Dive Review of alamBatu in
Indonesia/Tulamben

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alamBatu: "Great resort for divers and non-divers alike", May, 2018, by Dennis A McCrea, WA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 10285.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The long travel time to get here was expected and we planned accordingly. Arrived in Bali 4 days before we transferred to the resort, and spent 4 nights in Ubud to get rested and adjusted to the time change. The resort picked us up in an air conditioned van at our Ubud hotel on time, and had cool filtered water in environmentally friendly metal containers for our 2 1/2 hour ride to the resort. The driver gave us information about the island and possible tours available as he drove us to the resort. On arrival we were greeted by Danny (the resort manager) and Susan (the dive operations manager), along with other staff members. We were provided with a refreshing frozen fruit drink while we were given an orientation and information about the resort. The resort is very environmentally "green" - straws for drinks are either metal or glass and I never saw any plastic containers in use. In the rooms there is a card asking you to please take any plastic containers back home with you (sunscreen, bug spray etc) and they provide filtered water in the dining area and ask you to use the metal containers they provide when you are picked up by the van. We met Susan later that afternoon for a "check out dive" on the house reef. She assigned us spots in the dive staging area for our gear and showed us where the tanks are kept and where the Nitrox analyzer was kept to check the percentage in tanks. She also pointed out the dedicated camera room for photographers and the dedicated rinse tank just for cameras. The house reef is just a few steps down from the dive shop and has smooth tumbled rocks and sand for access. Wading out into waist deep water and putting on your fins is fairly easy. The dive boats are usually tied up about 60 to 80 feet away on the down line during the day. If you are boat diving, the crew takes your tank and BC out to the boat, but you will have to swim out to the boat with mask and fins and carry your own camera to the boat(s). The house reef starts in sand and continues to a reef/wall dive that offers a large variety of fish to macro critters. It drops off fairly quick, so maintaining buoyancy and attention to you depth gauge is a must. Visibility varied from 15 ft close to the sand area to 60-70 ft at the walls. Boat dives are anywhere from a 5 minute travel time up to 15 minutes to sites such as the Liberty Wreck dive. This side of Bali is the dry side and will usually have better visibility unless the wind picks up and creates silt from the shore waves. There are a lot of Macro critters the guides like to point out, but there are fish for those that want something larger. Bump Head Parrot fish, Sweet Lips, Anemone Fish, and schools of Fusiliers are found on many dive sites. The resort is well laid out for privacy for each bungalow. Tropical planting and distance between each bungalow allow you to have your private space. Air conditioning and an enclosed outdoor bath/toilet area with a shower and plenty of hot water make this a luxury resort compared to other resorts nearby. There is an onsite spa that offers massages, facials, and other spa offerings. The dining and reception area has coffee, tea, and filtered water available 24 hrs a day. The dining area also opens to an outdoor dining patio that is used most evenings with lighted lanterns and a buffet when there are enough guests. Meals can be ordered from the menu. Breakfast is served from 7:30 - 11 am and dinner is from 7:30 pm - 11 pm. Food varies from Indonesian to typical American/European Fare. There is an Infinity pool with loungers ocean side, and numerous covered "cabanas" with padded loungers oceanfront throughout the grounds. This resort is owned and managed by Germans and has a large European clientele. The only downside we noticed was the large percentage of smokers. The good part was that smoking wasn't allowed inside the enclosed areas. We did enjoy our stay here and would suggest this as a destination for those that have non-divers traveling with them. The staff and amenities are well worth the price.
Websites	alamBatu
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Bahamas, Dominica, Belize, Bonaire, Roatan, Cozumel, Hawaii, Philippines, California, Florida, Washington, Virgin Islands, Fiji
Closest Airport	Denpsar Bali	Getting There	We used EVA Air with a flight out of Seattle connecting through Taipei - other airlines also provide service
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-85°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-60 Ft/ 6-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Unsupervised shore diving restrictions suggested staying at recreational limits. Guided boat dives were usually limited to 1 hour and max depth of 100 feet
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The boats have no camera rinse tanks and cameras are just placed on the floors or tank racks.

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Dive Review of alamBatu in Indonesia/Tulamben

alamBatu: "Great resort for divers and non-divers alike", May, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of alamBatu in
Indonesia/Tulamben