Which dive operators to choose in Bali for safety

[imkeshav]

Hi Guys,

After great inputs for my questions, we decided to go for Bali this time instead of Sipadan. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...iday-choosing-between-bali-mabul-sipadan.html

But I still need help in choosing places to stay and good dive operators. Please point me to any links,info, website that can help answer some of these questions

Quick Background:
Dive Holiday: June 3rd week, 6-7 days excluding travel
Experience: I'm AOW with just 20 dives and wife (non-swimmer) has done only Introductory dives (DSDs) and snorkeling. Also we could have a friend who has just completed OW course with 4 dives (newbie)

Here are my questions

1)I want to split my stay between 2 places (Tulamben, candi dasa, nusa lembognan etc), what do you suggest and also let me know the dive sites around these places


2) I want to share 2-3 dives with my wife when she does her DSD (must be below 12 meters i think and will need an instructor or DM). Is that possible?

3) Which areas have currents (strong or medium) Tulamben, Candi Dasa, PadanBai, Amed in Bali

4) Where can I do a drift dive and which dive center should I choose?

5) I heard that there are strong/unpredictable currents in most dive sites around nusa longanan or nusa cenigan or nusa penida. So Can I dive at Manta point for a chance to see Mantas?

6) Around these islands, Are there any safe dive sites for my wife to do DSD or snorkeling in shallow but clear waters

7) Which is best and professional dive operator in nusa lembognan or nusa cenignan?


Thanks for all the help!
Keshav

 

[Jpalcg]

Hi Imkeshav,

I believe safety starts with us, in choosing a safe dive centre, diving within our training limits and above all our experience (which is not the same) which includes listening to the operator's recommendations, and diving safe. You might like reading a post I wrote on choosing a dive centre while travelling.

Diving in Bali offers you multiple choices, but with just 6 to 7 days of diving I would exclude long car drives (like Pemuteran). I have never stayed in the islands but earlier this year I had a great experience in PadangBai. I really enjoyed diving having Padangbai as a base. There you can have easier, relaxed and beautiful dives that are fit for DSD and recent OWD, and you can also go to Manta Point if your experience permits (I emphasize this as dives in Nusa Penida can be demanding) - again, do trust the advice of your dive centre. You could also stay a couple of days in Amed or Tulamben, and experience the diving there (the USAT Liberty wreck in Tulambem is interesting and easy for inexperienced divers).

Regarding dive centres, I can highly recommend the Geko Divers Bali. They have their own boats (which is very important as it means they control the procedures of the whole dive experience), with oxygen on board of their fast boats, qualified instructors and they will advise you the dives that are fit for your experience. They can also take you to Amed and Tulamben if you decide to stay in Padangbai (have I mentioned I loved this village )

Well, this is about all I can share with you, other members will for sure share their experiences in other dive centres and locations

Enjoy your diving!
Joao

 

[imkeshav]

Your posts are great and they were the last to be read before I tried to unsuccessfully sleep. It is 4 am and I was just talking about padangbai with wife. And I saw you post.

Thanks

We are visiting Bali first time and everyone seems to recommend LDR. I just wanted try them out. I've never done a shore dive or a wreck before. Also I love that they provided guides for free. Do others?

Now for the second half of the trip I want to stay and dive somewhere.

Padang bai indeed sounds nice and something my wife can love

But I do want to see mantas desperately. I believe nusa penida is best for that.

What is the travel time from padangbai to nusas ? Or is it better to just stay in one of the islands. Wife thinks that beaches and water and resorts are very nice in nusa cenignam.

In the fee days that I have I Dont want to lose on diving/snorkeling for travel or shifting base. Do you advise more than 2 places to stay?

I loved your post in choosing a dive center and will make sure to follow that. Did you dive with more than 1 operations I'm Bali?

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

 

[Jpalcg]

Hi again,

I really can't comment about staying at the Nusas as I've never done that. I have the idea that the boat dive to Nusa Penida was about an hour, which may seem long but it's mitigated by doing 3 dives that day. I was with my non-diving partner and staying in Padangbai allowed me to make sure she didn't feel abandoned there was quite a bit to so while I was diving, and we rented a car to go to a few places in between, so there was always enough to do together. An island might not be so flexible, but then again I don't know them (and I'm really not the resort kind of person)

Whether you stay in one place or split it is mostly a matter of personal interest. I easily spent 11 days in Padangbai but then again I was travelling for 2,5 months and jumping all the time so Padangbai was a "vacation" within a vacation for me, place to just relax and not having to pack everyday. When I was in Tulamben in 2010 there wasn't much to do there, but that may have changed

Hope this helped


Cheers
Joao


www.lifesauntering.com - Travel and scuba diving blog with a dash of photography
www.facebook.com/lifesauntering

 

[AquaMarineDiving Bali]

Hi Keshav,

My name is Ira, I work in AquaMarine Diving - Bali.
I am delighted to know that you would like to dive on Bali during your visit on next month.
Keshav, I understood that you are an AOW certified diver, meanwhile your wife is a non-certified diver.
There are 2 well-recommended dive sites both for certified and non-certified divers, which is Tulamben Bay incl. USAT Liberty Shipwreck and Blue Lagoon/ Jepun.
The current on those sites are zero to mild so it will be safe enough even for non-certified diver.
Please find below the dive site's description for your easy reference.

TULAMBEN BAY USAT LIBERTY SHIPWRECK
The small village of Tulamben, famous both for its black volcanic sand and the 120m USAT Liberty Shipwreck, is quite rightly Bali’s most popular diving location.
Tulamben is also the place where you are most likely to see internationally-recognised underwater photographers and journalists.
Tulamben Bay, like the rest of Bali, is situated in the richest marine biogeographic zone: the Indo-Pacific. Due to Tulamben’s location on Bali’s northeast coast, the Indonesian Throughflow supplies the bay with very plankton-rich waters. This, together with the different physical environments within the gives Tulamben a remarkably diverse underwater ecosystem.
The 120m USAT Liberty Shipwreck lies 20m oofshore and offers extraordinary density of marinelife, which includes Clown frogfish, Bumphead parrotfish, a huge school of Big-eyed trevally, Leaf Scorpionfish and pygmy seahorses.
The Coral garden, which runs eastwards from the Shipwreck, provides wonderful shallow dives. You can expect to see a wide selection of marinelife from Thecacera nudibranchs, Harlequin shrimps and Boxer crabs, to frogfish and Ribbon eels in all stages of development.
At Wall/Drop-off sponges and Gorgonian seafans (one of 3m) along some reef sharks await you.

BLUE LAGOON & JEPUN
Amuk Bay, with Padangbai to the south and Candidasa to the north, is about 6km across and located along the south side of Bali’s eastern point. Just north of Padangbai is Blue Lagoon, a treasure trove of marine life. This a small bay with a steep white sand beach, located just northeast of Padangbai. The steepness of the beach means there are waves, thus we take a 5min boat ride from Padangbai. The white sand bottom, which slopes gradually to 22m, has scattered rocks, soft corals and a huge area of staghorn coral. The fish life is amazing! A large napoleon wrasse is occasionally sighted, and the area is home to several kinds of reef shark, rays, stonefish, moray and blue ribbon eels, cuttlefish, nudibranches, squid and octopus, leaf scorpion fish in every hue and stargazers and frogfish. The diving at Blue Lagoon is easy, but experienced divers and photographers also thoroughly enjoy the site. Visibility is 15-20m, there is sometimes a little surge and a mild current but the bay is fairly protected, and has a good variety of sweetlips, angelfish and surgeonfish. Jepun is an extension of Blue Lagoon and has a white sand bottom. An area of artificial reef has been created – we regularly sight frog fish here. Jepun yields Rhinopias, Leaf scorpionfish,Solarpowered nudibranch, seamoths ghostpipefish, Flamboyant cuttlefish, Cockatoo waspfish, shrimps, crabs, Thorny seahorse …etc.

AMED
Amed was traditionally dependent on salt-panning and fishing and, despite the arrival of tourists, has retained that feeling making it a place where people stay for weeks at a time.
The fishlife in Amed is superb and the conditions from the sandy shore or using an outrigger boat, are easy, with good visibility.
Amed Reef with many different kinds of sponges and Gorgonian seafans, is home to marinelife that includes lobsters, shrimp and goby sets, as well as anemones with attendant clownfish, Blue-spotted rays, pygmy seahorses, and schools of fish from anthias to barracuda. White-tip reef sharks, Napoleon wrasse, Giant travelly and large schools of bannerfish, snapper, and fusilier can be found at Amed Wall. The deep slope after the wall is rich in invertebrates with crinoids and commensals. Lipah Bay, a small black sand bay, is home to The Japanese Wreck, a 20m steel freighter wreck that is encrusted with sponges, Gorgonian seafans and coral bushes, and inhabited by anthias, parrotfish and angelfish. The deeper slope has interesting seafans and is often dotted with a wide variety of nudibranchs.
Amed Ghost Bay’s artificial reef can yield Ambon scorpionfish, Ornate and Robust ghostpipefish, Mimic octopus, Wonderpus, frogfish, stonefish – we’re never quite sure what we will find there!

Keshav, I would like to recommend you and your wife to dive with us on your upcoming trip.
Reasons to choose AquaMarine Diving – Bali: (In case you still doubt that we are the “Best&#8221.
- AquaMarine only offers diving at Bali's better dive sites thereby providing the quality of diving your clients are seeking.
- Our dive staff are employed full-time and minimum PADI Divemaster certification (more than 50% are PADI Instructors)
- Maximum ratio of 1 dive guide for 4 divers
- We have the three best custom-built dive boats in Bali
- Minibuses customised for maximum space and leg room
- Emphasis on safety and enjoyment

I hope the information above will be helpful and please send your enquiries to Info@AquaMarineDiving.com and I will be more than happy to assist you further on this.

Thank you and have a nice weekend ahead. Cheers,Ira Utami

 

[Luko]

I believe that when taking a course, esp. for the open water the instructor is as much if not more important than the location itself.
There are a few dive centers in Bali I can recommand having met or seen the instructors teaching courses :
- In Padang Bai my vote would go to Gekodive and Cedric,
- In Nusa Lembongan, either Laurent, Stephanie, Crowley from 2Fish or John from Worldiving are sure bets. (I believe Lembongan is what your wife calls Ceningan, where there are no resorts)
You cannot go wrong with any instructors above, even around NUsa Lembongan, which is probably more demanding on average there are spots where OW courses can be achieved.

 

[Wingy]

Will also add Scubali/Bali Dive Academy - always been happy with their service.

 

[imkeshav]

I believe that when taking a course, esp. for the open water the instructor is as much if not more important than the location itself.
There are a few dive centers in Bali I can recommand having met or seen the instructors teaching courses :
- In Padang Bai my vote would go to Gekodive and Cedric,
- In Nusa Lembongan, either Laurent, Stephanie, Crowley from 2Fish or John from Worldiving are sure bets. (I believe Lembongan is what your wife calls Ceningan, where there are no resorts)
You cannot go wrong with any instructors above, even around NUsa Lembongan, which is probably more demanding on average there are spots where OW courses can be achieved.

My wife will probably not be taking the course, she will just do Introductory dives and snorkeling. I know it is a bit expensive, But I'm happy to see her underwater. She will probably do2-4 dives through her stay and sometimes just accompany me on the boat (is that possible?)

I initially planned for 2 locations for my entire stay and diving - Tulamben and Nusa lembognan/cenignan. But with great reviews on Geko and PadangBai, I want to fit that in as well. But my stay is only a week and I don't want pack/unpack and shift.

Tulamben - LDR comes well recommended and I want to be there for at least 2 days
Nusa sites - The next best diving is recommended in these sites and I though that diving would be easier based from there
PadangBai - This is a new entrant and I'm not sure how to fit this in

Here are some questions

Tulamben: (2-3 days?)
2) I'm planning for 3 day dives + night (at least 1)
3) My wife will do Intro dives (1-3), does LDR have good DMs to take good care of her?
4) Both of us are not big fans of muck/macro diving (Of course, can't judge for sure because we never did this dive). We prefer nice corals, lots of fish, great vizibility, mantas, sharks, big stuff
5) I've never done a shore dive or a wreck dive and look forward to that

Dive Center: LDR
Stay: Mostly LDR?

Nusa Lembognan/Nusa cenignan (2 or 3 days?)
--------------------------------------
1) One my main goals in this trip is to see Mantas,sharks and maybe a mola and I've heard there is a good chance to see them around these islands. Want to do safe drift dives here
2) But I do have concerns with currents as I have 20 dives experience, so looking for a professional operator who can help me
3) Are there any safe dive sites for my wife to do Intro dives or snorkeling in these sites?
4) I was adviced to stay in these islands to be closer to dive sites rather than do boat trips from Bali? What do you think?
5) Lastly, my wife believes that these islands are much prettier than bali Tulamben,PadangBai and the resorts also are looking nice. Is that true? (in <$70 range)
6) Are there resorts in Nusa Ceniganan, and do dive centers pick us up from there as well OR should we stay only in nusa lembognan
7) Here are some of the resorts in Nusa cenignan - Secret Point Hut, Le Pirate etc (Compare Hotels - Best Hotel Deals Guaranteed | HotelsCombined)

Dive Center: Prefer a less crowded DC but safety conscious one. Options given are 2 Fish or world diving (someone said that they are too busy to give personal attention)
Stay: Not decided. Looking for advice. Should I stay in lembognan or cenignan

PadangBai
------------
Based on inputs from Joao, I wanted to check out Geko and PadangBai. I've contacted them and sent an email, no response yet from James! I will reach out to Aquamarine as well.

1) I'm not sure how to fit this place in without cutting my stay in tulamben or taking trips to nusa penida sites from mainland Bali. Should I do 2 days in Tulamben, 2 days in Padang Bai and 3 Days in Nusa? Looking for recommendations here
2) Blue logoon sounds like a great place to dive and snorkel
3) Heard that local attractions are also nice, but we are not sight seeing oriented. Like activities and wife loves shopping and Spa

So there you go

 

[Edward3c]

Hi Guys,

After great inputs for my questions, we decided to go for Bali this time instead of Sipadan. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...iday-choosing-between-bali-mabul-sipadan.html

But I still need help in choosing places to stay and good dive operators. Please point me to any links,info, website that can help answer some of these questions

Quick Background:
Dive Holiday: June 3rd week, 6-7 days excluding travel
Experience: I'm AOW with just 20 dives and wife (non-swimmer) has done only Introductory dives (DSDs) and snorkeling. Also we could have a friend who has just completed OW course with 4 dives (newbie)

Here are my questions

1)I want to split my stay between 2 places (Tulamben, candi dasa, nusa lembognan etc), what do you suggest and also let me know the dive sites around these places


2) I want to share 2-3 dives with my wife when she does her DSD (must be below 12 meters i think and will need an instructor or DM). Is that possible?

3) Which areas have currents (strong or medium) Tulamben, Candi Dasa, PadanBai, Amed in Bali

4) Where can I do a drift dive and which dive center should I choose?

5) I heard that there are strong/unpredictable currents in most dive sites around nusa longanan or nusa cenigan or nusa penida. So Can I dive at Manta point for a chance to see Mantas?

6) Around these islands, Are there any safe dive sites for my wife to do DSD or snorkeling in shallow but clear waters

7) Which is best and professional dive operator in nusa lembognan or nusa cenignan?


Thanks for all the help!
Keshav

We used Bali SCUBA, however, any operator in Bali can organise accommodation and diving to suit your needs.

 

[imkeshav]

Will also add Scubali/Bali Dive Academy - always been happy with their service.

Both names mean the same place? Where are they based?

---------- Post added May 30th, 2014 at 05:43 PM ----------

We used Bali SCUBA, however, any operator in Bali can organise accommodation and diving to suit your needs.

Looks like they are based in Denpasar, isn't that far from the various dive sites. I don't plan to stay in this are as it looks overcrowded. But thanks for the inputs I will keep them in mind