Hi folks,
My fiancee and I will be heading to Bali for our honeymoon in about 10 days... We'll be there for a month. I am a certified diver but she is not though wants to be. what are the best places to get your open water certification in Bali? I am looking for something that is reputable but also a good value for the money.
The LP book suggests Spice Dive in Lovina for a four-dive open water class. It's the cheapest I have seen in the book. Is it any good?
Does this include theory? (she hasn't done theory yet).
Any other reccommendations? We're landing and spending the night close to the airport before heading to Amed for the first few days of honeymoon splendor before heading out on a more budget-like trip. The earlier in the trip, the better so anywhere between Amed and Permuteran would be good.
Thanks!
Charlie
a lot of people here recommend getting it in Padang Bai. there's several dive outfits there (sorry can't recommend any. maybe do a search on padang bai?). after dived the area i think it's a good idea since the current is minimal, there's plenty to see in the shallows and the reef is still in very good condition.
other option is Sanur. there's a lot of dive outfits in the area but i can personally recommend BIDP. very professional and the boats are in very good condition. actually they can arrange for trips in any divespots in bali because almost all of them is reacheable for one day trips.
A couple of options in Sanur. Bali Ocean Adventure is a bit more expensive but a very sharp operation with some of the best attention to safety I've seen at a Bali dive shop.
Hello!
It's a bit late post now - you're probably back from your honeymoon - but maybe somebody else needs info on diving in Lovina with Spice Dive. We also read the recommendation in the Lonely Planet and wanted to do our PADI Advanced Open Water Course with them. The price would have been average - but we had to stop after the first dive for the following reasons.
- First impression: Course information before the booking in the office was not very competent, but ok.
- First diving day: They gave us the wrong pick up time from the hotel and were 1 hour (!) early - we were just about getting up...
- They changed plans to which dive site we will go 3 times that morning!
- Our first dive for the course would have been a "Peak Performance Bouyency" Dive - our instructor didn't give us proper information about the dive site, exercises, technical information, nothing - we only got answers to specific questions, and those answers were not very informative either. the dive was basically just a normal guided dive with 1-2 "exercises" if you wanna call it that.
- The instructor (Agus) was very "surprised" that we didn't like his "teaching" and his reaction to the fact that we didn't want to do the second dive anymore was just "well - I've done my best - no responsibility on me".
What can you say? I hope we have just been VEEEERY unlucky and that this experience with Spice Dive is a unique one. No doubt we had a bad instructor, but also the organization wasn't really helpful to us. We have basically never been that angry before in our holidays and it ruined a lot of our impression of the people here in Lovina. What do you have to do to be treated with respect and being given the information that makes your stay and your activities pleasant? I'm sure they have at least better guides and instructors there as well, but still I would never go back to that company again. sorry. Too much is too much.
Better - go to Flores to Reefseekers, or Dreamdivers on Gilis, we are still looking for a diving school to recommend for Bali...
Clauko
Hi. I am Robbie the General Manager of Spice Dive Lovina.
I am sad to hear that you where not satisfied with your course. Agus has been an instructor with us since 1989 an I never had complains about him. He told me he had to change the plan because of the currents at the dive site.
We try to achieve a 100 percent customer satisfaction rate. With your comment it seems we don’t reach that 100%. And end up somewhere above 99%.
I regret you did not ask to speak to the manager. I am sure we could have worked out something together. My goal is to let every customer leave Lovina happy.
Again, what a pitty we did not meet your expectations , and I hope you return to Lovina one day and do some dives with us without charge.
Best regards,
Robbie Drexhage
GM Spice Dive Lovina
e-mail: spicedive@balispicedive.com
Hello Robbie,
Thanks for replying to my ealier posting about our Spice Dive Experience. My opinion has still not changed about our experience with Spice Dive. If your guide blames changing currents for our comment, you can believe it if you want. I don't think any diver would blame currents for a bad experience with a diving school - that's nature. Our problem was the "customer service" and "communication skills" of the people involved and also with the organization of the whole day. Can happen I guess - everybody has a bad day - but this was definitely one where everything went wrong for us. If Agus is such a good guide, why didn't he offer to solve the problem on the spot and let us speak to you? Over is over - sorry that we messed up you 100% statistics.
Clauko
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