121 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

IMPORTANT FLIGHT UPDATE:

Thanks to our friend Diver Ed who tipped me off to some STEALS ON AIR....the round trip price on Singapore Air from LAX is $834 round trip including taxes for Oct 7 arrive Oct 9th depart Oct 23rd.

 

This is a helluva deal! I hope you can join us! Kamala

[Going Postal]

I might have to jump on that deal and leave out of LA

[Diver Ed]

I might have to jump on that deal and leave out of LA

I just returned from Bali a couple of days ago. I started looking at flights about six months ago, and those prices are the best by far, when looking at the desired airlines. I paid about a hundred dollars more for my flights, and was happy enough with that price that I booked the LAX to DPS portion, and dealt with the local flights separately. For me, trying to add the SAV to LAX leg added several thousand dollars to the ticket price, so purchasing two separate flights was a no brainer. Ed

[WreckWench]

I might have to jump on that deal and leave out of LA

 

I agree Mike!  Even if you pay for domestic bag fees you are still WAY ahead of the game. This is the lowest I've ever seen. I will post the actual flights I booked if anyone is interested and of course get the 3 day Bali pkg posted as well.

[Diver Ed]

Having recently returned from my first trip to Indonesia, and seeing as how Kamala has two up coming trips there, I figure a trip report is in order.  After having lost out on my Maldives trip last October, I needed something to plan and look forward to.  Indonesia became the answer.  My research quickly showed me that while airfare from LAX to Bali was very reasonable, it was four times the price from Savannah airport.  I then knew that this trip would be done in stages, which actually is beneficial to me, as my body does not hold up well to long travel.  After checking LAX to Bali flights daily for about a month, I caught a price drop to about $930.00, and booked them on Cathay Pacific.  That was followed up with booking Savannah to San Diego flights with a couple of days on each end, to visit with my mom.  Tuesday March 10 finally rolled around, and my sister and I headed up to LAX for our 1:00 AM flight the next morning.  About 24 hours later, we were touching down in Bali.  Off the plane and into the airport, our first stop was to collect our $35.00 visa.  I believe they changed the rules, and that is no longer required for Americans.  After immigration, baggage claims, and customs, all of which were extremely simple and quick, we went to the taxi counter and paid for our taxi.  I had four nights booked in the Citadines hotel in Kuta, which was a nice, comfortable hotel.  I would recommend the hotel, if you are staying in Kuta.  If you plan on travelling around Bali, which is most likely the case, the traffic in Kuta was terrible, and I suggest looking at hotels in a different area.  After a night of rest, we were picked up at the hotes at 9:00 AM am were off to the Bali Safari and Marine park.  Having taken a family photo safari to Africa several years ago, I thought having the chance to ride an elephant with my sister made this a great choice for us.  Between riding the elephant, petting a lion cub, and hugging a orangutan, as well as the rest of the day in the park, our trip was off to a great start.  For our next two days, I scheduled a driver from a company named Adimelali Bali.  Initially, I thought about renting a car for our stay, but when I thought about hiring a driver at only $60.00 a day, it seemed to make a lot more sense to go that route.  The company offered several itiniaries on their web site, and I opted for two of them.  Nothing was firm, and we made adjustments as we went along, based on how much time we wanted to spend at each area.  After driving around Bali for about 30 seconds, I knew that I made the right choice in hiring a driver instead of renting a car.  I do not know why they have any lines in the road, as is seems to be more of a free fo all style of driving.  Cars are constantly passing eachother when they have an inch of room, and motor bikes are passing or being passed on both sides of the car at all times.  I classify it as controlled chaos, only because it seems to work for them, and I did not witness any accidents in the few days that I was there.  The driver gave us a broad view of the island, and culture, as we saw several temples, the Ubud monkey forest, rice terraces, a stop to sample coffee and tea at a small coffee plantation, waterfall hikes, local shops, and a traditional village tour.  We planned on watching a traditional ceramonial dance, but opted to pass on it as we were getting very tired.  My initial plan was to spend a few days in Bali, and do some diving each day, prior to heading out for our live aboard portion of the trip.  When my sister decided to join me for the Bali portion, I opted to spend out time there doing land based sightseeing, and I am very happy that we did.  As divers, that is always the focal point, and highlite of our trips.  Spending a day or two top side, and seeing the temples and other attractions added a lot to this trip, and I am glad I opted for it.  As for the diving, all I can say is WOW.  Book the trip, and go experience it.  I know I will be back.

 

Ed

[WreckWench]

Thank you Ed! I truly wish you could join us! Its been too long! GREAT REPORT!!!

[Diver Ed]

Here is a bit more info that I forgot to include.........  Unless you have an airport pick up included in your hotel price, you will need a taxi.  They have set prices to most destinations.  They will ask where you are going, lead you to a counter where you pay the taxi fare up front, and then take you to your hotel.  Our cab ride cost us less than $20.00 total.  There are a lot of places where you can exchange currency outside of the airport, and you will get a much better rate.  If your schedule allows, exchange a smaller amount of money at the airport when you land, to cover the cost of the cab ride, and exchange the balance at a place near the hotel.  Look for signs that list the exchange rate and say no commission.  For our first day in Bali, I had pre paid for the park, transportation, and meal.  On our second day, we had the hired driver.  I asked him to stop at a place to exchange money, and we were set. 

[WreckWench]

How much did you find you had to exchg? And was the difference from the airport that much?

[Diver Ed]

How much did you find you had to exchg? And was the difference from the airport that much?

I got at least five percent more Rupiah outside the airport.  I did exchange six hundred dollars.  I had prepaid for the day at the safari park, but had to pay the driver for the other two days that we had, plus there were small charges for some of the places that we visited.  Then we had several airport departure taxes.  The biggest thing for me was that we were taking a flight from Bali to Lebuan Bajo.  They had a weight restriction on luggage, and charged an unspecified charge for overages.  Heading out cost us about $25.00 extra while the same weight was $32.00 coming back.  My concern was that my carry on with my camera weighs about the same as my checked bag.  I carried several hundred extra dollars worth of local currency, in case I had an issue with that bag.  Not knowing if I would be able to gate check it, get charged something for extra weight, or get charged for a second checked bag plus over weight charges had me exchanging a lot of extra cash just in case.  That should not be an issue with Wakatobi, as I believe it is their plane that you will be on.

[Handyman]

Ed is correct, no more visa on arrival for US citizens.  

Other things that might be helpful to someone. When you arrive at the airport in Denpasar, as you leave the terminal on the way to parking there are companies that sell sim cards for phones, specifically tourist sims that last for a week or more and give you 60 minutes of talk and a couple of gigs of data access for 60,000 Rp, or less than $6. You can call back to the states, and you get less than 60 minutes, but still less expensive than roaming with your cell phone. I believe you can also top them up. You have to have an unlocked phone (ask me). Call quality was very good with this sim card. Data is sluggish.

Best rate of exchange is the local ATMs which dispense 50 & 100,000 Rupiah notes and limit withdrawals to about $100 USD (in Ubud) but I have found a few machines that will dispense more than $100 at a time. Every time I use my card Wells Fargo charges me $5.35 so maybe it isn't the best exchange rate.

My last trip I took a bike tour from a volcano (breakfast overlooking the crater) to a local house where we met the family and toured the compound, thru a rice paddy where rice was being harvested, to a huge Banyan tree, thru another little village and down a dirt track to the river where we were picked up and returned back to our hotels. Easy rides, great guides, safe, comfortable equipment, although the helmet did smell. Oh, I forgot the giant spider and the coffee plantation with the free samples and the incredibly overpriced gift shop. You can buy the civet processed coffee at the airport for a third of the price, so you might just want to wait....

I stayed in Ubud twice, and twice I went to dances. The best dances were at the Ubud Palace. I thought they were great, very strange and captivating. Bali was enchanting. Very safe. Very beautiful. Very spiritual. The diving wasn't bad either....

[ScubaPunk]

Payment Update:

 

1) Scott aka Handyman:  Received your payment of $1000 on 4/13!

[WreckWench]

NOTE: To all those wanting to sign  up for this trip..... PLEASE post you plan to do it....and we'd love for you to tell us what you want via our booking template.....since we will run both systems in tandem for a few months....BUT PLEASE DO NOT DO THE DOCUMENTS THE OLD WAY!!! We are porting all people signed up for trips into our new booking system and we will have you either sign up there if you are new...and/or finish your progress payments via the new system AND we will have you do your DOCUMENTS ONLINE VIA THE NEW SYSTEM!!!!   Kamala aka WreckWench and the SD.com Team

[WreckWench]

IMPORTANT TRIP UPDATE:

 

If you are on this trip but have NOT been added to the TRIP PM (private message) please let us know. If you have not upgraded your membership to premier or above...please do so and then we can add you to the TRIP PM.  The TRIP PM is used to send you valuable information you need for this trip. Please upgrade now so we can add you to this valuable communication loop that you will not find in the thread.

[Resqdew]

Currently on the Trip PM, thanks!

 

Premier Member annual date is 2 June, but I renewed today since I will be gone the week of the actual renewal and without internet.

 

This entry is also to document the date of the PM renewal since there have been unknown technical issues with my renewals in past years. No worries, it's a minor glitch that eventually gets fixed with the excellent help from the behind-the-scenes crew. No doubt the glitch is caused by non-diving gremlins that are jealous that WE GET TO GO DIVING in such wonderful places with SD.Com!

 

 

NOTE: When I clicked on the "on line forms" button at the top of this page, it took me to a new sign-in page (great photo of the turtle!). I tried to sign-in with my regular username and password, but each time I get an error message that says ----

"Error   You are not authorised to view this resource."      (yes, on the page is spelled with an "s")

So, I'll wait for assistance. Thanks!

Edited by Resqdew, 26 May 2015 - 08:14 AM.

[ScubaPunk]

Payment Update

 

1) Scott aka Handyman: Received your payment of $1455 on 6/8