day rest to relax and drink some beers and earn some more money for more diving then I will probably dive pyramids and jalan melasti with BLD (maybe I will cry if I don't see a harlequinn shrimp ahah. My dive guide today in Amed said he can definitely show me one at liberty wreck because it's always there and seemed surprised the Matahari guides didn't show me it. I wasn't a big fan of Matahari, should have gone with Liberty Wreck Divers as suggested on SB) then I can dive with Baliku for Japenese shipwreck (day + night) and somewhere else maybe? Maybe I do an extra day here as well if I like these sites, the wall was very nice.

Thanks again, very much appreciated