Bali: Scuba Seraya trip Report

[deepdiver47]

Scuba Seraya - Bali trip report (7/15-7/22)

Arrival: This was my first time in Indonesia and I arrived at Denpasar airport at 9:30 PM from Guam. Alit from SS was there with a poster waiting for me. It was a wild ride to SS taking some 2.5 hours (takes 3 during the day). If you have ever been driven in China you will understand what I mean by "wild", (use horn frequently to move bikes, trucks, people and dogs) Did I say that they used the horn as much as they shifted the van?

Resort: This place is very beautiful and tranquil, see for yourself:
seraya1.jpg
It is a very small resort located right on the beach in NE corner of Bali. I had a maisonette which was plenty for me as I am a single diver (married man who dives feverously while on business trips). This resort is meticulously clean (the grass is swept in the morning). It is an incredibly peaceful stay as you have no TV, paper, internet phone and the fact that EVERYONE smiles at you. I felt safe enough that I didn't need lock my doors at any time.

Weather: Pictures tell the story, its dry season, everyday was the same. It was 84 F during the day, high 70's at night Always had a slight ocean breeze to keep you cool. Couldn't ask for any better.

Diving: My package was based on 17 dives (9 boat, 8 land), I had my own dive guide and made up my own schedule. (spoiled, totally spoiled!). I would do 3-4 dives per day starting at 8 AM and ending with a night dive at 9 PM (did 3 night dives, water temp was 82F). The house reef is directly in front of the resort and is a muck/macro divers dream. I'm a wall/reef guy myself and found it interesting enough to do 3 dives there (you must do at least 1 night dive) after that I spent my time on sites such as Alamanda (heavy, heavy sigh), Drop Off and Liberty Wreck. In general, the diving was very good. (based on my experiences in Palau/Yap). Large corals with huge amounts of juvies were abundant with little currents to bother you. Dive depths ranged from 25 to 110 ft. I found the viz to be 30-60 ft (we had heavy surf during the week).
seraya2.jpg
Food: Menu varied from Indonesian to Western food. Breakfast was 2 fresh eggs, fruit plate, basket of fresh rolls and tea. The Indonesian food was quite good (Indonesian chicken curry, sweet and sour pork etc). For the Western foods you need to ask if it was a fresh dish or frozen. The fresh dishes veal sausage, chicken dishes were very good. If you ask, they will tell you. I travel Asia and I usually go with the local foods and eat very well. (my wife says that I can eat dirt). Pricing on food and drinks were very cheap.
Complete meals were in the $6-7 dollar range. They now have wine (Chateau de box) and a Espresso machine for you coffee lovers.

Pros/Cons: Far too many pros to list. I loved the trip. I met some terrific people from South Africa, Australia and Japan. The smallness of this resort lends itself to having great meals and conversation.
However, upon arriving I was told that there was no Nitrox. SS has separated from Bali Hai diving and are purchasing their own Nitrox compressor and are building a new boat which they hope to have in place for the photo week in August. As a Nitrox diver this took the wind out of my sails abit. I ended up by just doing more dives to compensate for the smallish 60 minute dives. You can PM me if you require additional details. More photos can be seen in my gallery. A very special "thank you" to the many of you that have contributed to me finding and setting up this trip, you guys are great!

[Bill22]

Hey thanks for sharing... don't know how I missed seeing it before. Bali is another place on my "list" :-) Sounds like you had a great time :-)

[gbrdiver]

That wild 2.5 hour ride used to be at least an hour longer a couple of years ago. The new (sic) road has made the trip a bit more tolerable. I have covered most of the popular sites in Bali over about 4 visits to the island. I have never prebooked anything. I have found that by visiting one of the tour booths along Kuta beach and telling them exactly what you want -you will get it. They phone around until they find someone that will take you. Whilst it can be hard to haggle on price when you are travelling alone - it must be done! Last trip I got a van, driver, dive guide, accomodation at Matahari resort at Tulamben, twin-tanks, 8 dives at 3 different locations (Padang Bai, Tulamben and Menjangen) for around $150. And that was with one of the more well known operators.

[Travelnsj]

I've been to Bali twice. I really enjoy it...nice diving, totally different style diving than Palau (been there 8 times) other than the coral gardens in Palau. When I was in Bali in September did 10 dives...including going down to Monkey reef. Very under rated diving...the only thing I found...it got a bit redundant... I saw as much in Bali as I did the 30 dives I had in Wakatobi....unless you are into Pigmy Seahorses...LOL

[Silverlode]

Thanks for the sharing. I'm glad Bill found this thread.
I went to China this year and can fully understand what you mean by the wild ride.
What's SS stand for in this case? Does it cost a lot to dive there? I presume you brought most of your own gears along.

Thanks Gbrdiver re not rebooking and what you managed to get out of it. Looks really good.

Are there anything to do for non-divers there?

[Soonerwink]

Very nice report and pictures. I really love the Lionfish photo.

[Scubakraut]

Awesome. Would love to see more pictures.