Discover the amazing underwater world at these Bali scuba diving sites...
There are some excellent Bali scuba diving and snorkeling sites around the island. Most of these sites are located on the east coast of Bali and on the islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida.
Clockwise the order of Bali scuba diving sites are:
Menjangan island, National Park West Bali
Pulau Menjangan (deer island) and it's surrounding water is part of National Park West Bali so as you can imagine the coral here is pretty well conserved and the water is clean.
Up until now we have experienced the best snorkeling here. The large number of different fish are amazing, just as the coral walls. We just couldn't get enough of it!
Menjangan is also great for diving and travelers staying in the south of Bali even arrange day tours to this remote part of the island to experience terrific Bali scuba diving.
So if you plan to visit Bali for some great diving or snorkeling, head to Menjangan..
From the mainland the island looks nearby but it still takes 30 minutes by boat. The best time to dive or snorkel here is early in the morning when the water is at its clearest.
At Pos II, the coral garden
This diving spot is ideal for beginners because the reef is found 2 meters below the surface and stretches itself out for 100-150 meters without any waves or strong currents.
The soft walls of coral around the island are almost vertical and reach into a depth of 35-60 meters. The reef is full with caves, cavities and cracks and is covered with corals and amazing sponges.
At the north-western side of the island you can find a shipwreck named the Anker. The wreck is 25 meters long and is located on a hill where you also find caves, soft corals and other marine life.
At the Labuhan Lalang jetty...
If you like to go on a diving trip to the island of Menjangan you can arrange an organized tour with dive operators from all the Pemuturan hotels, Lovina, Amed and even in Sanur.
There are many boats leaving daily from Labuhan Lalang, a harbor just 20 minutes west from Pemuturan. The first boats to the island leave at 08.00 am and the last boat leaves at 02.00 pm for a four hour diving trip including the 30 minutes to the island.
Expect to pay between $75-$110 US incl. two dives, 2x tanks, weight belt, dive guide and transport.
Our boatman
If you plan to go snorkeling only it's easy just to head to the harbor yourself. At the entrance of the harbor you can arrange a permit, park guide (which is obligatory since you are entering a national park), boat and even snorkeling gear.
This is what we did and at the end the whole trip including gear etc was Rp. 60.000 for the two of us.
Everything at the harbor office is well organized and there is no need to bargain for a price at all as everything is written down clearly.
When you see this sign you've arrived at Labuhan Lalang
We were one of the first to leave from the harbor and we were glad we did because the water was still clear and we had seen about everything before the big crowd arrived around 10am.
Ask the guide to take you Pos II first where you can see the coral garden and then head to Pos I where you can check out the drop off.
This sequence is best considering the current.
If you are planning to go diving or snorkeling with a tour or independently and you want to make it cheaper then you could of course try to find several other travelers to share the boat with.
This will save you a lot of money. Up to 10 people fit in the boat and five if you are having diving gear with oxygen bottles.
From our experience when snorkeling you should consider just going with just 4 people to prevent a traffic jam when in the water.
Wreck Tulamben
This Bali scuba diving site is one of the hot spots and not surprisingly with the USAT Liberty ship wreck just 30m from the coast.
This makes it very easy for beginners to spot marine life with names such as swirling silver trevally, ribbon sweetlips, bumphead parrot fish, sponges and beautiful soft and hard corals.
You don't even have to carry your gear if you go Bali scuba diving!
The ship wreck stretches itself out over 100 meters and runs parallel to the beach.
The top of the ship is located only 3 meters below the surface with its lowest point on the bottom of the sea at a depth of 30 meters. Visibility is good up to 12-15 meters.
Two dives at the site will cost you around $55 US and includes 2x oxygen bottles, weight belt and dive instructor.
At Tulamben there’s also a coral wall rich with a wide variety of tropical fishes where you can also have the chance to see reef sharks, occasionally manta rays and sometimes even the rare Oceanic Sunfish, called Mola Mola on Bali.
The waters around Tulamben just in front of the many guesthouses are also good for snorkeling with coral gardens where you might see ribbon eels, beautiful nudibranchs and other coral fishes.
Around the corner of Tulamben Bay there’s also a diving site called Batu Kelebit with coral covered ridges separated by valleys of white sand. You will also bump here into various tropical fishes and the famous parrot fishes.
Another Bali scube diving site not far from Tulamben by a short boat trip is called ‘Seraya’ and here you find seahorses, honeycomb eels, nudibranchs, harlequin shrimps, seamonths and lionfishes.
This is something you definitely don’t want to miss when you’re diving at Tulamben for a couple of days.
Several dive operators are located in Tulamben and organize tours to these Bali scuba diving sites. You can also book these tours in Sanur or Kuta but it will cost you more.
Amed
If you are planning to do some Bali scuba diving or snorkeling in Amed then you don't need to worry. There are dive operators in abundance. They can help you with your gear and take you to the best diving spots.
If you are just want to go snorkeling, like we did then you can easily arrange a traditional boat which can be found along the entire Amed coast. Every hotel can help you arrange a snorkeling trip plus gear, or you can pop in one of the many dive operator shops.
In Amed itself there are two popular Bali scuba diving sites. The first one is at Jemeluk, which has 3 vertical walls with soft and hard corals, a Japanese wreck and a variety of fishes such as parrot fishes, trigger, grouper and visibility of 25+ meters.
At the Japanese wreck it's easy to watch the fish swim as the fish seem to be used to seeing people checking them out daily...
The shore where you can find the Japanese wreck...
The Japanese wreck is located pretty near the shore so you can also just go to the beach and walk into the water from there. We were pretty disappointed by this site because the current brought a lot of rubbish.
On top of that, since it's one of Amed's most popular sites it got pretty crowded. So be there early...
Luckily our boatman brought us to another site more east of the Japanese wreck. Here the coral and fish were more diverse and the water was clean. This site is only good for snorkeling and is located just in front for the Coral View Villas at Pondok Vienna Beach in Lipah.
There is nice coral at Lipah beach too...
The second popular site is at Selang island, south of Amed and here you can find moray eels, sharks, hard and soft corals and a variety of tropical reef fish.
There are a couple of dive operators in Amed who organize tours to these two popular Bali scuba diving sites.
Arrange a Jukung boat and snorkel anywhere you want...
If you are planning to arrange a Jukung boat by yourself it's about Rp 150.000 for 4 hours. At the dive operator store you can hire a snorkeling set for Rp 50.000 for a whole day. Other deals, usually through staff at the hotel are Rp 30.000 for a day.
Amlapura
This Bali scuba diving site is found around Biaha islands not far from Amlapura city. Here you can find barracudas, tunas, cuttle fish, napoleon wrasses, hard and soft corals, deep walls and white tip reef sharks in a shark cave at just 12 meters below the surface.
Dive operators in Amed and Candidasa organize tours to the Biaha islands.
Candidasa
Just of the coast of Candidasa are three small rock islands called Mimpang islands.
Mimpang islands in front of Candidasa's coast
These Bali scuba diving sites have several walls and a good variety of sea life. There is a shark junction so you will likely see numerous sharks and sometimes even manta rays and the Oceanic Sunfish.
Visibility is 30+ meters. Tours can be organized from Padang Bai.
Padangbai
There are 7 Bali scuba diving sites that are popular among the dive crowd in Padangbai. Six out of five sites are located around the hill on the left of Padangbai.
Here you can find anglerfish, scorpionfish, sweet lips, napoleon wrasses, moray eels, nudibranchs, cuttle fish sting rays hard and soft corals and even turtles if you’re lucky.
The Bali scuba diving sites are called (1) Ferry Channel, (2) Tanjung Sari, (3) Temple, (4) Blue Lagoon and (5) the Wall.
The Bali scuba diving sites 1-5 are behind this hill...
Several dive operators in Padangbai can bring you there if it’s your first time, otherwise you can go with the local fishermen would love to bring you there with their colorful boats.
Bali scuba diving site number 6 is called Bias Tungal and is located behind the hill on the right side of Padangbai.
The last dive is at Tepekong island, which is a 15 minute boat ride from Padangbai. At the island you find vertical walls, rock pillars and a canyon with big schools of Sweetlips, sharks, Jacks, Palegics, big Gropers, tunas and coral bommies. Visibility is 25+ meters.
Enough choice of dive operators in Padangbai
It is possible to experience strong currents here so this diving site is for advanced divers only.
Two dives at this place will cost around $60 US and includes 2 oxygen bottles, weight belt and dive guide.
I’ve snorkeled around Tepekong island and I have to say it’s a bit disappointing but with diving you don’t have this problem since you’re able to go to places you’ll not swim to with ordinary snorkeling gear.
My sister and girlfriend
at Blue Lagoon
A spot that is excellent for snorkeling at Padangbai is called ‘Pantai Kecil’ (Little Beach) or 'Blue Lagoon'. This beach is easily accessible by a 10-minute short cut walk over the left hill in the direction of the Bloo Lagoon resort.
Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida
Just 20 km from Sanur there are the islands of Lembongan, Ceningan and Penida. There are several boat operators that organize tours such as the Scoot II from Sanur and the Bali Hai cruises from Nusa Dua.
You can also take fishermen boats from Padangbai and Kusamba to Nusa Lembongan.
The stretch between Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Cenignan is one of the best snorkeling places on Bali.
When you dive in the north of Nusa Penida you might be lucky to find the Oceanic Sunfish between June and November.
On drift dives (only for experienced divers) you can also see hard and soft corals, walls and canyons with tuna, manta rays, turtles, sponges and other marine life.
On the west coast of Nusa Penida there’s a Bali scuba diving site called Manta Point which is also good for snorkeling Here you find sea life such as nudibranchs, manta rays, nurse sharks, sponges and leather corals.
Dive operators in Padangbai, Sanur and Kuta arrange drift dives around the Nusa Penida island.
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