We just got back from Bali on Dec. 20th. We had a great time, and people were very welcoming. Most of the tourists are gone, and we were generally the only folks staying at hotels and resorts or going on dive trips.
Needless to say, it was easy to get great deals.
My best dives were at Permuturan and Menjangan Island in the Northwest. We stayed at Taman Sari Bungalows, which was very luxurious and used Archipeligo Divers which is located on the beach in front of Taman Sari. They have their own boat to go directly to Menjangan (in the National Park) and other dive sites. Visibility was fine and the diversity of life exceptional.
Do not dive with Cactus Divers operating out of the Emerald Resort at Tulumben. I had a very bad experience with them diving at the otherwise incredible Liberty wreck. Both the depth and pressure guages they gave me were faulty, and my second stage chattered badly. I should have ended things as soon as I checked out the gear.
When I could barely pull any air from my mouthpiece, with the pressure guage reading 1000 psi, I took my guide's octo and found it delivered more salt water than air. I made it through a slow ascent and safety stop trying to spit our most of the water without drowning. I swam in without being able to inflate my bcd. When I got to shore, my tank was empty and the guage showed 800 psi.
The guide (This guy is a PADI chief instructor !) thought all of this was funny. I wanted to kill him.
Bali Hai Divers who have a resort at Nusa Lembogen and run several boats there out of Benoa Harbor have a good operation with decent gear.
We never made it to the Gili Islands off of Lombok, and Amed was too murky with stream runoff to dive when we were there.
Ubud Bungalow on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud, while not near any diving, is a great, inexpensive place to stay. Wayan, the owner, really took care of us.
Our trusty driver Nyoman (tel 0361-419 138 hm; 081-2395 7800 cell) took us everywhere in great style at less cost than renting our own car or even much public transport. We never had to worry about our stuff or run any errands.
It's a great time to visit Bali. Just check out the dive gear you are actually going to use well before heading to the dive site.
Aloha,
Jonathan Starr
kalepa@maui.net