Dive Review of Cennigan Divers in
Indonesia/Nusa Penida

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Cennigan Divers: "Currents aren't exaggerated", Jul, 2018, by Alexander Armintor, AL, US ( Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 10342.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	[None]Getting there: Private driver from Tulamben, south over the mountains to Sanur Beach, where the people are. At Sanur Beach the driver dropped us off in at the entrance to an incredibly busy, long, dark 5 foot wide alley where we dodged carts and rubbed shoulders with everyone else going to and from the Sanur Beach sidewalk. Turning as instructed we passed stand after stand of vendors hawking tee-shirts, cheap sorongs, food and you name it along the sidewalk to Marlin Fast Boat, maybe a ¼ mile walk, but it seemed longer. After the peace and quiet of Pemuteran and Scuba Seraya, urban Asia was a shock. The Marlin Fast Boat ticket agent gave us a piece of tape with Cenningan written on it to stick on our shirts (you’ll want it, as the Marlin personnel in Nusa Lembongan didn’t seem to speak English, unusual for Bali). The Nusa Lembongan shuttle arrived, an 80-100 footer with 5 big outboards on the stern and the porters started wading into the surf and throwing luggage fire-drill style onto the top of the boat, which started to squat before the 80 inside customers plus however many they could cram on the back deck climbed aboard. Beach entry in 2+ ft of water, we did get wet. During the 45 minute crossing I reflected on all the news stories I’d heard over the years about ferries in Asia sinking with hundreds of passengers drowning, but happily, it was into the surf instead of the deep we exited. Not so happily, a wave caught the boat just as I was stepping off and the part of me that wasn’t already wet became so, including my backpack. Up on the sea wall, we watched even more unhappily as the porters threw all the luggage onto the sand. Happily, they then fire-drilled the luggage up onto the seawall and unhappily threw them in a pile for us to sort out. We grabbed our luggage and following hand signals and the rest of the herd, boarding the back of a truck. After some confusion and playing musical trucks (here’s where the shirt stickers pay off) we set off for the 20 minute drive through urban Lembongan to be dropped off at a foot traffic suspension bridge across the salt water river between Lembongan and Cenningan, which was now at low tide. Standing bewildered and alone at the intersection only lasted a minute, until a porter with a Cenningan Divers shirt politely took our luggage 2 at a time and to our horror wheeled it, or more correctly skidded them across the mudflats to a skiff for the 5 minute ride to the resort dock. More porters were waiting on us, to make a long story short, the wet sand and mud on our luggage was on the floor of our room by the time we got there. It was a long, hectic day and time for a toddy or 2 or 3 or 4. Cenningan Divers Resort good: Nice Bali style bungalows, outdoor bathroom and dull modern doors that actually close right. Beautiful grounds with a pool and outdoor restaurant. Outdoor restaurant, Indonesian and European food, all inclusive, decent portions too. Good A/C, in a mangrove swamp, so no wind, but no bugs to speak of either. A 6 foot water monitor lizard would swim the lagoon in front of the bar from time to time. Cenningan Divers Resort bad: Getting here. Note: The resort owners (they made the Marlin booking) told us they paid for the Marlin porters to take our luggage all the way to the yellow bridge. On the way back,it wasn’t low tide and the Marlin porters did port all the way, so the luggage didn’t get muddy, but it did get just as sandy. Cenningan Divers Resort bottom line: Nice place, isolated. You need to understand the transportation before going there, this isn’t the place you want to lug a bunch of suitcases to. Cennigan Divers is a good place to stay and beat the Bali day trip crowds to the best Nusa Penida sites. Cenningan Divers Diving: All dives were 30 minutes to an hour south, across the pass separating Nusa Cennigan from Nusa Penida. Crossing the pass, you notice the water is always changing, usually with sharp interfaces: from normal swells to choppy little waves that look like rapids, to oily flat up-welling’s, to vortexes. We expected colder water, but after the bathtub like water of the north side our first dive here just south of the channel was an eye opener, our computers logged 65F. We were warned about the currents, but found them mild, lots of fish. Moving further south to an area of sloping reefs we started to experience the famous currents, warm ones off the beach push you down and cold ones from the deep push you up, watch the fish and when they all start swimming the same way, you' better too. The water would change from mid 80’s to 60’s and back to the 80’s in the course of 3-4 minutes and several times in the course of a dive. Lots of fish, nudis, beautiful reefs, the telltale signs of dynamite fishing here and there. Quite beautiful, but not for newbies. Trip to manta point: about an hour south along the spectacular western coastline of Nusa Penida. We were the 3rd boat there and I got a ringside seat to the manta show for about an hour, shallow 30-40 ft dive, no currents. I noticed there was starting to be a lot of kids snorkeling and chasing off the Manta’s. Surfacing I counted 23 boats at anchor, more crowded than Cozumel and it wasn’t 10:00 am yet. Stopping at Crystal Bay on the way back in hopes of seeing a Mola Mola, our guide decided to take us around the open pass side of the small island/large rock that sits in front of the bay and separates Crystal Bay from the currents of the pass. After having a good look at the current in the pass and knowing something about the history here, I wasn’t keen on it, but against my better judgment, I decided to follow along based on: maybe there really was a Mola waiting for us and the guide is a local and knows when it’s OK to dive here. About 5 minutes into the dive we’d barely started to go round the pass side when I noticed all the fish and anemones below me polarize and I’d already started to turn when I felt the pull, swimming hard I grabbed the reef and pulled myself up and out of the current, sucking down most of a tank of air in 20 minutes. That was enough Mola hunting at Crystal Bay for me. Hint: Always listen to that little voice inside saying something isn’t right, Amen. Top side: We rented mopeds from the porter that picked us up for 100K IDR/day ($7 US) and toured the island, highlights included watching the surfers and sunset at Mahana point, we also took the road through the jungle that takes you up on the ridge of the island where you have commanding views of the salt water river, Lembongan and Bali to the north and the channel and Nusa Penida to the south. We also took our lives in our hands and crossed the suspension bridge into the traffic on Lembongan for reasons that are unclear now. Bottom Line: The last stop on our 3 week Bali dive tour, Nusa Penida has outstanding diving. The currents are no joke. Recommended only if you are experienced and understand the risk.
Websites	Cennigan Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida, Alabama, Texas, Bahamas, Roatan, Turks and Caico's, Cozumel, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Moorea, Fakarava
Closest Airport	DPS	Getting There	Ferry from Bali
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	65-83°F / 18-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	30 bar
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Cennigan Divers in Indonesia/Nusa Penida

Cennigan Divers: "Currents aren't exaggerated", Jul, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Cennigan Divers in
Indonesia/Nusa Penida