Basics - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 64

Many airlines will take boards in the hold for free as long as your total luggage weight
doesn't exceed 20kg, but call to check if they require special insurance. Board bags with
straps are a good idea, as some breaks are only accessible by motorbike. Some tourist shuttle
buses on Bali and Lombok refuse to carry boards, though Perama buses will take them for
an extra Rp15,000 per board. You may be best off renting a car or a motorbike to get to the
breaks. In the main centres, it's easy to rent motorbikes with special surfboard clips already
attached.
Diving and snorkelling
Bali and Lombok are encircled by reefs that offer excellent and varied year-round diving and
snorkelling . The main dive resorts on Bali are at Amed , Candidasa , Nusa Lembongan , Pa-
dang Bai , Pemuteran and Tulamben ; the beach resort of Sanur also has many dive operators
but is further from the best dive sites. On Lombok the Gili Islands , Kuta and the southwest
peninsula all have very good diving nearby. Most of these dive resorts are also rewarding for
snorkelling , though obviously the shallowest reefs are best. Many hotels and boat captains
offer dedicated snorkelling trips from about Rp100,000-150,000 per person, including gear.
Some dive centres will also take accompanying snorkellers for a reduced rate.
Dive centres and courses
There are dozens of dive centres on Bali and Lombok. If possible, get recommendations
from other divers as well, and check the centre's PADI ( padi.com ) or SSI ( divessi.com )
accreditation. Some dive operators in Bali and Lombok do fake their PADI credentials;
others are not PADI dive centres, though their staff may be individually certified. Technical
diving using gases other than compressed air is gaining in popularity in Bali and Lombok;
the relevant associations are Technical Diving International ( tdisdi.com ) and IANTD (
iantd.com ). Avoid booking ahead online without knowing anything else about the dive
centre, and be wary of any operation offering extremely cheap courses: maintaining diving
equipment is an expensive business in Indonesia, so any place offering unusually good rates
will probably be compromising your safety. Ask to meet your instructor or dive leader, look
at their qualifications, find out how many people there'll be in your group (four divers to one
dive master is a good ratio) and whether they're a similar level to you, and look over the
equipment, checking the quality of the air in the tanks yourself and also ensuring there's an
oxygen cylinder on board. Dive centres that use their own boats, rather than renting one with
a crew, tend to take better care of equipment.
Most dive centres charge similar rates . One-day dive trips usually cost from $45-100 in-
cluding equipment, and two- to five-day safaris cost from around $135 per day all-inclusive.
All dive centres offer a range of internationally certified diving courses , generally with time
spent in the classroom and at a hotel pool as well as out on the reef. Sample prices include
three- or four-day PADI Open Water courses for $350-550 (dive shops must include the dive