Real-Time Log: Diving in Tulamben

[zf2nt]

We just arrived in Densapar yesterday afternoon after a long flight over from SFO. Following advice I had seen here on Scubaboard, I had made reservations with AutoBali for a rental car we would pick up at the airport. Big mistake! The owner had promised to meet us after we cleared customs to go get our rental car, but he was nowhere to be found. We searched the sea of people waiting for 90 minutes, but to no avail. Three times I tried calling his phone, but each time I got a recorded message in a language I couldn't understand. Then we discovered there was no place at the airport to rent a car. Worse, none of the taxi drivers could understand our request to take us to a place we could rent a car. Finally, we threw in the towel and hired a taxi to take us to Tulamben.

So we got to Liberty Dive Resort well after dark. The place is gorgeous, our room is a delight, and we have been very pleased by the restaurant. The only problem is that nobody really understands English and we are having a very hard time getting information. We finally managed to rent tanks and weights and went out and dove the wreck a couple of times today. That was a fabulous couple of dives, but it is wild understatement to say it is not undiscovered! Now we want to go do the Drop-Off and some other sites. I know it's going to be like pulling teeth trying to get tanks, weights, and some simple directions of where to go. The mode here is to give you a guide and have them lead you around by the nose. We do not want a guide. If I have to, I'll pay a guide and tell him to sit on the beach and wait for us to finish. But I absolutely will not follow a DM around.

My net so far: Liberty is a great place to stay. The people here are fantastic, but for the fact they don't understand English. If you want to get a rental car, get one from one of the majors.

 

[Wingy]

Hmm seems someone has given you a great sell on Tulumben and Bali...the wreck of the liberty is probably the most congested dive site ive seen or perhaps on a par with the king cruiser wreck in thailand. Anyone suggesting hiring a car in Bali obviously hasnt heard of the current road works and congestion - I think you will find it more cost effective to simply hire a driver than try and struggle through bali traffic and you will stay saner.

Have you tried the baths at LDR yet? I hope they have fixed them because last time I stayed there while the bath looks great the most warm water I could get in there was about 5 inches.

Id suggest going up to the dive shop at LDR and asking for a guide to take you to other sites nearby like coral gardens and the drop off.....you are going to be hiring tanks and weights from there anyway and you will need transport between LDR and coral gardens so bite the bullet and pay for a guide to drive you there and let him know you want him to sit on the beach. If he chooses to get in the water and point things out, just nod. Also I would suggest not trying to help the ladies who carry your tanks on their heads - give them a few rupiah and let them do their job, they're good at it and that's how they make their living.

If you dont get any assistance from the guys at LDR dive centre (they do speak english, selectively at times) give Bali Dive Academy a call on (0)361 270 252 and ask them to send a guide and car up to pick you up from LDR - they have an op just up the road and will provide transport......and also assist you with a pre booked driver back to the airport to meet your flight on time.
Seriously shaking my head at anyone spruiking the wreck of the liberty as undiscovered diving......its like a shopping mall!!!!

 

[Luko]

Now we want to go do the Drop-Off and some other sites. I know it's going to be like pulling teeth trying to get tanks, weights, and some simple directions of where to go. The mode here is to give you a guide and have them lead you around by the nose. We do not want a guide. If I have to, I'll pay a guide and tell him to sit on the beach and wait for us to finish. But I absolutely will not follow a DM around

Did you understand that your guide is FOR FREE?
Did you understand that you can ask LDC to arrange driving you anywhere around Tulamben for shore diving, he's there to ease things like for instance get your tanks and stuff ready any time you like?
I am still wondering why you think you are going to do better dives without a guide: do you think you are better at spotting critters than LDC's guides?
About diving the USAT Liberty, it's the most crowded dive in Bali but maybe if you had asked the guide the best time of the day, you would have dived without many people around (8AM, 3-4PM), like I do every year. probably he would have led you to spots that are not that crowded too...

but for the fact they don't understand English.

They do : how do you think hundreds of divers cope every year at LDC?
They probably speak better english than most american divers speak foreign languages.

 

[Mikko Ilari Laakkonen]

There are no such thing as free dive guides.

- Mikko Laakkonen -

I love diving and teaching others to dive.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Z--Hopefully by now the jet lag has let go and I bet it's easier to understand folks around the resort. (Bahasa English has it's own special twang.) Jeez, someone on this Board suggested renting a car? On Bali? Oh well, another travel lesson learned the hard way. Hey, doesn't matter now. You are diving on Bali.

Ok, an important point. They don't really have DMs on Bali "leading you around by the nose". They have dive guides. Big difference. One is supposed to look out for you (as if...), the other is supposed to show you the marvels of their neighborhood. Any of the better guides will see and find more things than you would see, the place is just so bewildering down below. Tell them what you want to look at, ask them where are other places to go, what is the best time to dive those places etc. Also, spend some time in the dive shop when everyone isn't getting ready to go out and just tell them know what you want to do.

That is the Bali secret, just tell them what you want or ask them. (Often you don't even need to do that, they just seem to know...) You are in the epicenter of customer service, enjoy it and take advantage of the knowledge and genuine help. Oh and the soto ayam upstairs at Wayan's in town ain't bad either. // ww

 

[dirtfarmer]

Whoever advised you to rent a car is either suicidal or has taken a life insurance policy out on you! The guides will show you critters that you more than likely will not spot, yes there are exceptions like the Mototati Octopus I spotted, which my guide made sure to mark the area. He was super excited that I found it, me too! They won't be leading you around by the nose, if you have specific critters you want to see they will know what site to take you to and know where they are and give you the best chance at seeing them. Having a private guide is awesome, and has really spoiled me for other spots. It's one of the reasons I keep going back. The gracious service of all the staff at LDR is charming, and they may be hard to understand sometimes but my wife and I always cherish "annoy your breakfast" which in reality is "enjoy your breakfast.

 

[highdesert]

Zf2nt –

Welcome to diving in Bali! As a fellow American, my I offer some of our observations after repeated trips there? First refer to the first line of my signature … this is only my opinion.

I think of Bali as its own country in the middle of Indonesia, largely due, in my opinion, to the 90+% Hindu makeup of the population. I think the Balinese, and I’m not talking about in the circus that is southern Bali, in the Denpasar/Kuta area, which is not all Balinese anyway, are the sweetest, gentlest, kindest, most good-humored people I’ve ever met anywhere on this Earth. When we travel there, we go out of our way to interact with them. It’s always a high point of our trip. A smile and a polite manner go a long way with them. We figure we’re in their country, whether they’re the manager of a bank or they’re cleaning our bathroom.

The Balinese seem to want to please everyone, insofar as that is possible. They will go out of their way to make your stay comfortable and pleasant, and smile while they’re doing it. They’re proud of how they execute their job, and allowing them to use their skills makes everything run smoothly.

Driving in Bali after coming from the US? No thanks! There’s always a good English-speaking driver with a decent car available. Just ask your hotel front desk and they’ll arrange it. You can spend your trip looking at Bali, not the traffic. And English speakers are generally in abundance anywhere in the country where they’re likely to interact with tourists.

We’ve done hundreds of dives in Indonesia, and while we’re catching on how to spot the good stuff, I’m sure we’d still miss a third to half of it without a local guide. And while they don’t care if we want to drop out of a group and go our own way, I know that doing so on a regular basis would be our loss in terms of what we see.

In the end, maybe the single sentence I could use to describe visiting Bali, diving or playing tourist, is “Just smile and go with it.” The reward is worth it!

 

[PCR]

We're currently also Diving in Bali, currently on Lembognan, but a few days ago we we're in Tulamben. The liberty wreck is indeed quite crowded, be out of the water by 0900, or get in at 16.00 In the later case, you have the wreck for yourself.

Almost everyone we saw spoke English and we had great experiences with Ocean Sun Dive Resort. We had the unlimited dive package and took a guide ( charges 35-50k? Extra per diver) occaisionaly. Without a guide, simply analyze a tank ( we dived Nitrox), setup your gear and walk to the dive site. The dive center explained the site, and arranged the porters to bring the gear from the center to the chosen site. Excellent arrangement!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn Nexus 5 met Tapatalk

 

[clownfishsydney]

I think you must have went to another Bali rather than the one in Indonesia. As others have stated, never even think of driving in Bali (at least in SE Bali). Also, you are crazy not to have a dive guide, they are free and will find all the critters for you. Everyone we met in Tulamben associated with diving spoke excellent English.

 

[maat1976]

PCR, is your contact Ricardo? I've been corresponding with him preparing for out trip in June and so far things seem a-ok.