Tauch Terminal Resort Tulamben — Hotel in Kecamatan Kubu

Well we came with mid-range expectations and were very pleasantly surprised. The staff at the resort were delightful and could not do enough to help us. My Mum has mobility issues and whilst we went off diving, the staff helped her so much and checked in on her to make sure she didn't need anything. We ate at the restaurant every day and really enjoyed the food. The diving was really fabulous. There is of course the wreck which was excellent diving but for the macro lovers there is a literal feast of nudibranches and small stuff to fossick around for. The dive guides were amazing finding some of the tiniest stuff like 3mm nudis amongst the sea grass. The dives were predominantly off the beach which honestly did have some challenges. People talked about the rocky beach being an issue and we are very experienced divers who also had some difficulties but the only real issue was that the rocks were not slippery, but instead were very ROUND and therefore moved around a bit as you stepped upon them. The Coral Garden dive directly at the front of the hotel was a good entry with a woven heavy duty net installed to walk on which saves what felt at times like walking on a pile of large rocky marbles. Some entries were easier than others but you don't need the fitness of an athlete or anything like that. The Dive Guides were very helpful and if you asked for some help they would support your entry and exit and it made things so much easier. Dive shop was well organised with tubs allocated to each diver which you can leave in a store room and very good rinsing & drying facilities. The dive guides are very happy to put your gear together if you are happy for them to do so, or leave you to your own setup if that is your preference. We also enjoyed a couple of boat dives in the small cataraman local boats which only take 3 people each. Was actually really cool and there were no long arduous trips or anything like that. We did a couple "car" dives where they drive you to other more distant local dive sites and we enjoyed that also. I would think the main thing is to chat with the dive staff about what sort of diving you are keen to do and they are really helpful to make that happen. They arrange the day's diving around where you might like to go and for the more distant trips usually you can jump in with others. Take the advice on the wreck dive, if you dive when the guys say it will be busy prepare yourself for crazy-full-on busy. We did a night dive on a busy night and it was nuts, sort of cool but I hardly needed my torch on it was lit up by around 40-50 divers. Most of the dives on the wreck are early (around 8am) to avoid the big crowds for the diving groups who travel to the site. On the subject of night dives, if you are open water certified and planning your very first night dive you need to chat with the staff - we heard there was a sort of unusual local policy on only allowing night dives for advanced or night dive specialty divers which upset one or two people and got me a bit of a long-winded lecture from a Divemaster trainee which mostly just confused me - my daughter had her first night dive there and loved it but we were told she could only dive because I am an instructor? We are all PADI certified which allows night dives in decent conditions without formal additional training but I think the facility is SSI and I am not sure of the hard and fast rules for them tbh. Just best to check before going to avoid disappointment if you are a night dive virgin and your plan is to make your first night dive with Tauch Terminal. We are very keen to go back again in future and would highly recommend Tauch Terminal for both groups or individuals. One of the german divers told us the name meant something like "Diving Base" which we thought was pretty cool and made a bit of sense of something we felt confused about - it definitely didn't sound Balinese to us in...

Perfect place to dive and stay!

Dive: I had a great time learning how to dive here. Peter, the instructor, was really friendly and answered all my questions happily even months before I got there I started out pretty scared but in the end did 10 dives including the open water and advanced adventurer certification within 5 days. I always learn something new and receive helpful feedback on what I did well and what to improve on every dive, and was given just the right balance of independence and help. It was a really fun learning experience, and definitely makes me want to explore and learn more!

The dive sites are all very close (one literally in front of the dive base in the resort, one wreck just a short walk away, one a short bike ride away), accessible for beginners, and are all very interesting (I saw a shark in the wreck site!)

Stay: The resort is awesome. When I first got there I was actually pretty shocked, the pictures online looked nice but if you see it in real life it's way more beautiful, especially when it's sunny (which is 90+% the time I was there). I got the cheapest room but it has huge glass doors and windows directly looking at the beautiful ocean (you can hear the waves from your room!), very spacious and nicely decorated. Outside of the room, there are lots of nice places to chill outside (balcony, pools, restaurant) and everything looks nicely decorated and maintained.

The people working there are very friendly and seems very tight-knit, and the resort in general seems to have a good relationship with the local community and the environment. The food is very good and varied as well, I was very happy with every meal I got there. All of these makes it a very enjoyable stay, and time seems to go so fast and so slow there at the same time.

I will...

Greetings from Singapore. I would like to congratulate the owner for having such a wonderful team. With a happy team that is well taken off by the top management; they make sure that all guests are in good hands, knowing that they have to uphold the name of the Taunch Terminal.

Food is excellent and tasty, coffee is by expresso machine, juices are freshly prepared, and cocktails is always delicious and packed with herbs.

There is a dive shop on site, which makes everything so fuss free staying on the property. Wake up at 7.30, goes to the dive shop to gear up and be ready to dive in 10 minutes. The dive guides and the dive crews are always so service orientated, and even helped to wash equipment uninitiated!

I had airport transfer booked from a 3rd party online app and had a last minute cancel, and the hotel was able to secure transport and make sure I can reach the airport in time!

My advice to those considering a dive trip to Tulamben, choose this property, you will not regret it. Make it a full board experience and worry about nothing else. All the way from transport, food, dive trips, Taunch Terminal have them all in house.

I have only 3 small concerns that could be improved to the hard product of the property.

1. Have a higher stand for the water dispenser
2. Perhaps have music near the pool more often - understand some guest might want to enjoy the waves and quietness.
3. Have bigger umbrella for the beach chairs near the restaurant, but be mindful of not blocking the wonderful view from the restaurant.

Hope to...