Tulamben, Bali .... Who should I dive through?

Hi,

First off, thanks to everyone who replied to my previous question about traveling from Singapore to Thailand. So I have decided to spend 5 days in Bali (3 1/2 of those diving) and I know, at least think I do, that I want to dive in the Tulamben area. Does anyone have recomendations on who to dive through? Where to stay? We are two young guys, that really don't care about nice resorts and all, really just looking to maybe save some money and have heard there are cheap places to stay (Hostels). Are there any good cheap dive operators? I know that its not fun diving with bad guides so I don't mind spending more if needed. All comments are much appreciated.

Also can anyone give me information on weather (from their experiences), we will be in Bali during the end of February through beginning of March. I have heard this is during the rainy season, but is it really that bad?

Thanks,

Brett

I've spent a couple of weeks in Scuba Seraya a few months back and had a great time. Accomodation was good, as were the dive guides and dive centre setup. The Liberty is only 5 minutes away by boat, and they have a great macro site right in front of the resort Highly recommended.

Hey,

When we dive Tulamben we usually go toTauch Terminal which is a shore dive to the Liberty wreck and pretty sweet. I think I would hesitate to go there Feb/Mar as I think there is a river/wash that outlets near Tulamben during the rainy season which would probably make it not so great at that time. Others might know better.

During that time of season we like to dive from Padang Bai with WaterWorx (www.waterworxbali.com) and do Nusa Pendia/etc. Manta point can be really great that time of year!

Finally, if you are still travelling through Thailand in Feb/Mar then PhiPhi is really great at that time.

Good luck

I can thoroughly recommend:-

AquaMarine Diving – Bali

FiNS Associate Editors and marine life book authors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have just been diving with Aquamarine and you may have seen this piece here on wetpixel which is from their trip with AMD.

I've been diving with them since 2002 and they have excellent dive-masters/spotters who really look after you. Particularly if there is anything specific you want to see.

Annabel@AquaMarineDiving.com

Tel: +62 361 730 107

Fax: +62 361 735 368

Office Address:

Jl. Raya Seminyak 2A

Kuta, Bali

80361 Indonesia

Mobile: (English)

+62 81 236 588 29

Correspondence Address:

PO Box 2098

Kuta - Legian, Bali

80361 Indonesia

Jeff Mullins, who I have seen lurking around here, might be another option for you, although I have never dived with him, his book on Tulamben is quite comprehensive.

http://www.reefimages.i8.com/

jeff mullins recomended me tulamben wreck divers because he is full when iam in bali.

so far i had very nice email contact with them and all sounds very good.

They are right "across the street" from the wreck and have the cheapest air fills in Tulamben.

Cheers

James

Feb/Mar is ok for viz. The river runoff clears after a few days. From mid-Mar to April, you get the reef spawning of all the critters in the Seraya area, esp near the full moon. Scuba Seraya is now run by Bali Hai. Besides Tulamben and Seraya, Penida and Lembongan, there are other places to dive in Bali. In Candidasa and Amed, there are more than a few spots for very good diving (Serai, Padang Bai etc). Up north in Menjangan, Secret Bay ( which really isn't a secret anymore, esp the dragonets and mandarin fish) and thanks to the Ferraris for publicising a local insider's spot for many years, Seririt's Puri Jati are great critter and wall diving.

I personally use Bali International Dive Professionals(BIDP) for all my local diving since 2000. They can cover everything from EAN to Tri-mix while the guides are terrific spotters (one of them worked on the Pindito and trained by Tommy, the legendary Ambonese super critter spotter). Best of all, the owner Avandy is a local Balinese and can give you that touch the foreign owned ops don't usually do. He also does special itineraries to far out, rarely dived places in Nusa Lembongan. Quite a few ops don't have their own boats and just hire boats for the day. BIDP has a custom boat with a head and is built for diving. Little things like that make for more enjoyable diving.

For cheap accomodations in Tulamben, there's the $25 dollar a day Paradise or Wreck Divers. Skip Tauch Terminal, they are over priced for what they provide. Scuba Seraya isn't cheap (relative to paradise, but the accomodations are very good value, except for the food) but if you arrange with a local ops, they will bring vehicles etc to dive the Seraya area and anywhere else really. With Seraya and some of the deeper slopes, EAN is probably a good idea.

We stayed at the Paradise Palm Beach hotel several years ago. It was fine. But there are a number of other places there now. I can recommend Graham Abbot (who is on wetpixel sometimes) at diving4images.com, but he's probably off on a boat somewhere.

Have fun.

rinjani

i just came back from Scuba Seraya and thought it was fantastic. diving right off shore, 5 mins boat ride to the wrecka and any other site.

Great location and very cute staff!!

i just came back from Scuba Seraya and thought it was fantastic. diving right off shore, 5 mins boat ride to the wrecka and any other site.

 

Great location and very cute staff!!

Scuba Seraya rocks. I think you can get better prices by booking on the web verses just showing up like we did. That's not the norm for Bali but it was for Seraya. Great staff, great divemasters, good food.

Chris

Thanks everyone for the input, this helps alot.

Brett

Thanks everyone for the input, this helps alot.

 

Brett

I just return yesterday from Indonesia and i spend 5 days at Tulamben diving with Jeff Mullins . If you are in to u/w photography i can recommend you to use his services . He lives there and dive everyday , knows were all the interesting photo subjects are located and ( most important ) being a professional u/w photographer himself he can take you to the best spots at the best times .

Is not the same to have a good spotting guide than a guide with a photographer's point of view ( i also went to Lembeh and i can tell you the difference )

He runs a small one-to-one operation and he can even provide you with very good accomodation .

He and his wife Dawn are a great persons to hang with during the surface intervals.

Good luck

El buzo

I have just been to Tulamben about a month ago and Tulamben Wreck Divers is the resort I've been with. They are great and for their unlimited dive package, I thought it was quite worthwhile. I have no complains other than its breakfast was not to my liking... Accomodation wise is excellent, guides are great too, and dive sites are just withing walking distance. Enjoy your dive!