Liberty Dive Resort review

[fuggler]

We stayed at Liberty Dive Resort from Nov. 11-16 and we highly recommend the place. Our airconditioned room was on the ground floor; it had two double beds, a spacious bathroom, its own veranda with a fan, and a fridge. The resort was very clean and maintained well by the staff. WIFI in our room was reliable for the most part. Made to order breakfast was included in the room rate, and at $38 a night we thought it was a fantastic deal. Nitrox is also free. We got a $7 massage every night. Everyone was friendly and welcoming.

Our dive guide, Komang (I forgot the American nickname he goes by, starts with a J) was an amazing spotter. I couldn't believe how many super tiny critters he found for us. He's a funny guy too, I'd love to dive with him again. We did 2 days of diving in Tulamben and 1 day in Amed. Liberty is walking distance from the wreck; very convenient. The guys usually brought our gear to the beach before we got suited up/ready with our camera gear. We loved diving the Liberty wreck, despite the floating garbage we saw everywhere. Seraya is a short 15 minute drive and has awesome macro, like everyone says. Amed's Japanese fishing wreck is truly a "fish lover's heaven", as described in our southeast asia dive book. Here are some pics from our 1st day in Tulamben: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/359641-pictures-tulamben-bali-indonesia.html

 

[AlMitch]

Thanks for the review.
Its always good to hear of a decent and cheap place to stay in Bali.

 

[danz]

That's funny, I was also at the Liverty Dive resort from 11th to 15th of November. That said, I can only confirm your review. I dived with Caday (I don't know to write his name exactly) and he too was very good in finding small stuff. Wayan, the owner is very correct and consumerfriendly. Good value price/quality.

 

[xariatay]

Thanks for the report! Lovely photos!
Sad to hear about the garbage... We saw some on the beach area (not right at the sea-side) but wasn't a problem in the sea at Tulamben... At Menjangan area, it was quite bad...

 

[jacpot]

Thanks for the review. I am planning a trip there and yr report is really helpful. Just wondering what's the water temperature like when u were there?

 

[highdesert]

We were in Tulamben a week earlier and the water was 29C / 83F

 

[fuggler]

My computer showed 82-85 degrees.

 

[jacpot]

Thanks guys! I have booked my trip at LDR for 4 days this week thanks to your recommendation. Will feedback when I get back.

 

[jacpot]

LDR is great!! We stayed there for 4 days and paid USD265 per person for 4 days 3 nights, it includes 8 dives, accomodation, daily breakfast and transfers. The owners, staff and diving crew are all so very friendly and helpful. Thanks once again for yr helpful review!

 

[Reefwalker]

Just so anyone reading this thread doesn't think the sea in Tulamben is normally full of garbage.
During three days in November 2010, Tulamben and the north coast of Bali experienced a huge influx of plastic bags and general garbage on the surface of the sea.
At the time there was a very strong offshore current flowing west to east, that was bringing the plastic bags from the western waters of Bali or perhaps Java. We'd had heavy rainfall for 4 days prior, but none of the local rivers/creeks had any water in them.
This rubbish came from rivers elesewhere as there were signs of freshwater algaes growing on pieces of bamboo and some of the plastic. This stuff had come from larger rivers that had emptied into the sea during the first heavy rains of the season.
No-one had experienced this volume of rubbish before, this included the local fishermen (who saw the same huge volumes of rubbish up to 20kms offshore) and local dive guides and dive operators. I was personally shocked when I dived the wreck on the worst day. At the surface I was pushing plastic bags out of the way just so I could see where I was going!
Incredibly the next day there was not a plastic bag in sight, all of this garbage had drifted with the current further south and east, down into the Indian Ocean. Although some ended-up on the shoreline around the east coast of Bali.
I only hope that something is done to cut-down on the amount of plastic that is handed out to every consumer in Bali and throughout Indonesia, I know where it ends-up.... In the local river bed and then the sea !!!