From: chapman@catalina.llnl.gov (Carol Chapman)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Re: Bali diving
Date: 10 Sep 92 17:13:20 GMT
Reply-To: chapman1@llnl.gov
Distribution: rec.scuba
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

In article <ROLS.92Sep10000058@tk1003.shearson.com>, rols@tk1003.shearson.com
(Roland King) writes:
|>Recently sombebody posted me a great article on diving in Bali and I lost it
|>(need to
|>learn how to use this computer !!) Can you please either mail it to me to
|>rols@shearson.com
|>or post it to this group.

Hmmm...that might have been me.  Here's a summary I wrote last year. 
The other non-diving report that I wrote about Bali is still in my files
if anyone wants that.

carol  (chapman1@llnl.gov)
------------------------

As promised, here's my dive report on Bali.  I was in Bali from Dec.
14 to Jan. 12, 1991.  The trip was not intended to be a dive vacation,
but naturally, I had to try the water!  The full trip report will be
posted to rec.travel.  This report just covers the diving aspects. 

Roundtrip airfare from San Francisco to Denpasar, Bali (with layovers
in Honolulu and Guam) cost $850 on Continental and took 20 hours going
and 34 hours returning (14 hours in Guam).  Food and lodging in Bali
is dirt cheap (we were paying U.S. $8 per night for 2, including
breakfast), so the majority of the cost is the airfare.

I had hoped that the diving would also be dirt cheap, but Bali is not
really set up for diving, so when you find a dive shop, prices tend to
be higher than other things in Bali, and equipment must be closely
examined.  It's still a bargain by U.S. standards, with a 2 tank boat
dive with lunch and all equipment costing U.S.$50-60 dollars in most
cases (you may have to barter).  The majority of dive shops are
located in southern Bali where the tourists are (Kuta, Sanur, Benoa),
but the best diving is on the eastern and northern coasts.  My husband
and I were doing our utmost to avoid tourist spots for the majority of
our trip, so we did not check out any of the dive shops in southern
Bali. 

We only did 4 dives in Bali; 2 shore dives to a wreck in Tulamben on
the eastern coast, and 2 boat dives at Menjangan Island off of Bali's
north coast.  For the day of diving at Tulamben, we first went to the
village of Buitan and the Balina Beach Dive Center.  We had read good
things about them in a book, but when we looked at their equipment, we
found it to be old and in poor condition (leaky B.C.s, regulator with
no filter on first stage, etc.).  We did not rent from them, but
instead went to the Stingray Dive Center in Candi Dasa.  The guys at
Stingray did not speak a lot of English, but their equipment was
relatively new and in very good condition.  They spoke enough English
to get by.  Cost was U.S.$50 per person for 2 tank dives,
transportation to Tulamben (one hour away), all gear and lunch.

Tulamben is such a small village that if you blink you'll probably
miss it.  The beach there consists of small stones rather than sand.
Our van was met by locals who carried all our gear, including the
tanks, on their heads to the dive site!  That in itself was worth a
couple photos!  There is no dive shop at Tulamben.  The big attraction
here is a U.S. merchant ship that was torpedoed by the Japanese during
WWII and towed to Bali with intentions of repairing it after the war.
It was moored at Tulamben until 1963 when a volcano erupted.  That was
enough to sink the ship, so it's been sunken long enough to have lots
of things growing on it.  The wreck goes from 20-120 feet in depth.
It's very close to shore, so even snorkelers can see it.

January is right smack in the middle of Bali's rainy season, which
affects the water visibility.  On our first dive I had a maximum depth
of 82 feet.  Visibility was 30' in shallower water and 60' at depth.
We dove along most of the length of the ship, but could scarcely tell
it was a ship because it had broken up so much and had so much growing
on it.  We saw lots of soft corals, sponges and tropical fish.  There
was so much to see that I felt overwhelmed and had trouble deciding
where to look first!  Water temp was about 78 degrees Farenheit.  We
wore our SSA Darlex suits and used our own dive computers, masks and
snorkels.  Everything else was rental equipment, but it all worked
well.  We were pleased to see that our dive guide included a
decompression stop at 10' (which we would have done with our without
him anyway!). 

Our dive lasted 45 min.  Afterwards we ate a leisurely lunch.  We
became aware of flies everywhere, a real nuisance.  Someone told us
that they are attracted to fruit rotting on the trees along shore.
The flies were the only drawback to our Tulamben experience.  We were
glad to get back in the water for a second dive.  This dive was to a
maximum depth of 66'.  We mainly explored the bow of the ship which
was fairly intact and really looked like a ship.  We saw ladders,
portholes, chests, a wheel, etc.  Plus more fish and plant life.  We
saw a gorgeous sea fan, 6 feet in diameter.  The dive lasted 62
minutes.  We were back at Candi Dasa by 5 p.m., very satisfied with
our first taste of diving Bali.

Our next dive was 4 days later.  We made arrangements with Lovina
Marine Sports located at the Bali Lovina Beach Cottages in the town of
Lovina on Bali's northern coast.  From Lovina it's a 1 1/2 hour drive
to the Bali Barat National Park.  Menjangan Island is a marine
sanctuary that is part of the park.  Cost for all equipment, lunch,
transportation, and 2 tank dives was U.S. $60 per person.  The
equipment was in very good condition and was all made by U.S. Divers.
Once at the park, we had a 1/2 hour boat ride in a skiff over to the
island.  We did the first dive around 11 a.m. and did the second dive
at 1:10 p.m. after an interesting box lunch consisting of rice, fish,
shrimp, 1 hard boiled egg and a banana.  Both dives were most
beautiful.  Again, lots of soft corals, anemones with colorful clown
fish hiding in them, bright tropical fish, etc.  I saw my first
lionfish.  On the first dive we let the current gradually take us
eastward.  On that dive we had visibility of about 70', maximum depth
of 86'.  On the second dive we headed westward.  For that dive we had
a maximum depth of 62', but visibility was only about 40'.  Both dives
started at the only sandy beach on the south face of the island.  The
boat came and picked us up at the end of each dive.  Both dives were
wall dives with the wall starting within a few yards of the beach and
dropping down as far as we could see.  Our dive guide was not as good
as the guide we had at Tulamben.  I caught him carving his name into
some coral and gave him a shove to stop him!  He confessed at
lunchtime that he had only been diving for 5 months.  His English was
not very good, so we didn't have very long conversations with him.
One last note regarding Menjangan is that there is nowhere to rent
dive equipment once you're there.  This is said to be the best diving
on Bali, and the government has plans to have a dive center built
there, but I think that's quite a ways off in the future.

In summary, I enjoyed the diving at both Tulamben and Menjangan
Island.  I think the water visibility would have been much better any
other time of year, but even in January, it was pretty darn good!  If
I go back, I'll take my own regulator in addition to my SSA suit, dive
computer, and mask.  People diving in Bali should check the rental
equipment carefully and the credentials of the dive masters.

Happy diving!

carol



--
Carol Chapman                                        Tel. (510) 423-7876
Livermore National Laboratory                        chapman1@llnl.gov
P. O. Box 808, L-262            "The future's so bright,
Livermore, CA  94550             I gotta wear shades..." -- Timbuk3


                                

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