Our dive plan
- Thread starter jdfmail
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Actually, I'd like to do a sunrise dive at Liberty on the second dive day. And I'd also like to add 1 or 2 night dives to the itineray. Any recommendations for the night dives?
Yes I love macro...got a newish camera setup to practice with and hope to get some keeper pics.
Yes I love macro...got a newish camera setup to practice with and hope to get some keeper pics.
The vast majority of diving deaths in Bali are not from unprofessional DM's but from dive guests who put themselves into the water with poor preparation.
For example, you may have over 300 dives in Thailand and an advanced certification, but maybe would not be able to handle the strong currents (and down currents) that hit the Bali sites.
Diving in Bali is not easy, dive sites and water conditions are unpredictable and nature sometimes bites even the most experienced divers amongst us on the a*se.
I treat the ocean with the greatest respect :cool2:
I thought the best macro was at Seraya. I am a photographer as well and Seraya consistantly produced the most photogenic critters. I ended up spending more time there than I thought I would. Lots of Moray cleaning stations. Tulamben Slopes was second best because of the loads of Nudis and 3 or 4 Ghost Pipefish every dive.
I've experienced strong current on many occasions but never a down current. Everyone that has experienced a down current had a first time.
I'm not sure what your point is.
What would you say is good preparation then?
gee13
Contributor
I believe what Amanda is saying is that you need to have a redundancy plan for strong downcurrents, as can be evident in Crystal Bay where operators take novices with not a lot of experience, (sometimes without a dive cert!!) or experienced divers from other regions that do not understand the upwellings and current flow of Nusa Penida. Ive often seen divers ignore the advice of DMs and go further, deeper than required just to spot that special something. From the law of averages some inadvertantly do not come back. When you experience strong downcurrent at 40m, the main factor is you do not have much time and (air) to be able to manage it (unless of course youre on rebreather or twins). Before you know it you could be at 60m and if the current doesnt get you, either the out of air situation or DCS will. jdfmail i would consult closely with Dms and adhere to them. I had some greeat DMs focussed on safety from World Diving Lembongan. They know more than other mainland DMs about Nusa Penida diving as they are based locally on Lembongan. That said there is some world class diving in the area and one of my favourite dives around Bali.
To be honest, I don't plan to be at 40m and if the dive plan calls for deeper than 30m I won't do it if there is current. I'm a fairly conservative diver with above average skills. I can't speak for my buddy though and I wouldn't do anything that I felt was over his skill level.
Any other feedback is welcome. I appreciate all warnings and advice.
Any other feedback is welcome. I appreciate all warnings and advice.
Well, Jon, we talked about this when you were here, but for the record, in case others come here to read...
All of the dives at Tulamben are fine for your buddy. The only thing to watch is air consumption since you're often deeper than you imagine you should be--the reef slopes pretty steeply and keeps going in a lot of cases. Liberty, Coral Garden (Paradise/Matahari/Mimpi), Drop Off, and Seraya are old favorites, though I was disappointed with Seraya last month as it wasn't as rich as I recalled. It seemed to me that most of the really good critters had moved over to Noisy Reef. I also liked Batu Belah where I saw 8 spanish dancers on a single night dive.
As for Penida, well, the traditional Manta Point depends a lot on sea conditions. There's a second manta dive site, closer in and more protected, sometimes called Manta Point II. It's shallow, the water is a lot warmer than at the far-away manta point, and the animals are regularly there. Crystal Bay is always a shortish dive because of currents, and there's often a lot of surge, too. You and your buddy will have to work some, most likely. With the surge, just remember to go with it when it's swinging your way, and simply stop moving at all when it's going against you. Be prepared to crawl along the bottom using your hands, at least in the places where there are rocks; you may have to cross sand in the channel to get back to the boat at the standard pickup point, so stay close to the bottom. But the main thing is to keep a close eye on your air gauge, even if you don't go too deep. If it were me, I'd skip SD and substitute Mangrove. There are eagle rays there, and the drift is an amazing experience--not up or down, but just along, and you go so fast all you can do is steer. You won't be able to stop for photos, so be ready for wide angle or just video. Toyapakeh is a great choice, though.
All of the dives at Tulamben are fine for your buddy. The only thing to watch is air consumption since you're often deeper than you imagine you should be--the reef slopes pretty steeply and keeps going in a lot of cases. Liberty, Coral Garden (Paradise/Matahari/Mimpi), Drop Off, and Seraya are old favorites, though I was disappointed with Seraya last month as it wasn't as rich as I recalled. It seemed to me that most of the really good critters had moved over to Noisy Reef. I also liked Batu Belah where I saw 8 spanish dancers on a single night dive.
As for Penida, well, the traditional Manta Point depends a lot on sea conditions. There's a second manta dive site, closer in and more protected, sometimes called Manta Point II. It's shallow, the water is a lot warmer than at the far-away manta point, and the animals are regularly there. Crystal Bay is always a shortish dive because of currents, and there's often a lot of surge, too. You and your buddy will have to work some, most likely. With the surge, just remember to go with it when it's swinging your way, and simply stop moving at all when it's going against you. Be prepared to crawl along the bottom using your hands, at least in the places where there are rocks; you may have to cross sand in the channel to get back to the boat at the standard pickup point, so stay close to the bottom. But the main thing is to keep a close eye on your air gauge, even if you don't go too deep. If it were me, I'd skip SD and substitute Mangrove. There are eagle rays there, and the drift is an amazing experience--not up or down, but just along, and you go so fast all you can do is steer. You won't be able to stop for photos, so be ready for wide angle or just video. Toyapakeh is a great choice, though.
I'm staying at Mimpi for two nights so that's great to hear! Thanks!!
Similar threads
