Beginner Dives in Bali and Lombok

[amoses113]

Hey, this is my first post so thanks in advance!

I am looking for advice regarding a beginner dive in Bali and/or Lombok.

I am traveling in late September/early October and will be staying in Ubud, Seminyak, Jimbaran, and Medana Beach/Bay in Lombok.

From my research I have learned that the best beginner diving within an hour or so travel of these places is Padang Bai and the Gilis off the coast of Lombok (Air, Meno and Trawangan). Can anyone confirm that this is true, and if so, please also confirm which place offers the better scuba diving – either Padang Bai or the Gilis.

To clarify, my (future) wife and I have only been diving a few times and will need a refresher course for at least a few minutes to re-learn the equipment.

Thanks!

 

[matts1w]

You should absolutely consider going to the Gili Islands as the ocean there is almost always warm, gentle, and a great place for new divers. The diving is solid, although not the best Indonesia has to offer. Still, you will see a ton of fish, more turtles than you can count, eels, maybe some white tip sharks, and a bunch of cool macro stuff unique to Indonesia. There are a number of quality dive centers with good instructors who will be glad to take you a refresher course. All three islands dive the same spots, so pick the island accordingly: Gili T. to party hard all night with a bunch of 20 somethings (Not my thing), Gili Air is much more chill, but still has enough going on at night to be fun. Gili Meno is very sleepy. I am a HUGE Gili Air fan. If you go that route, contact Blue Marine Dive Center. They are good people. Manta Dive on Gili T. is a quality center too.

 

[amoses113]

You should absolutely consider going to the Gili Islands as the ocean there is almost always warm, gentle, and a great place for new divers. The diving is solid, although not the best Indonesia has to offer. Still, you will see a ton of fish, more turtles than you can count, eels, maybe some white tip sharks, and a bunch of cool macro stuff unique to Indonesia. There are a number of quality dive centers with good instructors who will be glad to take you a refresher course. All three islands dive the same spots, so pick the island accordingly: Gili T. to party hard all night with a bunch of 20 somethings (Not my thing), Gili Air is much more chill, but still has enough going on at night to be fun. Gili Meno is very sleepy. I am a HUGE Gili Air fan. If you go that route, contact Blue Marine Dive Center. They are good people. Manta Dive on Gili T. is a quality center too.

Thanks for the reply! To clarify, we are thinking of only single day dives, and if possible, I'd love to go twice during my 17 day trip. Should I go in the Gilis and also at Padang Bai? Are those the best options for two single day dives given the cities we're visiting and our minimal (almost zero) experience ?

 

[flyboy08]

A few minute refresher...come on man! It'll be more like an hour in the pool and some classroom or prior reading beforehand.

 

[amoses113]

A few minute refresher...come on man! It'll be more like an hour in the pool and some classroom or prior reading beforehand.

Indeed, you're right - probably a bit in the pool. But in any event, trying to figure out whether it's worth it to use one of my days in Ubud to drive to Padang Bai for a dive, or whether I should just wait to dive only once on my trip during our time at the Gilis.

 

[matts1w]

The easier and close-to-the-dive-shops dive sites in Padang Bai are muck dives. With limited experience, I am not sure if that would be your thing. I absolutely love diving muck, but it is an acquired taste and generally not what new divers picture diving is like in Bali. The coral sites are a bit off shore, can be pretty sporty, and probably not done as a single dive trip. Diving in Padang Bai is absolutely worth it, but maybe not what you are looking for.

 

[amoses113]

Hmmm...This decision is becoming more difficult because of this training/certification issue. We go diving so infrequently (maybe once every few years) and therefore feel that we would need to be taught again each time we dive. It's for this reason we feel it might not make sense to get a certification. But at the same time, the few times we do go diving every few years will require us to take the time and expense involved in taking the basic course again. There are negatives in either case.

To be honest, we are considering now whether we might just prefer to go snorkeling instead of diving. I enjoy diving very much, but with the limited time we have in Bali/Lombok (we don't have time to do multi day dives/classes), we're curious whether we will be just as happy going snorkeling. I think if we can see a bunch of nice fish, turtles, etc., we would be happy either way.

I know this is a very novice / noob / beginner question to ask, but in these 2 areas (Padangbai vs. Gilis), is there really a huge difference if we snorkel instead of scuba dive? With snorkeling we obviously won''t be able to get as close to the marine life and coral, but I wonder if we can still see a lot from the top of the water.

All of your advice and insight is appreciated!