Alex Mustard in Bali: Part 5
In the final blog post from Alex Mustard about his recent Bali adventure, Alex recounts his stay at the luxurious Alam Anda Resort.
“Diving in style” is the best way to describe Alam Anda Resort, and it provided a most luxurious finale to our trip. Alam Anda Resort is in Sambirenteng, about 45 minutes west of Tulamben, and has been a Bali insider’s favourite for years. This beautiful resort has been seamlessly expanded and modernised, and it re-opened in March 2007, offering the chance to enjoy Bali’s diving while not skimping on cultural, culinary and spa indulgences. Alam Anda resort has 33 elegantly designed detached rooms spread out in its beautiful grounds, included two luxurious villas. The resort also organises lots of day trips and activities, and it is an excellent place to stay if you are holidaying in Bali with non-divers.
The Werner Lau dive centre at Alam Anda, which is certainly the most attractive dive centre I have seen, organises diving trips to Tulamben, Amed and further afield each day. The resort is co-owned by Tauch Terminal, which means that you can make use of TTT’s facilities while on a day trip to Tulamben. Of course, it’s not as convenient as staying in Tulamben.
The dive centre also runs morning and afternoon boat dives on the resort’s custom-built dive boat to local reefs, and guided dives to the large house reef. Rather than travelling back to Tulamben to dive, we wanted to see these local sites and had a series of very enjoyable dives. The visibility was a bit lower than usual on the house reef during our stay, but it still provided quality diving. All the underwater photos here are from the house reef. The main attraction is a number of pretty bommies, which have recently been joined by some large artificial reef frames. The frames have been seeded with corals and are already attracting fish and critters.
The nearby reefs offered more reliable visibility, lush coral growth and bustling fish life. The closest comparison I can make from the Tulamben area is that they reminded me of the diving around Kubu. Perhaps what is best about these reefs is that Alam Anda has them all to itself. No other dive operation is diving here.
At the start of this blog diary I said it was impossible to say what one thing I liked best about visiting Bali because it has so much to offer. And the same goes for Alam Anda Resort. This is a resort with an excellent spa, beautiful grounds, fining dining, and access to many of Bali’s top dive sites. It is a place where you can immerse yourself in the holistic Bali experience while on your dive vacation.