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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / November 2005Bali liveaboard?
Having just found out that July '06 charter of Kararu's Sea Safari III that I had been planning on going on has been canceled due to lack of interest, I now have plane tickets sending me to Bali for two weeks with no place to go. Does anyone have any recent experience with Kararu or with the Komodo Dancer (providing there's still space available)? I've read some positive and some less positive reviews on the Dancer from Undercurrent's publicly accessible reviews, and slightly more positive reviews about the Sea Safari III. The problem is that Kararu is obtaining a new boat, the Voyager, to be put into service in February. The itinerary for our planned charter, now canceled, has apparently been moved onto the new boat, an as-yet unknown quantity. So my choice is (a) trying to get on the Dancer instead, (b) sticking with Kararu if they can book me direct, but planning on going out on a boat that's still in the process of being converted to a dive boat, or (c) finding yet another liveaboard. I suppose I could monkey around with the plane tickets, but that will not only cost me money but also lose me my place in the upgrade wait-list on the HNL-GUM legs of the trip. Since I've already planned on those weeks off, and it's supposedly the best time of the year to go, I'd rather stick with the itinerary I have. The Dancer is smaller and has some reports of leaky cabins (from rain). On the other hand, it's a bit cheaper (especially with free booze figured in) and I'm going in the dryest month of the year so leaks shouldn't be an issue. I have booking requests into both their websites and hope to hear back early this week as to what options I truly have available to me, but if anyone has a preference, please let me know it and why. > Having just found out that July '06 charter of Kararu's Sea Safari III that > I had been planning on going on has been canceled due to lack of interest, I > now have plane tickets sending me to Bali for two weeks with no place to go. Cancelling EIGHT months before charter date? It sounded like vapor ware liveaboard to me. I TOLD you Bali is not worth all the trouble getting there for some mediocre dives. I think you gloated too soon about your charter. I was booked on a Peter Hughes Dancer for the Red Sea a few years ago, and it was cancelled for lack of interest, but it wasn't cancelled until ONE MONTH before the trip because only three people signed up for it. The latest massacre in Bali didn't help the tourist trade there. But if you want to dive Bali, from land or liveaboard, the person to talk to is Robert Delfs on the Scuba-SE LIST. Robert was the one who arranged for the multinational (Australia, Germany, Singapore, USA) group of 10 divers to dive Bali in April 2004. He had to cancel the very last minute because of the unexpected death of his SO. He is back to Bali now (has been living there for some time), and he was trying to get a group interested in some liveaboard there again, in 2006. So far, the only one who seemed interested was Michael Doelle <aka Mika> (whom Lee Bell flamed NOT in scuba-SE where Mika posted, but in rec.scuba, where Mika hadn't posted for years!). That outrage even caused Popeye to visit Scuba-SE, and crossed swords with Mika, and da Feeesh had the rare occasion to be the mediator, telling BOTH of them that they are both GOOD a.sholes. :-) That ended the inter-group internet outrage caused by DING DONG Lee Bell. At any rate, Robert Delfs is the authority and source to consult for EVERYTHING you might want to know about Bali and nearby diving, in Thailand and Asia. Just send the line "Sub scuba-SE Greg Mossman" to LISTSERV@raven.utc.edu and after the subscription, then you can POST and ask your question(s) there and Robert will be sure to respond even though scuba-SE is a pretty dead list now. Scuba-SE is where nearly all of the former Scuba-L members <any and every one worth the salt> went after Nick Simicich's massacre resulted from his attempted censorship of ME. <and had to expel three wrong "good guys" for the stupid rule Nick set up> :-)) Now BOTH lists are more or less moribund, though Scuba-SE thrived for several years while Scuba-L limped. -- Bob. You may find this worth: http://www.atlantis-bali-diving.com/ (have been diving with them last week) > Having just found out that July '06 charter of Kararu's Sea Safari III > that I had been planning on going on has been canceled due to lack of > interest, I now have plane tickets sending me to Bali for two weeks > with no place to go. Now that your in Bali, your in Indonesia, one of the really great places for diving, your only a short distance from Sipadan and Mabul and flights are cheap out there........you get a cheap hop to loads of places.....Malaysia, Borneo, Philipines, Sulawesi.....even Oz.... www.seatreker.com Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK > Now that your in Bali, your in Indonesia, one of the really great places > for diving, your only a short distance from Sipadan and Mabul and flights > are cheap out there........you get a cheap hop to loads of > places.....Malaysia, Borneo, Philipines, Sulawesi.....even Oz.... My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. I had considered Sulawesi - the new Aggressor runs out of Manado and there may or may not be a direct flight on Star Airlines from Denpasar to Manado depending on which website you want to believe. But I'm waiting to hear back from Peter Hughes. If he has a slot on the Dancer, I'll probably take it. The main reason why I've taken two entire consecutive weeks off from work, a practically impossible feat, is to go on an 11-day Komodo liveaboard. Otherwise, I could have fit a week of diving within a 9-10 day span which would have meant only a week off from work. > > Now that your in Bali, your in Indonesia, one of the really great places > > for diving, your only a short distance from Sipadan and Mabul and flights > > are cheap out there........you get a cheap hop to loads of > > places.....Malaysia, Borneo, Philipines, Sulawesi.....even Oz.... > > My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. Yet finds Indonesia OK? > ? My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. > > Yet finds Indonesia OK? Not as bad. Indonesia might be anti-Israel, but Malaysia is positively antisemitic. > > ? My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. > > > > Yet finds Indonesia OK? > > Not as bad. Indonesia might be anti-Israel, but Malaysia is positively > antisemitic. You two should go on alt.christian.religion to do battle with > Rev Dr Pastor Dick F Foot MA, DD, FFD > The Guardian of English Christianity > Broomleigh Baptist Church AG (Zurich) > 111 Lime Walk, Chelmsford CM2 9NJ, Great Britain > http://www.church.broomleigh.org/ RF>Atheist-Satan-worshipping-racist-anti-semite-latent- RF>homosexual-child-beating- masterbating-f.cking- RF>litigating-Baptist-janitor-NAZI-cloaked as a KKK, Dick Foot instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. -- Bob. >instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with >idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. > >-- Bob. Seems like you are the one with gross fixations Bob. Poor Bob. Ron Lee > >instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with > >idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. > > Seems like you are the one with gross fixations Bob. Poor Bob. > > Ron Lee I may have gross fixation in kicking a.ses of IDIOTS like Ron Lee who had only posted THREE times this year in rec.scuba before he self-exhumed to be his old IDIOTIC self, craving for the attention he never had, for not having anything to post about scuba in a scuba group. YOU are the only one who has a severe case of ANAL fixation, IDIOT Ron Lee! -- Bob. >>> instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with >>> idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > -- Bob. > >>> instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with > >>> idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > > > -- Bob. Why was Bob Crownfield replying to this post without a word? He aspires to be the Anal Fixation Poster Boy just like IDIOT Ron. >>>>> instead of wasting your talents in rec.scuba, and play with >>>>> idiotic anal-fixated kiddies like Ron Lee and Brown Crownfield. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Why was Bob Crownfield replying to this post without a word? no word was required to show how foolish you are. > >>>> Ron Lee > >>> YOU are the only one who has a severe case of ANAL fixation, > >>> IDIOT Ron Lee! > > > > Why was Bob Crownfield replying to this post without a word? > > no word was required to show how foolish you are. nj_diver said it best when he posted: nj> ...got the f__k out of this group (rec.scuba) at least 4-5 years ago nj> because of the constant feeding of the trolls such as Jammer and Bob nj> Crownfield and re-subscribed yesterday afternoon but what do I see in nj> my mailbox this morning???? The same f__king troll feedings!!! nj> nj> Some one PLEASE do the world a favor and drown the bastards! Why do you think IDIOT Ron Lee and Bob Crownfield are targeted by a long-time reader of rec.scuba? Because they are doing the SAME idiotic noise making as they did years ago. -- Bob. >>>>>> Ron Lee > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > -- Bob. > > ? My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. > > > > Yet finds Indonesia OK? > > Not as bad. Indonesia might be anti-Israel, but Malaysia is positively > antisemitic. Malaysia's official religion is Sunni Islam, but freedom of worship is respected. In Borneo, major religions are Christianity (29%), Islam (26%) and Buddism-Taoism (17%). >> > ? My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. >> > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > respected. In Borneo, major religions are Christianity (29%), Islam (26%) > and Buddism-Taoism (17%). And how many Jews? At least Indonesia can claim to house 20 Jews. Malaysia's Grand Poobah has declared that Jews are the root of all evil because we allegedly hire others to fight our wars. I'm not sure whom exactly we hired to fight when 6,000,000 of us were killed in the 1930s and 1940s, but apparently Matathir belives it's all our fault. I'll stick with Indonesia, thank you very much. They might be as anti-Israel as the rest of the wacky Muslim countries but at least they don't invoke the J word. Also, I'll likely refrain from nailing a mezzuzah on the doorway of my liveaboard cabin just in case there's Muslim crew about. I just hope they can understand my religious need to drink wine on Friday night (and also fall for my ruse that every night is Friday night when in Indonesia). > I had considered Sulawesi I am off there in about three weeks, will let all know how it went when we get back in January...... www.seatreker.com Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK > My half-Jewish side boycotts Malaysia. I had considered Sulawesi - the > new Aggressor runs out of Manado and there may or may not be a direct [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > could have fit a week of diving within a 9-10 day span which would have > meant only a week off from work. Well, my preferred dates on Peter Hughes have already been chartered and they claimed that the charter is full so they won't even give me the phone number of the charterer. So much for that idea. I've told the Kararu rep to go ahead and send me whatever I need to book a cabin on their new boat which doesn't even hit the water until Feb '06. We'll take our chances. Boldly go, and all that. And have you ever thought of a dive safari? Here is some info about the one I did last week: http://www.atlantis-bali-diving.com/index.html May be worth looking at if the liveaboard option fails > And have you ever thought of a dive safari? > Here is some info about the one I did last week: > > http://www.atlantis-bali-diving.com/index.html > > May be worth looking at if the liveaboard option fails Maybe, but after all the traveling to get there, I'd rather be able to unpack my bags and relax. The safari sounds like you're always on the move. On a liveaboard, you're also on the move, but you're on the move on a 150 foot floating hotel. If you knew how much my wife packed, you'd never suggest schlepping it around the island. Even if you can hire porters to carry it all, it's wearing just to watch them. <<. Even if you can hire porters to > carry it all, it's wearing just to watch them. << lol! More seriously, in a safari, you can stay 2 or 3 days at the same place, in nice hotels (which I suppose are much more enjoyable than a balinese boat with no swimming pool) so that you don't have to unpack too often! In article <11nesj12tvflc48@corp.supernews.com>, mossman@qnet.com (Greg Mossman) > Having just found out that July '06 charter of Kararu's Sea Safari III > that I had been planning on going on has been canceled due to lack of > interest, I now have plane tickets sending me to Bali for two weeks > with no place to go. Greg, i dont know if this will help you but..........when we were in Bali we dived with "aquamarine", they were at the recent "Dive 05" show at the NEC in Birmingham uk, and Annabelle who runs the operation in Bali has said............. " >"My suggestion was that Greg Mossman looked at joining a trip onboard the >luxury yacht Pelagian which was bought earlier this year by Wakatobi. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >contact me on AnnabelThomas@AquaMarineDiving.com and I can help him with > the planning or straight reservation with Pelagian/Wakatobi. > Annabel Thomas, Director > AquaMarine Diving - Bali, PADI Gold Palm Resort 6344 > Jalan Raya Seminyak 2A, Bali 80361, Indonesia > PO Box 2098, Kuta, Bali 80361, Indonesia > Website www.AquaMarineDiving.com www.seatreker.com Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK > Greg, i dont know if this will help you but..........when we were in Bali > we dived with "aquamarine", they were at the recent "Dive 05" show at the > NEC in Birmingham uk, and Annabelle who runs the operation in Bali has > said............. > " Thanks. I had looked into Pelagian's schedule and found out they were now based in Wakatobi, but I still have my heart set on diving Komodo on an 11-night itinerary. I do have a confirmation with Kararu's Voyager, but getting them a deposit to hold it has been troublesome since their fax machine isn't picking up (or when it does, it makes a very faint attempt at "handshaking" which my loud-talking American fax machine ignores). Out of frustration, I've decided to give a travel agent a chance: Island Dreams, listed as one of Kararu's local agents. Normally I like to do it myself, but I figure an agency who books often with them will have more clout than an individual, in case the boat wants to do something funny like bump me at the last minute to secure an full-boat charter. I'll let the agency deal with the money and paperwork and if I have problems I can pick up the phone and talk to someone during my normal waking hours whose first language is English. We'll see . . . > I'll let the agency deal > with the money and paperwork and if I have problems I can pick up the > phone and talk to someone during my normal waking hours whose first > language is English. We'll see . . . OK, you should give Annabelle a call, she just might be able to help, you have nothing to loose. She is English but has been in Bali for some time and understands the indonesian way of doing things........ www.seatreker.com Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK >> I'll let the agency deal >> with the money and paperwork and if I have problems I can pick up the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > have nothing to loose. She is English but has been in Bali for some time > and understands the indonesian way of doing things........ After some e-mailing back and forth with Indonesia, we finally got my boat reservations transferred to the travel agent's capable hands. Instead of the rigamarole of having to fax all this paperwork to a broken fax machine in Indonesia, complete with copies of both sides of the credit card, passport, etc., I simply gave the travel agent my credit card number over the phone and it's done. I'm now booked and confirmed. Komodo here I come. http://www.kararu.com/liveaboards/voyager/index.html I'll do Wakatobi some time in the future, I'm sure. But I'm already flying three legs to get to Bali, a total of 18 hours in the air plus airport time in between and an overnight at LAX, so I can't imagine wanting to do any more traveling other than climbing into the back of a taxi, until our bags are aboard and the boat leaves the dock. Plus infernal Continental hasn't upgraded us yet on the HNL-GUM legs even though I bought the plane tix and got on the upgrade waiting list at the earliest point possible. If I get stuck spending 7.5 hours in coach with my "big bones", even though we did score our own row of two together in bulkhead, I definitely won't be in the mood to cram myself onto a puddle jumper. (It's not all fat. My skeleton measures 24.5" wide from shoulder-to-shoulder. Economy-class seats on Continental's 767-400 are 17.9" wide. Where do I stick the other 6.6"? Usually it hangs into the aisle, unless I'm unlucky enough not to get an aisle seat. Then I get smacked by passengers heading to the head, and flight attendants with their heavy metal carts and politically correct large derriers. Sleep is entirely out of the question.) > Then I get smacked by passengers heading to the head, and > flight attendants with their heavy metal carts and politically correct > large derriers. Sleep is entirely out of the question.) Pay the extra and get the "B I G" seats.........;^) i have a smile on my face now, i have just received two minutes ago our tickets out to Singapore for our trip to Sulawesi......happy times........ www.seatreker.com Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK |
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