Bali Diving Packages

How to Get There

Bali lies in the chain of islands directly between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. There are direct international flights to Denpasar - Ngurah Rai International Airport from Singapore, Hong Kong, Hawaii and Guam, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Phuket, Tokyo and Taipei.
Denpasar is located just south of Kuta and is served with daily flights from Jakarta. Flights are frequent and take 80 minutes. There are many other direct internal routes including Maumere - Flores, Manado - Sulawesi, Kupang - Timor, Bima - Sumbawa and Ambon - Banda Islands. Indonesia's domestic airlines include Lion Air/Wings Air, Garuda and Air Asia. You should be able to book direct online with them and pay with your debit/credit card. If you experience problems, please ask us for help.
Tulamben, meanwhile, is a 3 hour taxi ride from the airport and may, depending on your dive resort choice, be included in the price.
We recommend you consider diving, travel and trip cancellation insurance. See our insurance programme for a competitive quote:

Choose Your Own Accommodation

If you plan on booking your own accommodation for your Bali resort diving vacation, you will find a large range of choices at hotelscombined.com, our affiliated hotel reservation specialists:

Take your pick from dozens of options, from top-of-the range international beach resorts to budget guesthouses, and everything in between. And you can be sure that whatever option you go for, it will be backed up by their 'Low Price Guarantee' to ensure you get the best value for money.

Sightseeing and Things to Do

From the "happening" Kuta suburb you can easily go sailing, rafting, quad biking, canyoning, fishing, scuba diving or simply sightseeing around Bali and still be back at your resort in time for happy hour.
Kuta is also the best place to learn surfing, and there are more advanced breaks for experienced surfers at Suluban Beach, to the south, Padang Padang, Bingin and Balangan.
There's a water sport day trip facility suitable for adults and families alike at Lembongan Island. Here, you'll find water slides in the sea, windsurfing, banana boats, sailing, diving trips at Nusa Penida and afternoon beach BBQ buffets - all just a high speed catamaran ride away from Benoa. Lembongan offers the kind of laid-back water's edge restaurants and accommodation that can be difficult to find in the more built up beaches of the main island. You can also watch the locals harvesting seaweed and the children flying their huge, ornate kites. There's also a water park at Tuban - Waterbom Park.
However, if you want to discover what the real Bali is all about, we'd encourage you to get away from the tourist hotspots and take a tour around the scenic mountains to the north and central. Take in the stunning vistas of rice terraces and coconut palm stands at Ayung River or Tegalalang Valley.
Visit the settlement of Bayung Gede, an intact pre-Javanese village, and course the caldera rim road of the volcanic mountain, Gunung Batur. Here's the magical sight of the scenic Danau Batur crater lake housing Pura Batur, Bali's second most important temple. Make sure you are appropriately dressed to enter a temple though, with long trousers or skirt, sleeved top, and temple sash. Further north you'll find Ulun Danu, a stunning Buddhist temple standing high up on Lake Bratan.
Most of Bali's considerable artistic prowess and energy is exercised on the sculpting of god effigies, palatial pavilions, pagodas and doors, and paintings of ceremonial paraphernalia. Its greatest art form is its classical architecture, characterised by temples with graceful roofs and narrow gates. Colourful processions mark most days, with their attendant bands, costumed gods and towering offerings, moving between one temple and another.
In the foothills of Mount Agung is Pura Besakih, the mother temple. This complex dates from pre-historic times and has been the state temple since the 16th century. Nearby at Kamasan you can watch painters working at the ancient craft of cloth puppet making.
Art connoisseurs will love the village of Ubud, Bali's centre of cultural tourism. Here, there's Puri Lukisan Museum, featuring excellent work by all Balinese schools of art, and Neka Museum which features collections of more modern paintings and photographs. Here you can relax on your balcony cooled by the breezes that waft over the highland paddy terraces and watch the farmers bend and stoop in coolie hats as they tend their crops. Nearby is Sangeh Monkey Forest, a nutmeg forest and home to Hanuman,the monkey-god.
To the far south on Badung Peninsula, stands the sublime cliff-top temple monument of Pura Ulawatu, carved from coral lime stone in the 16th century. To the west of Kuta stands Tanah Lot temple, standing on an offshore rock. Many tourists come here to watch the sunset.
For more detailed information take a look at our article: Things to Do in Bali.

The Beaches

Kuta, with the adjacent Legian, Seminyak and Tuban, is by far Bali's busiest beach resort area. Shops, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs are all in abundance here and the beach itself is the best in the area with great surfing. Being the hub of tourism, you can join day trips and sightseeing tours to anywhere on the island from Kuta. So if you're looking for a lively night out with your new found dive buddies this is the place to be with many of the bars having live music, special drink promotions and organised pub crawls.
Sanur is an upmarket alternative to the Kuta area of the island with a great beach and plenty of water sports - windsurfing, snorkelling, parasailing etc. all readily available. The nightlife is quiet in comparison to Kuta and there are plenty of good quality, reasonably priced eateries as well as some excellent craft, clothing, art and antique shops making this an attractive option for those wanting a more peaceful type of vacation.
Tulamben is a sleepy village on the north east coast, beautifully set with the stunning backdrop of Mount Agung volcano, and famed for the Liberty Wreck site. Scuba diving packages and relaxation here are the principal draw cards, or if you feel like burning some calories, you can climb Gunung Agung (3,104m) or the smaller Mt. Seraya (1,174m).
Beyond that, there are many places of local interest such as Bali's highest waterfall in the nearby town of Les. For something unusual you can head to Tejakula, a local town famed for its horse bath which now acts (slightly disturbingly) as the towns public bath. More hygienic, but slightly further afield, is the spring baths water palace of Amlapura, Tirta Gangga in the east of Bali. Then there's river rafting, a luxurious golf course (set inside a volcanic crater!), mountain tours, traditional markets and cookery classes.

Restaurants and Entertainment

Wherever you are on the island there are plenty of restaurants offering good quality, reasonably priced food. In Kuta there are all the usual restaurant types you'd expect in any popular tourist place, such as Italian, seafood, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Asian, local Indonesian, as well as western fastfood joints.
To sample real, traditional Balinese food you'll have to sample the cuisine cooked at home by the people of the island or try a dish from one of the many street side food stalls called 'warungs'. This mainly consists of rice with small portions of vegetables, fish and meat and is generally very spicy ("Sambal").
Kuta is the centre for partying in Bali, with lots of drinking, music, and late nights Jalan Legian has many bars, clubs and discos, all within stumbling distance. There are several live music joints, including jazz, and there's always an evening Balinese dance show or two to attend.
Stay anywhere else on the island outside of the Kuta and Sanur resort areas and you could be forgiven for thinking it was a different island as the nightlife is far more sedate and peaceful elsewhere.

Shopping

Shopping in Kuta and Sanur is vast and varied from markets and shopping centres, to roadside shops filled with local crafts, art, antiques, clothes and copy rip-offs. Kuta Square is by far the most sophisticated shopping experience on the island, with many designer labels and products available.
The traditional Denpasar Kumbasari Market is the place to go for fruit and vegetables, as well as basketwork, sarongs, and mats. Please be aware that it is illegal to take any object older than 100 years out of Indonesia without proper documentation - so be wary on "Grab a Granny" nights!

Local Transport Options

Public transport here is inexpensive and regular. Most public transport is provided by bemo, or minibus, and involves a connection at one of the terminals in Denpasar. This can make any journey time consuming and inconvenient. Add to this the tendency of bemo drivers to overcharge tourists, and you've got a good reason to look for alternative means of transport.
There are many shuttle bus services operating between the major tourists destinations. These you can book at any travel desk, and they'll even collect you from your hotel. Beware: Indonesians are not renowned for their driving skills and most seem to think that they are on time trial for Ferrari Formula One!
Alternatively, you can hire a taxi. These are still relatively cheap as they are subject to fixed price control with meters. Don't get in a taxi with a broken meter. If you are prepared to get out of the vehicle, you'll often find that the meter has suddenly fixed itself!
A final option is to rent your own vehicle. For this you'll need an international driving license, a copy of the vehicle registration papers, and thick skin - firstly to deal with any police trying to extort fines from you, and secondly to turn a blind eye to the diabolically low and dangerous driving standards of the locals.