In Reply to: Best Boats to Lembongan posted by Geckogirl on Tuesday, 31. July 2012 at 10:23 Bali Time:
Hi there GC
Like eveything else you (generally) get what you pay for, here in Australia or in Bali.
The safest boats by far are any of the bigger cruise vessels such as Bali Hai, Bounty or whatever Island Explorer call themselves these days.
The Bali Hai and Bounty are both aluminium catamarans built by Austal ships in WA to Australian survey standards. They has life vests for every passenger and life rafts that are checked annually in accordance with survey regulations.
On the other end of the scale you have the local boats that depart from either Benoa or Kusamba that are much smaller and have few safety features. The Kusamba ones in particular seem to go down with some regularity resulting in the loss of all on board. I've been on those a few times and most of the time they're fine but I wouldn't take my family.
If safety is your priority (instead of $$) then the choice should be obvious.
Cheers, FB