Amed
is a little village living from fishing and salt panning. When you
arrive you can see all this colourful wooden boats called jukung and
the wooden squares where the people from Amed collect there salt from
the seawater. You should have a look on it! Who is looking for an easy
and nice beach and dive holiday – with family as well - will never
forget Amed.
Amed`s greatest charm is its wide range and variety of sites. You
can dive on a shipwreck,
vertical drop-offs, and pretty coral gardens
and over sand slopes in a smooth drift dive. You will see unforgettable
and for this island single hard coral formations substitute by a
variety of colourful soft corals and marine life.
The shallow slopes are highly recommended for beginners and for
snorklers because the beautifully corral gardens reaches directly under
the surface and in the bay of Amed you will find no current. Therefore
the bay is perfect for children as well! The visibility is usually
very good (over 40 meters) because the volcano stones of the beach keep
the water crystal-clear and gemstone blue.
You can start your dives directly from the beach
and in the water you will find a splendid diversity of tropical fauna
which includes next to the corals huge sponges, gorgonians, nudibranch
and fishes. You will hear sweetlips and parrotfish making crazy noises
under the water when they pick a coral for example or you see all these
colourful reef fish like groups of surgeonfish and many more.
Amed Scuba loves to show you all this beautiful diving sites in Bali. If you love to see more of Bali and the different diving sites we recommend the
diving tour around Bali with Amed Scuba Bali diving center
1. Jemeluk Drop-off
|
Bay of Jemeluk with chrystal clear water, housereef Amed Scuba |
Amed offers excellent dive sites for training dives and shows
all the beauty for experienced divers as well. The magnificent reef of
Jemeluk which covers the total wide of the beach grounds starts
directly in front of our dive school. If you enter the crystal-clear
water you find a flat bottom lagoon for instruction and a drop-off, only
a five minute swim away. This area can be highly recommended for
introductory dives. And even if you are an experienced diver you will
find along the wall always something new on each dive, no matter how
many times you will dive here. It is a spectacular site for night dives
as well.
The wall falls down until app. 30 meters and it is covered with a
variety of colourful hard and soft corals. You will see 3 meter
gorgonian fans which are open in the smooth current to take there
dinner and huge sponges with jumping craps and shrimps. There is a
splendid diversity of big and small tropical fishes which include for
example angelfish, batfish, barracuda, butterflyfish, napoleonfish,
lionfish, parrotfish and Bumphead Parrotfish as well. Octopus shows us
there talent to change there colour and we will see colourful
nudibranch like Chromodoris and Phyllidia species. With a little luck
you will discover Spanish Dancers and the Pink Nudibranch. This dive is
recommended for all level of divers. You will dive against a very
smooth currant in a dept of app. 20 meters along the wall and you come
back with the current in shallower water to the point where you have
been started.
2. Amed Ghost Bay
|
Frogfishes are not so easy to spot |
The coral garden reaches directly under the surface and follows a
sandy slope until we reach the drop-off of app. 40 meters. In shallow
water (on the sandy slope) the Indonesian government designated on
concrete blocks a conservation area to rebuild the corals which were
damaged before. Here you will see the coral growing and lots of fishes
and “critters”. In the sand slope you can see blue spotted rays.
blacktip and whitetip reef sharks sleep under Table Corals. Along the
wall we find intact magnificent and colourful hard and soft corals.
Sometimes there can be a current. For this smooth drift dive we
are using local outriggers called jukung. These local fishing boats
will follow us while we are diving and pick us up at the end of our
dive to bring us back to the beach. This dive is recommended for
beginners and experienced divers.
3. Bunutan
|
Eal Garden in Bunutan |
Along a shallow slop which falls down from five until app. 40
meters you dive with a sometimes in a nice drift. You will discover an
eel garden and wonderful coral formations at fife different diving
sites here along the bay of Bunugan.
In 28 meters you will find an interesting wall which shows us
lots of different hard and soft corals. When we go with the current we
can see schools of barracudas, boxfish, puffers, lionfish and whitetip
and blacktip reef sharks. The boat will follow the experienced divers
while the drift.
4. The Japanese Shipwreck
|
Japanese Wreck, Amed Scuba |
South of Amed in a little bay you will find a small steel and
wooden shipwreck. We don’t know anything about the history of this
wreck but we can highly recommend diving this site.
The freighter lies in shallow water from 3 until 15 meters. It is
wonderful encrusted with colourful christmas trees, soft corals,
gorgonians and black corals. You will see lots of big and small reef
fish which have found a home inside the freighter. The rich variety of
colourful species makes this dive site so special. Also the area around
the boat is rich of species like nudibranch, lobster, barracuda, tuna
and lots of colourful reef fishes. Because we will find always a little
current in this place a boat will follow the divers and pick them up
at the end of the dive. This dive site is also recommended for
beginners.
5. Gili Selang
|
A cloud of Anthias in one of nicest coral gardens in the world, Amed Scuba |
Gili Selang is for me one of the most beautiful
dive sites in Bali and in the world! But it is not possible to dive
here as beginner because you will find a strong rotate up- and down
current like in a washing machine. And this dive is also only possible
if the conditions are good! We reach the dive site with a traditional
Balinese outrigger called jukung. The small island Gili Selang is
divided from Bali through an only five meter deep channel.
North of the island is a shallow lagoon where we start our dive.
Here you will find a marine life which is virtually untouched. This
underwater world offers a rich array of fish and hard and soft coral
which you see nowhere else. The lagoon is only 18 meters deep and you
will notice similar no current. If you leave the lagoon to dive around
the island you find a wall falling down in the deep blue. Sometimes you
will find here a very strong up and down current. You should be an
experienced diver to stand this washing machine! With a little luck you
can see here hammerhead sharks as well.
6. Seraya
North of Amed on the way to Tulamben you find Seraya. We start
the dive from the boat. In only fife meters small coral formation and
white hydrozoans grow on black lava stones and sponges as well. You
will find here a countless number of small marine lives. You will see
different kind of colourful nudibranch, different kind of seahorses
(like Pygmy Seahorses, Thorny Seahorses or Kuda Seahorse or Ghost
Pipefish) and a lot of colourful reef fishes as well. It is a
spectacular dive site for mug diving like in Secret Bay or in Monkey
Reef! It is highly recommended for underwater photographers!
7. Batu Kelebit
Batu Kelebit is a beautiful place to dive and can be only
reached by the traditional Balinese outrigger sailing boats called
Jukung. Batu Kelebit is situated between Amed and Tulamben in front of a
steep cliff, which offers no way on foot to the sea. If you like dive
sites with lots of soft and hard coral, gorgonians, and plenty of
macro-scale life, where you can see big animals as well as fantastic
underwater structure you will love this place! Here you will find one
of the best dive sites of Bali!
Tulamben
The former fishing village Tulamben is located in the northeast
of Bali on the main road to Singaraja. It lies about 20 minutes away from Amed and one hour from Candi
Dasa towards north. The team of
Amed Scuba love to show you the beauty of the wreck. My prefered time for this dive is the
early morning dive in the Liberty. On your way to Amed or Tulamben you will have
magnificent views over rice fields in beautiful valleys up to the steep
mountains. On some lookouts you have a breathtaking view to the Mount
Agung. In Tulamben you find some good accommodation for all budgets and
a costal reef with the U.S.A.T. Liberty shipwreck. More quite you can
stay in the only a few kilometres distant fishing village Amed.
In Tulamben you can dive three dive sites from the shore.
Sometimes the waves are a little bit bigger and to entrance the water
can be a little more difficult. It is better to ware the dive shoes on
the slippery stone beach.
1. U.S.A.T. Liberty Shipwreck
|
USS Liberty |
One of the best known dive sites in Bali is the U.S. Liberty. The original freighter was 125 meter long and 16 meter wide.
The American ship was torpedoed in the Lombok-Street at the 11th
of January in 1942 from a Japanese submarine. Because the boat had a
load of military charge the crew tries to bring it into the harbour of
Singeraja. But it starts to sink faster and faster therefore the crew
decided to go ashore in Tulamben. Nobody of the crew was hurt and they
safe all the military cargo.
On the beach of Tulamben the steel shipwreck began to rust. The
lava of the 1963 erupted volcano Agung brought the ship back into the
sea.
You can easily reach the shipwreck from the beach and you can
dive around it or into it. Because there is usually no current this
dive can be recommend for beginners as well as for experienced divers.
In the area of the shipwreck you will have a look on lots of big fish
like barracudas, napoleon wrasse, surgeonfish and many other reef
fishes which have found a safe home inside the wreck.
The wreck is wonderful encrusted with soft and hard corals. We
dive the shipwreck from 3 until 32 meters. The safety stop will be in
five meter in an interesting eel garden. We can highly recommend this
dive site for snorkelers as well because you can reach the ship from
three until five meter under the surface.
2. Tulamben Drop off
At the south end of the bay of Tulamben we start our dive
directly from the shore. When we enter the water
|
Barracuda in Tulamben |
from the beach we
usually find a really big group of Jackfish. They are swimming in
circles and inside you can see sometimes other fishes looking for
protection. In the shallower water several small spurs lead off into
the bay. We only swim around the corner of big volcanic rocks and dive
down to a wonderful and rich wall. This drop-off is an old lava flow as
well. The wall goes down from fifteen meters about seventy. It is a
steep, rough and even undercut a bit what makes this dramatic
topography of this beautiful reef. Here you will find impress hard and
soft coral formations, huge gorgonians, amazing big sponges and Agropora
species. Interesting is the variety of different reef fishes as well.
Sometimes we see here a bumphead parrotfish group. These are amazing
fishes. They are huge and with there bumphead they are looking very
majestic when they pass by. We will find here and in Jemeluk many
different kinds of Angelfishes like king angelfish, emperor angelfish,
yellow-mask angelfish, regal angelfish or the blue girdeled angelfish.
Colourful as well are all the different kind of butterfly fishes and
all the other reef fishes. Here you can also find the blue stripped
snapper.
It is a very easy dive. You only need to have a look on your
depth and your buoyancy when you are diving. We will dive against a
smooth current and he will bring us back to the place where we have
started.
The safety stop will be at the corner of the protected bay in
shallow water where you will see lots of fishes in the corals as well.
3. Tulamben Coral Garden
Directly in front of the hotels stretches a shallow slope along
the beach down into a coral garden. This coral garden in Tulamben is a
perfect place for snorkelling. The coral garden starts in two meters
and falls down until app. 15
meters.
In this nice coral garden live lots of reef fishes in spectacular
hard and soft corals. Here you can see very pretty blue, yellow and
black ribbon moray eels. The blue ones are the females and the black
ones are the males which can become 120 cm. You can see here also a lot
of different ghost pipefish and box fishes. In a weld fuselage you can
see some small and big reef fishes as well.
This dive side is a perfect place for introductory, for beginner
and dive refreshing courses. And it is perfect for everybody who takes
his time to look for all this huge variety of smaller critters.
4. Kubu / Monkey Reef
|
New shipwreck in Kubu |
North of Tulamben you will find a little fishing village called
Kubu. Here you will find two wonderful dive sites which we can enter by
the shore. This is one of the most interesting places in Bali to see
all the different kinds of hard and soft corals in which lots of small
animals have found there home. You can see nudibranch, pygmy seahorses,
harlequin shrimps, durban hinge-beak prawns or banded boxer shrimps,
etc. Sometimes you can see turtles here and sleeping reef sharks at
this beautiful dive place. Here you will also find a new shipwreck in 18 meter going down to 35meter. It was an old ferry which sank at this place.
Padang Bai
This little ferry harbour is located at the east coast of Bali
on the way from Klungkung to Candi Dasa only a few kilometres away from
the main road. Padang Bai situated in a beautiful bay with white sand
beach and crystal clear gemstone blue water next to the harbour. It is a
perfect location for relaxation or walking on pristine white sand
beaches, for fishing, snorkelling or diving as well as it is a cultural
destination with one of the oldest temples in Bali. Visit the over
1000 years old interesting Silayukti Temple and you will see
authentic Balinese ceremonies at this place. The Silayukti Temple is
one of the four oldest temples in Bali. The Hindu priests who came from
Java to Bali more then 1000 years ago brought the Hinduism to our
beautiful island. They started with strong and deep meditation at this
place.
If you pass the harbour where you can catch a ferry to Lombok and
you go to the north (left) you will visit a little fishing village
called Padang Bai.
From here a lot of interesting dive sites can be easily reached
by boat. In some of this dive sites it is easy to dive but in others
you will need some experience to feel good! Have a look in our
descriptions and make your decision.
1. Blue Lagoon (Tanjung Sari)
This varied dive site in the north-east of Padang Bai offers
dives for novice divers but the wall is also interesting for
experienced divers. It is a very good place to start diving again after a
pause. In shallow water in the depth of three until five meters you
can exercise your buoyancy first on a sandy slope and visit afterwards a
wonderful wall which is falling down until 30 meters. Here you will
notice a variety of healthy hard and soft corals and a lot of smaller
critters which tend to stay in more sheltered areas. On this boat dive
you can see a lot of gorgonians, shrimps and prawns, sweetlips, perch,
scorpion fish, frog fish and the blue and yellow striped ribbon eel and
lots of colourful nudibranches. In 20 meters you can visit sometimes
sleeping reef sharks and from august to September you can look of Mola
mola.
Blue Lagoon is a perfect beach for snorkelling as well and the white sand invites you for relaxation.
2. White Beach (Bias Tugal)
Bias Tugel is one of the most popular beaches with pristine
white sand and a couple of small warungs which serve food and drinks.
White Beach is located in the south of Padang Bai a perfect place for
relaxation and snorkeling as well. But sometimes the waves can be a
little bit bigger here. Only a few meters away from the beach we start
our boat dive at a pretty drop off falling down into the deep blue.
Here you will see a variety of different soft and hard corals. In the
depth area you will see lots of gorgonians which are the home of tinny
little pigmy-seahorses and you will look of ghostpipefish, scorpionfish,
batfish, nudibranches etc. It is a good place to see Mola mola from
august to September as well.
3. Padang Bai Chanel
Only 100 metres away from the beach this dive site starts near
the harbour where you will visit a beautiful drop off with little caves
inside. Sometimes you can see sharks, turtles and Stingrays and Mola
mola as well from august to september.
4. Gili Biaha („Shark Cave“)
This is a dive site for experienced divers! At this dive side
the conditions can vary quite dramatically. Depending on the waves and
currents which can be strong and unpredictable some days this dive site
can be easy or quite difficult sometimes. The currents can be like a
washing machine. When we arrive with the boat at this place we can watch
this. On the island is a Blow-hole. If the conditions are fine the
water is quiet. If the waves are high water will be pressed into the
cave which is located app. seven meters under the surface. In this time
it is impossible to dive here. In the cave you can look of sleeping
white-tip reef sharks. The cave is big enough that some divers can swim
together into it. If the conditions for the dive are fine the boat
will follow us along a nice wall falling down into the deep blue.
5. Mimpang / Batu Tiga
At this dive site we start at a slope and follow it down until
we find a nice drop off. This drop off is rich of hard and soft coral
species and colourful fish. You will see huge gorgonians and sometimes
reef sharks cross our way. You can watch big schools of different fish
and it is hard to identify all the different animals you can see on
this dive site. Sometimes the current can be a little bit stronger but
you will know at this place where it comes from. Right at the end of the
dive you should be a little bit more careful, because at the end of
the wall there is a downward current which can bring you 40 meters down
if you are not careful.
6. Tepekong (Island of the goat)
The small - only 50 meter long - island is surrounded by deep blue water.
We start our dive in a canyon. Dense hard and soft coral colonies
are growing on big basalt stone blocks. Huge groups of fishes will
swim around us and with a little luck you will see reef sharks as well
as moonfishes.
This dive site can be the same like in Gili Biaha. Therefore we
can recommend this place only for experienced divers! At the wall on
the east side you can find sometimes strong down currents which can
make this dive difficult as well.
Menjangan
In the north-west of Bali you will find this beautiful 1, 5 km
long and only 500 meter spread out island called Menjangan which
belongs to the Bali Barat National park and it is one of the most
protected dive sites in Bali. The National Park Office limits the
number of visitors who are allowed to dive here. The dive sites belong
to an underwater protected area. Fishing is forbidden and therefore we
have a good chance to see also big fish. You will find here the best
coral formations and reefs in Indonesia! This dive site is one of the
best in the world! Australian Biologists have counted 46 different
kinds of Agropora here!
We start opposite the island from the national park office in
small wooden vessels. The island is only 30 minutes away from the main
land.
On the island you find a bird sanctuary and the oldest temple in
Bali where the Balinese Hindu people are celebrating there full-moon
ceremonies.
You can dive Menjangan any time of the year because the island is
situated protected enough to provide good diving even during the rainy
season. You can choose your dive side on the north or the south
depending on the soft current and the direction of the wind. The
visibility at Menjangan is one of the best in Bali and reaches
sometimes 50 meters! It is possible to dive all around the island at
more than ten different dive sites. And also if there are plenty of
different dive sites around Menjangan the best area is stretch along
the southeast coast of the island and from the northwest down into the
channel between Menjangan and the main land. Our favourite dive spot is
Pos Dua and Garden Eal. At the drop off the nooks and crannies are
rich. You find huge gorgonians and beautiful little paccagnella´s. You
see hundreds of angelfish, butterfly fish, anthias, gobies you will
see all the different reef fish swimming here! Quite often you can see
turtles here as well. If you are lucky you can find here also whale
sharks and moon fish but also if you don’t see them it is one of the
best dive sides in Bali!
The National park office offers some guided walks through the rainforest of the National Park of Bali Barat.
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Nusa Penida, Nusa Caningan und Nusa Lembongan
These islands are located in the southeast of Bali in the Lombok
Strait between Lombok and Bali. Nusa Penida is the largest of the
small islands. To the northwest lie two smaller islands called Nusa
Ceningan and Nusa Lembongan. Bali and Lombok are separated through a
deep water ditch. This line is also a geographical border called
Wallace-Line. Therefore Bali and Lombok show a different flora and
fauna. One is more in Asian and the other is more in Australian
influence. It was impossible for the plants and animals to cross this
geographical border because in this Strait water is exchanged between
the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Measurement shows an annual
mean transport of around 1.7 million cubic meter water per second. This
means in the end you will find here a very strong current! Most of
these dives are not for beginners! Here you will find often very strong
and unpredictable currents and undertows. The underwater world is very
rich of species and you will find them in huge numbers because with all
the cold and fresh water comes also plenty of nutrient to feed all
this numbers of animals. The visibility is absolutely clear and the
sight is more than 30 meters. The dives will be around the high tide
because then the currents are smoother.
You will find here some really remarkable animals - the Mola Mola
sunfish as well as large pelagic fish such as tunas, rays, manta rays,
different kind of mackerels and sharks (even grey reef sharks,
white-tip sharks) or turtles in pristine hard coral reefs.
All dive sites are steep slopes or walls which go down very deep.
If you want to have an impression of the currents in this area have a
look an this satellite maps from the University of Hamburg:
Nusa Penida is a dive site where one should be conservative
because of the strong currents! Always stick close to the reef! In
difficult dive sites we will go with only one customer for one
diveguide. Listen to the advice of your dive operator and the boat
skipper, and always stay close to your group, then the conditions are,
if not easy, at least manageable.
Nusa Penida
Nusa Penida is the largest of the three islands and has many
interesting dive sites. Do you want to see a Manta Ray? You'll have a
very good chance because there is a Manta cleaning-station at the south
of the island. From july to september you can have the fortune of
seeing sunfish (Mola mola). Mola molas belong to the family of Puffers
and reach a size of three meters. Therefore they are the biggest bony
fishes on the earth. Padang Bai and here are the only places in the
world where you can see them regulary from July to September -usually
they live in the deep blue. Here in Bali there are some
cleaning-stations where the sunfish get cleaned by banner fishes. In
spite of their huge size, sunfish only have a tiny little mouth to
suck for example jellyfish.
1. Crystal Bay
Nusa Penida´s Crystal Bay is part of the Ceningan Channel which
divides Nusa Penida from Nusa Ceningan. Outside of the bay there is a
strong current because the water which flow down the Lombok Strait has
to pass this Channel between Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan. Inside of
the bay you will dive in sparkling clear water protected from the
current and it is possible to go snorkeling as well or relaxing at the
white sand beach of this beautiful bay. The visibility here is very
good! At the wall you can see sunfish cleaning station where Mola molas
get cleaned by groups of bannerfishes. But you can see so much more
marine life at this place like sharks and eagle rays or large school of
glasfish as well as redtooth triggerfishes, schooling bannerfishes,
doctorfishes, anthias, and angelfishes everywhere.
Approximately ten meters under the surface you will find the
entrance to an underwater cave. Inside the cave there is a hole where
you can see the sky and on the ceiling of this cave bats are sleeping.
2. Gamat Bay
The conditions of this dive site are nearly the same like in
Crystal Bay. Gamat Bay is located between Crystal Bay and
Toyapakeh. Inside the small Bay in some shallower areas you will find
similar no current. Here it is possible to snorkel between nice coral
formations, mantis shrimps, leaffishes, nudibranchs and dragonets. If
you swim to the corner of the bay the protection ends and you will
start a drift dive along a beautiful wall where the boat will follow
the dive group. Here you can see eagle rays and sharks and sunfish.
3.Toyapakeh
This little bay is located at the beginning of the Ceningan Channel in the northwest of Nusa Penida
where the ferries from Bali arrive. This little Bay is partially
protected from the strong current flowing through this small channel.
You will find the same conditions in this Bay like in the other ones in
the Ceningan Channel. You will see pretty hard and soft coral
formations like gorgonians, huge table corals and pillars. Big group of
fish can be seen as well as sunfish and sharks. South of the bay where
the Ceningan channel begins there is a beautiful wall with rocky
overhangs and caves. If the current is not to strong and the waves not
so big we can do a nice drift dive along the wall.
4.SD (Sekolah Desar)
At the top in the north of Nusa Penida you find the dive sites
Sekolah Desar (SD), Sental, Ped and Sampalan. At this point all the
water which flow down from the Pacific meets the cost of the small
island and divides. Some water flow down the west coast into the
Ceningan Channel and some flow to the east side. The conditions you can
expect are fast currents which sometimes change there direction.
Try to stay together in your group but this can be difficult and
the distances covered during the drift dive can be amazing and your air
bubbles will rise behind, in front, below and in whirls around you. It
is a wild ride! And only possible for experienced divers, good dive
guides and very good skippers.
These dive sites are steep slopes and walls covered with corals
and sponges. The best dive site is probably SD. It is possible to see
large pelagics like manta rays, white tip and black tip shark,
barracuda, tuna, sun fish or even very rare whale sharks!
Manta Point
|
Mantas with Amed Scuba |
The conditions at the southeast cost of Nusa Penida can be quite
rough. The coastline is wild with divided high and white limestone
rocks and high waves tossing against it. The conditions do not allow
diving here all the time. Depending on the large waves crashing against
the high cliffs we can sometimes not reach this dive site all the time.
We dive in two bays which are a little bit more protected. Because of
the high waves you will find nearly no corals here. The only reason to
dive this site is to have a look at the mantas! The cleaning station
operating with huge groups of wrasses can be found in four until twelve
meters. Therefore it is not necessary to dive deep the mantas are
gathering around this shallow cleaning station and we can wait for
them. These huge animals with a span of seven meters seem to arrive out
of the deep blue. It looks like they are flying under the water. In the
time when they will be cleaned you can carefully swim closer to them.
Diving with these huge animals is an amazing
feeling!
Nusa Lembogan: Blue Corner (Ental Point)
Depending on the tide the dive conditions can change at this
dive site at the northwest corner of Nusa Lembogan very fast. Therefore
this dive site can be only strongly recommended for experienced
divers. Refer to the other dive sites you should dive here at the time
around the high tide as well to avoid the strong current. Sometimes you
will say after the dive this dive side is the greatest I have ever
seen or you will say outright boring or dangerous, depending on the
current you will find. But if there is no current at all large animals
are rare. And if the swell getting up from the south with big waves the
visibility can be very bad. But if all conditions are good this is one
of the best dive sites in Bali. You will dive at this dive site for a
longer time at 30 meters into a wide canyon. Therefore you will need a
dive computer. You will follow a steep slope with overhangs and
outcroppings. When we start our dive we will first try to hide behind
some of these outcroppings or overhangs to protect ourselves against the
current. Some of the big fish will do the same. If we are lucky we
will see manta rays and bannerfish as a sunfish cleaning station.