Nusa Penida Island West Snorkeling Con Mantarrayas

Disappointing and very disorganised experience Unfortunately, this was not the relaxing experience we were hoping for. Initially, we weren’t offered pick-up from our location, so I arranged and paid for our own driver. After I had organised this, the company contacted me to ask whether we needed a driver, but by then we had already sorted it ourselves. The bigger issue was the meeting time. We were told to meet at the harbour at 7:00am, so we got up early and skipped breakfast to be there on time. When we arrived, we were told we were far too early and that the boat didn’t depart until 8:30am, and we couldn’t get on an earlier boat. This was frustrating and could easily have been avoided with accurate information. There were also no clear instructions about where to go at the harbour, so we had to ask around to work out where we were supposed to be. Once we arrived on Nusa Penida, there were very few signs or instructions about where to go or how to find the group/boat we were assigned to. We were also asked to pay a government tax that we had already paid as part of our tickets, which was frustrating. The biggest issue, however, was the experience out on the water. There were so many boats around the manta ray areas that it felt extremely crowded and chaotic. At one point, while trying to see the manta rays, my husband nearly got hit by another boat. That completely took away from the experience and made what was supposed to be an enjoyable activity feel unsafe. When we returned, we decided we simply wanted to go back to our hotel rather than continue with the rest of the day. We had to explain and justify this several times, which was frustrating when we had already made our decision. If you're looking for a peaceful, enjoyable swim with manta rays, coral, fish and turtles, this unfortunately wasn't the experience for us. The lack of organisation, communication, cleanliness and the sheer number of boats made the day stressful rather than relaxing.

Good points: Great snorkeling staff and individual tour guide which was very nice and customizable. Great lunch and beautiful land tour. Snorkeling itself you need to be aware of where your boat is located - no life jackets provided and murky at some points. Be prepared to do a lot of uphill and downhill walking on uneven surfaces !. Bad points: The ferry ride was horrible-you are stuffed in like sardines either poor air flow - this however does not reflect on the great tour guides experience- it’s just the only way you can get to the island . Also the roads on Nusa Penida are horrendous with potholes everywhere- unfortunately only the government can fix. Be prorated for a free “massage” while driving. Also make sure you know exactly where you are meeting on Sanur port - it’s a big area. Unfortunately the tour group would not pick us up from the hotel nor drop us off. We had to get private transportation