Diving resort in Padangbai Bali – OK Divers Resort & Spa

Visiting Bali for the first time and being able to spend time with other Slovaks who have been living on the island for a few years meant a lot to me. It is always easier to speak to the expats, and even better when you can talk to them in your mother tongue. It doesn’t happen that often that I can enjoy conversations in Slovak when traveling.

Even if you are from a different country, I still recommend staying at this diving resort.

The OK Divers Resort & Spa was opened only in July 2015 so everything is very new in there (the resort itself is new but the well-known diving centre has been open for a couple of years.) Tell me, who does not like brand new places?

What I enjoyed at the new OK Divers Resort & Spa:

• I stayed at 2 different rooms to experience more – first at the Nudibranch Superior Queen number 105 on the main floor and then the Seahorse Deluxe Room number 302 on the top third floor (altogether there are 30 rooms = 27 rooms and 3 suites at the resort)

• following responsible tourism principles – 2 eco water bottles per day are complimentary in each room and then instead of throwing them and getting new bottles, you can just refill them at the restaurant for free. The bottles use 30% less plastic, are thinner and 100% recycleable. In your bathroom you will not find the usual small toiletries bottles wasting a lot of plastic but bigger ones which are refilled (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and hand soap.) My hair smelled super cool after the shampoo and conditioner. Such a natural smell. There’s also recycled water in the toilets, what a great sustainable idea!

• really soft white towels put a smile on my face each time I touched one

• big photos of underwater animals decorating the rooms

• one plug in each room works 24/7 (all the others switch off when your room key is not inserted) which is a great idea to save the electricity when you are not there. Also at the same time it is good for digital nomads like me so I could still recharge my camera batteries when outside.

• swimming pool with salt water from a deep well – not a lap pool but great for cooling off on a hot day (which is pretty much like every day in Bali.) The pool is open until 11 pm when the restaurant closes which is perfect as in many other hotels the pools close too early. I personally enjoy swimming in the evening and in here I could do so. There’s also balls if you wanna play in the pool. I have to say I spent some time travel blogging online by the pool. Not a bad office at all, right?

• free wifi – sometimes it was very fast, sometimes not at all but that’s very normal in Bali

• The Colonial restaurant next to the pool – probably one of the top restaurants in the village. What I appreciated the most were many different fresh smoothies and juices at the restaurant (tropical fruit and even green veggie juices.) They offer mostly Balinese and Indonesian meals and even sell home-made desserts here!

• 2 beaches are a 15-minute walk away (one going to the right, one to the left of the hotel)

• nice wooden furniture in the rooms made in Bali.

• half of two older fishing boats were turned into benches by the pool

• free pool towels at the reception

• Nice music at the restaurant with occasional Slovak and Czech songs which to me was a great thing to hear when traveling for a longer time

• airport pickup and transfer after your stay

• different tours around Bali – I did one around Hindu temples Tirta Ganga and Lempuyang in Eastern Bali, so cool! Exactly something I am passionate about. 

• laundry service available

• I could walk barefoot around the hotel and the restaurant and it felt so natural (no weird looks.) Just around lunch time the ground was too hot around the pool so I had to wear sandals. Other than that I could enjoy one of my favorite activities of walking barefoot to connect with the ground and Earth under my feet.

• I don’t know why but there were just a few mosquitoes when I visited, thumbs up! I guess it might get worse during the rainy season.

• nice framed photos on the wall in the restaurant showing life of the locals

• one of the hotel rooms is designed also for handicapped people as some do come to Padangbai to dive (OK Divers do not have the license to dive with them but there is another dive center not far that does.) The access to the whole hotel is wheelchair accessible, too.

• I loved the bean bags at the restaurant for comfortable chilling.

• one of the outside hotel walls is painted by a local artist – great colourful underwater design makes the place even more vivid. Ask for it as it’s a bit hidden (when facing the resort with the sea behind you, turn to the left wall of the resort.)

• snorkeling trip in the sea just a few minutes by boat

• scuba diving – one of the main reasons why visitors come to Padangbai is definitely the underwater world in the area and I did try both snorkeling and Discover Scuba Diving – first diving with OK Divers right there in the swimming pool and then two dives in the sea. You have to read about my very first diving experience :)

• Spa – there is a small sweet spa at the OK Divers Resort & Spa where I had three spa treatments. I am writing a separate article about them. Highly recommend the traditional Balinese massage during your stay. Read about my three spa treatments there.

Staying at the Bali diving resort was part of my Adventure and Spa project. For more info about diving in Padangbai, please have a look at the OK Divers Resort & Spa website and you should definitely check out their OKDiversBali Instagram account for the coolest underwater photos.

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Posted in adventures, Asia, Bali, hotels, Indonesia, photo, travel Tags: Bali, OK Divers