This was our second visit to Manta Dive at Gili Air, and we are already booked to go again in six months' time. We stayed at their garden bungalow accommodation and dived every day with them. We're both dive instructors with a lot of diving experience, but are also both past retirement age and appreciated the extra care the boat staff and our dive guide Mul took with us. The air-conditioned accommodation is excellent, with bottles of drinking water in the room, to supplement the drinking water that is freely available in the outdoor reception area. The bed is comfortable, though for our liking the pillows are a little too thick and huge. There is a fridge and a safe and a semi-outdoors bathroom, with plentiful hot water and a laundry service is available. Each bungalow has a private outdoor verandah with a drying rack and seating. Bring mosquito spray for the evenings, as there is a plug-in insect repellant, but they are persistent! For early risers, the 6.30am sunrises over Lombok island are spectacular. We observed many try dives and Open Water and Advanced dive courses being taught by the patient, knowledgeable and relaxed but safety-conscious Manta Dive instructors. Rafi, Ayu and Mariana are only mentioned by name because we did not get the names of a couple of others, who were also exhibiting excellent practice. We don't think we have ever seen such careful attention paid to beginner divers in our 25 years+ diving. Nothing was too much trouble, and we are sure this is why divers of all experience come back time and again to Manta Dive. Last time we visited, we dived with an excellent guide named Opik. Unfortunately he was off sick this time, but our young guide Mul was an equally perceptive, attentive and welcome replacement. He worked for two weeks to ensure that every dive was an unforgettable experience. We saw white-tip sharks, turtles, blubberlip snappers, but even more amazing, considering one of us has fairly poor eyesight, were the seahorses, ****y scorpion fish, leaf fish and nudibranchs that he took infinite care and time to show us. Divers are placed in an experience-appropriate small group with a guide/instructor. Breakfast is included in the accommodation price, with muesli, fruit, yogurt, juice and coffee, or cooked alternatives. A simple but varied lunch is also available after the two dives in the morning. We are pushed to think of any negatives, except maybe, as everywhere on Gili Air, you could find a lot of smokers in the outdoor areas of the dive centre - you might want to position yourselves upwind!
