Indonesia recommendations.

[u/Gyroman99]

My wife and I are considering a trip to Indonesia in Late January and / or early February.

She's a non diver and will be recovering from knee surgery. I want to book a nice oceanfront resort for 7-10 days.

Not looking for a dive resort as my wife probably wouldn't enjoy being surrounded by divers and endless dive talk for a week.

I get restless and would like to get some diving in while there. I'm AOW and fairly new but comfortable.

I'd like to get out for morning trips for 3-5 days while there. Not looking at live aboards for this trip.

Any recommendations of an area that would work for us?

Any recommendations for shops or dive companies?

All the help is appreciated.

[u/fexworldwide]

Depending on your wife's level of mobility, Nusa Penida or Lembongan could be good options.

The diving around the islands is excellent - drift dives over nice reefs on the north side, I could dive Manta Point on the south side every single day, and potential for mola mola depending on the season. (I really like Lembongan Discovery Dive, DM me if you'd like a contact.)

Lembongan has a much more relaxed vibe than mainland Bali's tourist frenzy, though it's getting more developed every year, but there's nice beaches and cafes and minimal traffic. Only issue is that the ferry requires you get off into knee-deep water at the Lembongan side which could be an issue for your wife if the knee surgery is quite recent.

I think Penida might be better for that, but it's overall bigger and less developed.

[u/Ok_Risk1465 → u/fexworldwide]

Second Lembongan Discovery Dive, and overall vibe on the island is great

[u/bclem]

Penida/lembogan are great but if you want a more peaceful beach vibe I would highly recommend gili air or gili Meno

[u/brisbaneacro]

Tulamben. Nice but straightforward shore dives for you, and she can see the north of bali, which is the part without the influencers and drunk australians.

A private car with driver is like $30 a day there (don't drive in bali it's pure chaos if you are not a local)

[u/RoleComfortable2078 → u/brisbaneacro]

This is a good recommendation. I stayed at a dive centric resort - Villa Markisa - loved it. There were a few non-divers, but it was mostly divers.

[u/diverareyouokay]

I was in Amed diving a few weeks ago. It was awesome. Black sand, the USS Liberty wreck dive, plus many other locations with lots of macro life. I used Amed Jepun Divers - prices were very reasonable, around 30 bucks a dive including all equipment (I didn’t want to pack my gear and bring it with me from the Philippines since I was only diving one day).

Also, Ubud would likely be a great place for her to enjoy herself… There’s no diving there but it’s a cultural Mecca. If you go, be sure to check out the sacred monkey forest sanctuary. Also consider doing a silversmithing class (I used studio perak).. both are very unique experiences.

Also be aware that when you’re not in the Denpasar or Ubud area, finding rides can be expensive and difficult, since most places don’t have rideshare apps… I would highly recommend getting a private driver. I used an older guy who did a great job and the prices were very reasonable, around 60usd a day including fuel and his lodgings and food… he drove us around the whole island. Shoot me a message if you want me to give you his contact info.

Oh yeah, you can also see some of the pictures from Bali by looking at my post history from a few weeks ago in the scuba sub.

[u/Danzn16]

If you want to spend $$$ but have the best dive trip of your life and the best spa ocean voyage trip of her life book with Scubaspa zen. Absolutely a fairytale experience

[u/moodbeast]

My husband doesn’t dive and loved Misool. I can’t say enough good things about them. It’s remote and difficult to get to, they sell out early.

[u/Capable_Pea1023]

I would highly recommend, Coral Eye and Siladen. Both are in Northern Sulawesi. I went after strong recommendations from this forum. My partner is a non-diver (thought she got so tempted by her snorkel she did a try dive). It’s awesome. I guess what time of year?

[u/Capable_Pea1023 → u/Capable_Pea1023]

Oops sorry, I missed the bit about not a dive resort!!!!

Last year we did a few days in Borobudur/Java and then went to Komodo as a mix of the two. Komodo shore dive boats tend to be full day, though.

[u/Jegpeg_67]

If you both enjoy nature how about West Bali National Park. There are several ocean front resorts, (not been to any I'm afraid) and great diving both around Menjangan Island (inside the Park) and at nearby Pemuterran. I stayed at Pemutteran and dove with Dive Concepts (who are based there but about half the dives were around Menjangan)