Beautiful Bali - a Diver’s Dream Destination

Regaldive’s John Butland reports on his recent trip to the lovely island of Bali. John recommends Bali as a great place to start the huge adventure of diving in Indonesia and also a perfect place to board a liveaboard for another amazing diving experience.

A trip report from Regaldive’s John Butland

Just before Christmas, I had a trip to the lovely island of Bali. It was a great experience for me, it’s so nice to visit areas that are regularly visited by Regaldive guests and I even met some of our guests there.

To get there, I decided to try the relatively new service from Gatwick by Garuda - this is to Jakarta and then a short internal flight to Bali. They looked after me very well and the advantage is that they are quite often a bit cheaper than some of the other airlines. 

Bali is a beautiful island and we feature two locations that are well known for the quality of the diving, the North East and the North West sides, both well away from the hustle and bustle of the capital Denpasar. I was very impressed the standard and variety of both the accommodation and diving, there is certainly something for everyone there.

I visited all of the properties we feature, starting with the Alam Anda Ocean Front Resort & Spa, a traditional Balinese style property with very friendly staff and good food. It's located right on the sea front and a gentle dive on the house reef was a great way to start a week’s diving. Immediately, I knew I was in for some good dives, with some small critters such as Ghost Pipefish, right up to big things, like a Turtle and 3 Bumphead Parrotfish. 

I then moved on to a hotel that is very popular with Regaldive guests, the luxurious Siddhartha Ocean Front Resort. There are also some lovely dive sites within 10 minutes of the Werner Lau dive centre, including the well-known Liberty Wreck and Werner Lau is one of the few dive centres that visit it by boat, rather than the shore. The Liberty really is a lovely wreck, with an interesting history and it is absolutely smothered in life, at times it's difficult to know which way to look! Again, both the lovers of macro and bigger stuff should all be kept happy. 

I then travelled to the North West side of the island, staying at Taman Selini, a charming, Balinese style resort with the dive centre on the beach just next door. This gave me the chance to dive an area I was really looking forward to, Menjangan, a small island just off the coat of the Bali Barat National Park. The currents and sheer walls are the home to many lovely corals, full of life with plenty of Napoleon wrasse and groupers. There were even schools of Barracuda and a few Grey Reef Sharks out in the blue. Just on the other side of the headland is Secret Bay (Gilimanuk), a big draw for macro enthusiasts. The tide has to be right though, so bring your camera just-in-case for the Nudibranchs and Mantis Shrimp. 

The final visit of my trip was to the 5 star resort of Matahari Beach Resort & Spa. It's a stunning resort with some lovely rooms and an amazing spa, certainly it’s ideal for those who want to treat themselves to a little luxury. It’s right on the black sandy beach, with two restaurants and a dive centre on site - what more could you want?!

Although none of us relish a 3 or 4 hour transfer, the drive back to Denpasar has got to be one of the world’s most interesting and scenic. We enjoyed views over the top of the island’s central mountains, with lovely views over the terraced paddy fields, thick forests and a couple of volcanic lakes. 

I'd recommend Bali as a great place to start the huge adventure of diving in Indonesia and also a perfect place to board a liveaboard to another amazing diving location. But more of that from me next time...