It was not long after we celebrated Mr. Shatoshi´s 24 visit last Juny that we had the pleasure of welcoming him again recently. This time there was another great occasion to celebrate: His dive number 1.200! We look forward to more dives and wonderful stays with us! Big thank you from all  Tauch Terminal Resort Tulamben team for your support!

A new motto in Tulamben,.. " Psst "

70 Kilogram Baby Female Elephant Born
at Elephant Safari Park March 15, 2009.
Julius Caesar was warned "Beware the ides of March" - foreshadowing the date of his untimely death of March 15th. Another warning with "Caesarian undertones" might also have been issued to Fatimah, a female elephant in Bali, who gave birth to a 70 kilogram progeny on March 15th at the Taro Elephant Safari Park. Fortunately, nature took a smooth course eliminating the need for any surgical assistance named after ancient Roman rulers as Bali's Elephant Safari Park near Ubud, welcomed the arrival of a bouncing baby girl on Sunday, March 15, 2009. Weighing 70 kilograms and measuring 110 centimeters in length and 80 centimeters in height, the Sumatran elephant was born "naturally" without the intervention of a veterinarian. This was probably all as well, given the fact that the baby probably weighed more than the delivery doctor.
source; balidiscovery.com

A Celebration of Yoga, Music and Dance in Bali
April 28 – May 3, 2009.
Now in its second year, The Balispirit Festival is the result of a unique collaboration of three individuals, each bringing a unique perspective to life and how it should be celebrated. Established in March 2008, The Balispirit Festival is aimed at creating a community-based event that will attract people from around the globe to contribute to creative collaborations in yoga, music and dance.Each of the co-founders shares the strong belief that any eventual event should reach out to young people. The Festival also seeks to create an environmentally conscious event; one which will inspire on-going responsibility to the environment through Festival activities highlighted on the Free Family Day (Hari Cinta Keluarga).
source; balidiscovery.com

Governor Inspects North Bali Airport Site
Governor Pastika is increasingly serious about establishing an airport in Bali's northern regency of Buleleng. Radar Bali reports that On March 8, 2009, the Governor paid a visit to the Letkol Wisnu Airport in Buleleng. While it is unclear if the regional landing strip will eventually be used for commercial aviation, the visit by governor Pastika and members of his senior staff has further fueled speculations that bigger plans are in store for the small strip now used only by private aviation and a recently established flight school.
source; balidiscovery.com

Welcoming Pioneer Diver
This week, Tauch Terminal Resort Tulamben and Spa is welcoming another good and loyal friends from Taiwan. The Pioneer Diver has been a longtime friend and partner for many years. This year, Mr Ken Hou is back to our new facility after a couple of years since his last visit. He also bring along 8 of his Taiwanese Dive Buddies and familiy Frackowiak from Poland. Entire management and staff of Tauch Terminal Resort Tulamben welcome Ken and his buddies, and wish him a great holiday in Bali.

World's Best Naval Armament Showdown in Indonesia
It will all happens right here, on Indonesia's very own sea. This August of 2009, Indonesia hosts one of its most important world event, following the UN's World Ocean Conference on May 2009, Bunaken National Park of North Sulawesi will again host the prestigious SAIL Bunaken 2009, and International Fleet Review of world's best NAVY. Events include Navy Fleet Review, Yacht Rally, Sail competition, Diving Competition, Shows and EXPOs, Seafood Festival, and more.

Event is jointly organized by by the Ministry of Marine and Fishery Affairs, Provincial Administration of North Sulawesi, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Navy Force of Indonesia. Including a special event by the Indonesian Navy, a world record breaking attempt of 1250 divers in Bunaken.
More info on www.sailbunaken2009.com

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Alexander A. Ivanov
on Wednesday inaugurated a Russian Honorary Consul in Bali, in a bid to better protect Russian citizens working and holidaying in the resort island. Ivanov, accompanied by his wife Lyudmila Ivanova, inaugurated Chairul Nuku Kamka, chairman of an association of tour operators in Bali that deals exclusively with Russian tourists, as the new honorary consul, at an event at the St. Regis Hotel in Nusa Dua on Wednesday evening.
"This will establish stronger relations between Indonesia, Bali in particular, and the people of Russia," Ivanov said. The inauguration makes Chairul the first Russian honorary consul in Indonesia, a position endowed by the Kremlin in anticipation of the increase in Russian tourists to Bali. Bali receives an average of 40,000 Russian tourists a year. Hotels and travel agents prize Russian tourists because they tend to stay longer - an average of 10 to 14 days - and can spend up to US$1,500 per person. The newly appointed consul expects to start his job by raising the number of Russian tourists by 25 percent, to 50,000 Russian tourists this year. When asked whether the global financial crisis would affect his plans, Chairul said he was not worried, citing the "excellent" cooperation between the Russian government and the Bali tourism industry that has allowed two direct chartered flights per week from Moscow to Denpasar.
source: The Jakarta Post

This year on March, Balinese Most Holy Celebrations
The Galungan festival, Bali's major feast, is held throughout the island and is an annual event in the wuku year. During this ten day period all the gods, including the supreme deity Sanghyang Widi, come down to earth for the festivities. Barongs prance from temple to temple and village to village. The last and most important day of the ten day festival is called Kuningan.
Hindu saka calendar is a lunar cycle that more closely follows our own year in terms of the length of the year. Nyepi is a major festival of the saka year, it's the last day of the year, the day of total silence throughout the island. No activity, no traffic at all on the roads, no fire may be lit for 24 hours. Great purification and sacrificial rites are held the day before so as to exorcize evil spirits from every corner of the island.
Galungan Festival, March 18th 2009
Nyepi Day of Silence, March 26th 2009
Kuningan, March 28th 2009

Cast your vote NOW! For Komodo National Park
The Indonesian Department of Culture and Tourism is seeking your support to help the Komodo National Park get named to the New Official Seven Wonders of Nature. The inaugural Official New 7 Wonders of the World ended in 2007 with the naming the "new" 7 architectural wonders of the world. The current competition is moving away from man-made structures to select the 7 Wonders of the Natural World taken from a list of 430 nominations drawn from 224 countries. The short list of 77 top nominees (11 top vote getters from 7 categories) is being selected via on-line voting ending on July 7. After that date a panel of experts, under the leadership of Professor Federico Mayor Zaragoza the former Director-General of UNESCO, will willow down the list to just 21 finalists to compete in the final round of voting for the Official New 7 Wonders of Nature to commence on July 21st.

How can you help?
Visit and cast your vote through this link www.new7wonders.com
More about West Flores, Komodo National Park at www.floreskomodo.com

MRA Bali International Triathlon Returns
For 3rd Year to Jimbaran Beach.
Embarking on its third successful year, the MRA Bali International Triathlon will return to Jimbaran Bay where it has become a regular fixture on the international sporting calendar. The only annual triathlon event held on the popular island resort, the MRA Bali International Triathlon is sponsored by the MRA Group of companies and generously supported by the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay.
Complete information on the race at www.balitriathlon.com

Our Special All Included, Hassle Free Buddy Week Packages
has just been extended further up until March 25th for your final booking confirmation. Package includes of minimum 2 - 4 nights stay at our world class resort in Tulamben; a total of 5 - 7 dives in Bali's top dive sites, full set equipments, tanks, weights, porters, airport pick-up and roundtrip transfer, and on top of it we even spice it up with a halfboard meal (lunch) included during your stay with us, PLUS a complementary 60 min Foot Reflexology Treatment at our Natural Spa Lounge.
Rates start from EUR 300,- and Joining Dive Buddies and Snorkelers in a same room pay only from EUR 35,- to EUR 120,-
with the same inclusive!!! Click Here for complete details,
and Here to contact us for reservation and enquiry

10 Whales Die on Bali Beachhead
At least 10 whales have washed ashore and died on Bali's southern beaches in recent weeks which local conservationists are blaming on bad weather and unusually strong currents affecting the area. Quoted by the Associated Press, Budi Adnyana of the Bali Conservation and Natural Resource Agency identified two of the ten dead whales as two giant sperm with the remaining eight as short-finned pilot whales.
The whale carcasses washed ashore and became entangled in the mangrove reserves surround Serangan island, near the popular beach resort area of Sanur. While local villagers harvested the whale blubber as a source of natural oils, two of the short-finned pilot whales were evacuated by officials and sent to a local school of veterinary medicine for evaluation. DNA samples were also taken from all the dead whales to determine if the mammals were related members of a single pod.
source:balidiscovery.com

Digging Up Our Past
Intensive digging of clay fields for the production of building bricks in the fields of the Keramas village in Gianyar, Bali is yielding an unexpected harvest of ancient sarcophagi that affirms Bali's advanced state of human settlement dating back 3 millennia. As reported the discovery of the twelfth ancient stone burial urn in the fields near Blahbatuh on January 12, 2009 was seen by archaeologists as proof of Bali's inhabitation by an advanced society centuries before the dawn of the Christian era.
On Sunday, February 1, 2009, the thirteenth stone coffin was unearthed only 7 meters from the similar discovery made nearly three weeks before. The latest object is 60 centimetres long and 57 centimetres high. Drs. Made Swastika, a researcher form the Bali Archaeology Department confirmed that the Keramas area in the Gianyar regency was popular human settlement area 2,000 – 3,000 years ago as proven by the continuing discovery of burial objects and the ruins of religious sites found there dating from the megalithic era. The thirteen burial urns are now part of the collection of the Prehistoric Museum in Bedulu (Museum Prubakala Bedulu).
source:balidiscovery.com

Wide Range of Local Products
on Offer During Bali's Annual Trade Fair.
Running from January 23 until February 15, 2009, Bali Trade Fare 2009 on Jalan Hayam Wuruk in downtown Denpasar is an opportunity for local companies to promote new products to local consumers and island visitors. Household appliances, vehicles, and a whole range of items intended to enhance the quality of daily life of Balinese consumers will be on display and offered at special prices for the duration of the exhibition. Daily musical live entertainment and door prizes that include new Honda motorcycles will are also be presented each day as a further inducement for the public to attend. The Fair is open each day until February 15, 2009 from afternoon until evening.
source:balidiscovery.com

April and May 2009 to be Politically Active Months in Indonesia with Legislative and Presidential Elections.
The National Elections Commission (KPU) have decreed that the next general election for Indonesia's President and Vice President will be held on Wednesday, July 9, 2009. If a run off election is required, that will take place on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. The Presidential Elections will be preceded by legislative elections set for April 9, 2009 with the formal certification of those results to be made by KPU on May 9, 2009.
Although every effort will be made to speedy and efficient review of any formal objections to the results of the legislative round of elections, the KPU readily admits that some challenges may be still under review when people go to the polls to select the President and Vice President.
source:balidiscovery.com

U.S. Travel Writer Finds Bali Both Charming and Affordable.
J Craig Simon, writing for the widely syndicated Cox News Service, visited Bali last month together with his food-writer wife. They discovered a island with outstanding accommodation, great food and much to offer the tourist visitors. In these difficult economic times, perhaps their greatest discovery was that the dollar still buys a very affordable Bali Holiday. To read Craig Simon's trip review and find out which hotels, restaurants and tour service he recommends
source:balidiscovery.com

Governor Confirms that Bali will Operate Two Airports to Stimulate Economic Growth in the Island's North.
Jakarta Post reports that Bali's Governor Made Mangku Pastika has now confirmed that Bali will move ahead with plans to build a second airport near its northern shore. This announcement came after an order from Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla decreeing that the expansion of Bali's current airport in Tuban must move ahead and be completed by 2011.Governor Pastika made the announcement following a meeting with the Bali's Provincial Legislative House of Representatives, telling the press that the plan for a second airport has been endorsed by both the Vice President and the Minister of Culture and Tourism. It is believed that the new airport will be built in the Buleleng Regency.
source:balidiscovery.com

Gong Xi Fat Chai, Have a Prosperous Year of the Ox!!
Special Packages available now! All in one, hassle free.
Package includes of minimum 2 - 4 nights stay at our world class resort in Tulamben; a total of 5 - 7 dives in Bali's top dive sites, full set equipments, tanks, weights, porters, airport pick-up and roundtrip transfer, and on top of it we even spice it up with a halfboard meal (lunch) included during your stay with us, PLUS a complementary 60 min Foot Reflexology Treatment at our Natural Spa Lounge. Rates start from EUR 300,- and Joining Dive Buddies and Snorkelers in a same room pay only from EUR 35,- to EUR 120,-
with the same inclusive!!!
Click Here for complete details, and Here to contact us for reservation and enquiry

New Hippocampus species announced under Debelius
On behalf of Tauch Terminal Bali Management, and believed also representing all dive professionals around the world. We would like to congratulate Mr Helmut Debelius for another great achievement in his underwater research and conquest, for the announcement of the new hippocampus family species, which now named under Debelius himself. Looking forward to the new book which will be launched at the BOOT SHOW 2009, Duesseldorf.

Low Cost Airline Will Fly Daily Between Bangkok and Bali Starting January 20, 2009.
Thai AirAsia - the Thailand associate of the AirAsia Group has announced the introduction of a daily Bangkok-Denpasar (Bali) service effective January 20, 2009. To kick-start the new Bali service Thai AirAsia is offering a special one-way introductory fare to Bali from Bangkok for only THB 999 (US$28.60). Seats are very limited for this special offer which is being sold on a first-come-first-served basis..
source: balidiscovery.com

Tauch Terminal Bali and Tauch Terminal Resort Tulamben entire management and staff, wish you a peaceful and merrier Christmas this season. And another great and successful upcoming years ahead, our greatest gratitude for all the support, loyalti, and cooperations.
Happy Holidays!!