Dive Review of
Archipelago Divers/Taman Sari Bali Cottages in
Indonesia/Bali

 California, Bonaire, Curacao, Bahamas, Hawaii, Palau, Indonesia,
Philippines, Florida Keys, Cayman Islands 

Dive Conditions

Dive times limited to 60 minutes.  

Good wide angle area, some good macro subjects (flat worms, pygmy
seahorses).  No camera accomodations on boats or on shore.  

Overall Rating

I cannot recommend this dive operator.  They limited us to 60 minutes of
dive time.  They cater mainly to snorkelers and newly certified divers. 
Ketut, the lead dive master, even told my wife to not dawdle taking
pictures while he lead his group of new divers up and down the reef, not
even pausing to look for critters.  The other dive guide, Koman, was more
helpful and pointed out several pygmy seahorses, flatworms, and
nudibranchs.  Ketut also wouldn't take us night diving or to Gilimanuk Bay.
 (We also heard from others that Gilimanuk is no longer very good for
diving.)  Fortunately, we were only here for a few days, and by the end of
the second day of diving we had pretty much had enough of this operator.

The diving around Menjangen Island is really quite beautiful with steep
walls covered with large Gorgonians, sea fans, and soft corals of many
hues.  The fish life is pretty good, with at least two different species of
pygmy seahorses.  We didn't have the opportunity to do any muck diving in
the area as we were only there for a few days.

The Taman Sari Bali Cottages is very popular with Europeans.  The grounds
are beautiful and well maintained.  The cottages are older, but nice and
fairly well maintained, although the need for some repairs was evident. 
The food at the restaurant was pretty good.  Service was good, and the
staff was very helpful.  We would recommend this property, but suggest that
you try the other dive operator further down the beach.  We heard after we
left that this other operator is better.

Bali is very beautiful, and the people are very friendly and helpful. 
Except for some vendors in the tourist areas who are very persistent, we
felt very safe and secure.  It is a shame that the terrorist attack has
significantly reduced tourism to Bali, as the Balinese are the ones
suffering. 

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