Puri Wirata Dive Resort & Spa Amed
We stayed at Puri Wirata in March 2023 after about three weeks diving in Raja Ampat. We were at Puri Warita for one week. We had booked the stay, including four days of diving and two excursions through our travel agents, Anne and Scott with Blue Water Dive Travel (who did a great job).
The location is great. The hotel is on the ocean and the views are gorgeous. There are two oceanfront infinity pools, an elevated open air restaurant looking out over the water and numerous places to lounge outside, including plenty of shade if desired.
The hotel is upscale but showed a bit of wear and tear. We stayed in a Villa Master Suite. It was a huge one bedroom apartment with a separate bedroom, a large bath, full kitchen and a large combination dining/living area. The internet worked well. The apartment also had large outdoor balconies on two sides with ocean views.
The food at Puri Wirata is delicious and reasonably priced. For those seeking variety, there are also many good restaurants and a grocery store within easy walking distance.
During our stay there were a lot of caterpillars around the property. They were harmless but a bit of a nuisance. Some of them came into our room. I’m not sure whether the presence of the caterpillars was a normal event or something unusual. Although, in a very Balinese fashion, the local people seemed to be living in harmony with the caterpillars. We tried to do the same.
Bali Reef Divers has a full service operation at Puri Wirata. I did four dives a day with them most days, including a couple of night dives. My wife did a few less dives because most of the dives required a shore entry and the sand and rocks were rough on her knees. Each dive, the divers from Puri Wirata travelled in the back of a pickup truck to either a central meeting point (often another Bali Reef Divers location) or directly to the beach. At some point the divers and their gear eventually all made it to same beach, mostly by pickup truck but occasionally by motorcycle. Everything is well orchestrated. I thought the whole process was great fun.
Bali Reef Divers provides a very high level of personal service. For example, our dive guide, Sari, who is absolutely fantastic, made sure that someone (often him) carried my wife’s gear into the water to make it easier for her.
In addition to many shore dives, we did one two tank boat dive. It was unlike any other boat dive I had ever done. Sari arranged for a fishing boat captain to pick us up on the beach after completing his early morning fishing trip. The boat was a modern version of a traditional Balinese fishing boat which is similar to a large canoe with outriggers. It was a unique experience and one of the highlights of our time in Bali.
The black sand in Bali made the diving quite unique. There was also lot of unique marine life, especially on the night dives. Sari was able to plan and execute our dives to avoid having to swim against strong currents. Other than the usual challenges of shore entry diving, the diving was relaxed and quite enjoyable. The Liberty Wreck has to rate as one of the top wreck dives in the world.
Sari made everything great fun. The best advice I can give anyone planning to dive in the Amed/Tulamben area is to try and dive with Sari. You will not be disappointed.
