The Resort: Villa Markisa is a gem! My package was all-inclusive including shuttle from/to the airport, full board, and 3 dives per day. It’s a 2-3 hour ride to the resort from Bali airport. This Swiss-German owned resort is located in northeast Bali (Kubu region) within view of the Mt Batur volcano. The owner did tell me that last year the resort had to temporarily close due to volcano warnings, but Mt Batur is generally not very active. January is the low season so there were only a handful of guests. I was in a Bungalow which was gorgeous – large canopy bed, outdoor patio, garden area with outdoor shower, mini-bar fridge, and air conditioning.

The grounds of Villa Markisa are well maintained, the staff is very friendly, and the spa has options for couples massage area or a smaller massage room. Inside the main building is the camera area, and they have plenty of power strips, though you do need to bring an adapter if you are using north american power cords. Breakfast was a 7am, with several options available, lunch was at 12 and was a different menu each day - you selected your lunch during breakfast; dinner was buffet style at 7pm, also with plenty of options – all the food was excellent and plentiful. The coffee was not that good; the wines were limited, but their local wine was fairly decent (grapes from Australia).

The Dive Shop: The shop has rinse tanks for gear and one for cameras, and the staff stows the gear at night in locked storage room; each day they set up your gear. Nitrox is available, and my tanks were always full and at a consistent 32%. Since I was there during the off season, I was assigned my own guide. The staff brought my gear and camera to the boat, and you walk into the surf to get on the boat, just a few meters away.

The Diving: The typical schedule was Dive#1 at 8am, #2 at 10:30 and #3 at 2:30pm. Night dives were also offered. On one day we had a 6am dive to the Liberty Wreck. Boat rides were usually less than 10 minutes, roll-back entry, and to get back on the boat you handed up weight belt and took off BCD & fins, which the crew pulled up onto the boat. The underwater topography is mostly steep sloped black (volcanic) sand, with sparse corals. The dark sand made for great contrast in filming nudibranchs, and with the sparseness of coral I was able to set up my tripod without impacting the ecosystem. My guide kept finding things I never would have seen, many different colored nudi’s, and some tiny frogfish the size of my pinkie fingernail. We found a couple dozen species, the diversity was very interesting.

Overall, this was a great trip – I got to see little critters I’ve never seen, and the topography was perfect for filming. The resort is top notch, beautiful, with well-maintained grounds, and excellent service. Shannon handled all the details of getting me there, and helped me select this resort - I could not have been more pleased. Bluewater Dive Travel exceeded my expectations!