Diving Bali

If we ought to describe diving in Bali using one word, that word would be VARIETY. Bali is one of the 17 thousand islands that form Indonesia. It belongs to so called Coral Triangle which is a term for a geographical area that holds the highest diversity of corals, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and marine plant species in the world. There are few places that offer as much as Bali, both in diving and as a holiday destination. Healthy reefs teeming with life, wrecks, underwater canyons, caves, deep walls and world class muck diving.

Water temperature around Bali is a balmy 26 to 29 degrees Celsius. With the exceptions of deep waters of Lombok Strait and Nusa Penida in some months of south-east monsoon where currents can bring up cold waters from depths cooling it in some places to as low as 19 degrees.

The visibility in the rainy season (November – April) is between 10 and 15 meters. Dry season produces visibility of around 30 meters and in the northern part of the island at the Menjangan Island visibility up to 50 meters is quite common. Finally it all depends of where we dive. There are places on the island where we can enjoy good visibility throughout the whole year.

Definitely the best time to dive Bali is during the south-east monsoon (May – November) but good diving conditions are found all the year.

Candidasa lays at the heart of the Lombok Strait the first deep water trench directly to the east of Asian continental shelf. Through this channel flows the greatest volume of tidal waters on earth. This can create some powerful currents that characterise some of these dive sites. It also means regular visits of large and unusual pelagic fishes like Mola Mola and the biggest numbers of sharks in all Bali waters. These strong currents can also clear up the water and create fantastic visibility.

If you prefer some less challenging diving, Bali has a lot on offer. From tranquil waters of Tulamben and Amed to some real gems of macro dives in Secret Bay, PJ and Seraya Secret. Island of Nusa Penida is home to the world known cleaning station where seeing of great numbers of Mantas are very common. It also hosts some very predictable drift dives on which you can spot great numbers of pelagic fishes as well as healthy reefs.

In short, diving holidays in Bali will leave you more than satisfied and certainly will be remembered as one of those dive trips that are worth repeating and recommending to your friends.

Candidasa

Amuk Bay is offering us one of the best dives in Bali and all of them are just minutes away.

Nusa Penida

Penida is an island that is shrouded by ancient beliefs of magic and spirits. Once only reserved for outcasts and criminals, this tiny island off the coast of Bali, has since emerged as Bali’s best dive location.

On the far side of Nusa Penida, lies the Wallace Line - A deep trench which runs 1300 meters deep, separating Bali, Indonesia from Austronesia. Nusa Penida forms a natural barrier for the ocean currents, which cause strong upwelling’s of cold water, this movement of water attracts large pelagic species such as sharks, rays, and the Oceanic Sunfish.

Just a short forty-five-minute boat ride from Padang Bai harbor, with everything from drift dives, deep dives, Manta rays, sharks and Mola-Molas, Nusa Penida has arguably the best diving in this region.

Padang Bai

Is a small fishing village that offers easy and relaxed diving in its small and cosy bays. Accessed by our fibre glass jukung (traditional Balinese boat ) in less than 20 min.

Tulamben

Is a small fishing village that became famous in the diving community because of the Liberty Wreck and healthy coral reefs that are scattered in its calm bays.

Amed

This small fishing village, known for its traditional way of processing sea salt is only a 50 min ride away from Candidasa. Great place for macro lovers, although nearby reefs were damaged around 30 years ago by the local communities a couple of years later artificial reef projects were implemented. Nowadays we can enjoy them searching for macro life and observing reef fishes and sometimes bigger ones like jacks, groupers and white/black tip sharks.