David,

The Sanur Beach should be fine.  I just drove by it on the way to drop
off some dive equipment I picked up in Singapore at BIDP.  It is the
one I was thinking about.  Not really small.   I don't particularly
recommend their Italian restaurant on the beach, which looks nice
enough from the outside, but we tried it once.  There are better.

Bintang - not a bad brew - shouldn't be a problem anywhere, and I'm
sure they can do the silly fruit drinks with parasols and large pieces
of fruit too.  Do avoid the very few places in town that only stock
Bali Hai, which is undrinkable under any circumstances.


I don't know what the general procedure is at Nedfest, but I'd like to
propose a general gathering here on the evening after the first day of
diving.  Fish barbeque, copious quantities of Bintang, and in extremis
I think I might be able to tempt Sylvia with a Rambutan Daiquiri I make
that some people say isn't a silly drink at all.  (No parasol, though.)

Informatively, everyone should also know that Indonesia has just
imposed new immigration regulations, effective 1 February.   Instead of
visitors getting 60 days, with no visa fee, it's now necessary to have
a visa, which costs $25 or $30 (I forget which - it doesn't apply to
me), and only extends for 30 days.

ASEAN citizens and some others can still come in free.  US citizens,
and I'm pretty sure Australians as well, can get the visa on arrival.
It just means you have to stand in two lines instead of one.  HOWEVER,
HOLDERS OF CERTAIN PASSPORTS ARE INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS ON ARRIVAL - THEY
MUST ARRANGE FOR A TOURIST VISA IN HOME COUNTRY BEFORE LIEAVING!!!

 I know this applies to Dutch, Austrian, and Swedish visitors.  I'll
try to get the list of nationalities involved and post it.

Robert Delfs

P.S.  You got that one message because I flipped it to my other email
account and sent it again after being unable to send it from the one I
normally use for scuba-se, but that email account apparently isn't
registered on the list, so got bounced back as well.




On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 20:19:33 +1100, David Strike wrote:

>On Thursday, February 12, 2004 2:45 PM, Robert Delfs wrote:
>
>> Apologies for delay in this message, written a couple of days ago.  For
>> some reason, I was unable to send email out of this account while in
>> Singapore.
>
>G'Day, Mate! I received one from you that didn't appear to make it to the
>list.
>
>> I don't know what rates people are getting for the Hyatt (or the Hotel
>> Sanur Beach for that matter).  I can tell you that the last people -
>> Eric Cheng (wetpixel.com) and a friend - that I recommended the
>> Parigata to were able to negotiate a rate of about $50 per night.
>
>The package for Sylvia's air fare from Oz and accommodation at the Sanur
>Beach hotel - and allowing me, as a traveller coming in from Singapore, to
>share with her<bloody right > - was  very, very attractive!  :-))
>
>(snip)
>> Sanur beach is actually a lagoon inside a barrier reef, so it's only
>> swimmable for a couple of hours at high tide, but nice enough, and can
>> be worth a snorkel.  We swim it for exercise, with masks.  I've seen a
>> double-ended pipefish in the seagrass once, and a nice dragonet.
>
>As long as it's got a bar that serves beer - for me - and those drinks that
>consist of assorted chopped up fruit, bitters and soda water and a big
>umbrella stuck in the top - for Sylvia - I'll be happy!  :-)
>
>Robert!  Thanks for the heads-up on the hotels.  I hope to be able to
>confirm arrival and departure dates early next week.  :-)
>
>Strike
>
>


Robert Delfs

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