Diving in Bali, Indonesia - Bluewater Dive Travel

Bali

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A manta ray displays its unique markings with sunlight piercing the water's surface
A seahorse on a sandy oceanfloor
A school of bumphead parrot fish in Bali
A barracuda eyes the camera
A scuba diver surrounded by a school of jackfish
A mola mola (or oceanic sunfish) and some fish in Bali
A sea fan and a school of fish underwater in Bali
A nudibranch rests on a reef in Bali
A nudibranch on a sea fan
A rhinopia on a sandy sea floor
A harlequin shrimp devours its prey

Scuba Diving in Bali, Indonesia 

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Bali diving highlights

Scuba diving in Bali is exceptionally diverse and makes the perfect destination for a scuba diving safari. Unique macro critters, interesting wrecks, beautiful coral reefs, schools of tunas and barracudas, and bigger animals like mola molas and manta rays - Bali scuba diving has it all. Nusa Penida is one of Bali's diving hotspots, where divers flock to dive with manta rays and search for mola molas. Another renowned region for diving in Bali is the Northeast coast, which is famous for macro sites and the USAT Liberty shipwreck, but also boasts some great reef diving. The quiet Northwest is home to spectacular plunging coral walls and some fascinating macro sites - perfect for divers seeking exceptional diving away from the crowds.

Bali's diving diversity, combined with a friendly local population, relatively low cost, and a myriad of topside activities make Bali one of our favorite places in Indonesia to visit, for scuba divers and non-divers alike.

 

 

Intro to scuba DIVING Bali

Bali is a small island in the country of Indonesia, and the only island where the population is primarily Hindu instead of Muslim. Bali is well-known for extremely friendly people, excellent food, a wide range of accommodations to suit all price levels, and specialized craftspeople making instruments out of materials such as teak, gold, silver, and bamboo.

Bali's fascinating cultural experiences and impressive natural landmarks include temples, traditional dances, volcanoes, beautiful rice paddies, waterfalls, and countless other attractions. Underwater, you can find a plethora of big and small animals, ranging from mola molas and manta rays to tiny nudibranchs and pygmy seahorses. Underwater photographers will find ample opportunities to use their macro and wide-angle lenses.

If you enjoy a combination of scuba diving and cultural experiences, check out our guide to diving Papua New Guinea or Zanzibar, Tanzania & Kenya diving.

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Bali Liveaboards & Dive Resorts

Scuba diving in Bali can be done from a Bali dive resort, some liveaboards, or a Bali dive safari. Some divers choose a liveaboard option that does not just include Bali but extends their itinerary to other nearby destinations like Komodo. These trips allow you to minimize your time in airports and maximize your time exploring Indonesia's underwater world. There are countless Bali dive resorts to choose from if you prefer to a land-based diving option. You can either stay in one location and make day trips to other nearby Bali diving areas or embark on a Bali dive safari to spend less time in the car and experience all the best scuba diving in Bali.

Check out our Komodo Liveaboards, some of which also include Bali on their itinerary.

Interested in liveaboards? Let's help you get started with our Guide to Liveaboard DivingYou may also want to check out our list of the Best Liveaboard Destinations for Beginner Scuba Divers.

For other great dive resort areas, check out Cozumel, Mexico and Roatan, Honduras.

 

Diving Information 

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Bali Marine Life & Photography Subjects

The question is not what can you see when diving in Bali, but what can’t you see? Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, Bali boasts impressive marine biodiversity, with robust populations of reef fish, pelagic fish, turtles, macro life, and corals. Bali's diverse underwater topography includes shallow mucky bottoms, seagrass beds, sloping coral reefs, and coral walls plunging to depths exceeding 150 feet (50 meters).

Bali is one of the world’s top destinations for mola mola and manta rays. While the manta rays are consistently spotted at nearby Nusa Penida, mola mola are more elusive and are sought by divers visiting Bali during specific months when the water is colder (usually from July through September, although the season varies from year-to-year).

Diving Alor is also a great place to spot mola mola.

Going to the right Bali dive sites at the right depths can consistently produce larger animals such as Napolean wrasse, tuna, reef sharks, and schools of jacks, great barracuda, and giant trevally. Tulamben, Pemuteran, Menjangan Island, and Nusa Penida are great spots for encountering these animals.

Most Indo-Pacific macro critters have been found in Bali. Anilao and Lembeh offer slightly better critter diving, but with the right guide it can still be very good in Bali, and there are good critter sites in all of the major Bali diving regions.

Here is a list of some of the marine animals you can likely see in Bali: 

  • Cuttlefish
  • Many nudibranchs
  • Seahorses
  • Octopus
  • Mandarin fish
  • Frogfish
  • Ghost Pipefish
  • Sweetlips
  • Manta Rays
  • Reef Sharks
  • Mola Molas
  • Eels
  • Variety of Shrimp
  • Schooling fish

For another great macro destination, check out diving in Anilao.

 

Diving Conditions

  • Water temperature: Bali water temperatures typically hover around the low 80s F (27 C), but can dip as low as 61 F (16 C) with thermoclines in Nusa Penida and Padang Bai and up to 88 F (31 C) around Menjangan Island. Your exposure suit will depend where you are diving and at what time of year, so ask your travel advisor for more advice.
  • Visibility: Generally 30 – 70 feet (9-21 meters), sometimes exceeding 100 feet (30 meters) or more at Nusa Penida and Menjangan Island.
  • Depth Range: 5 - 40+m

 

Typical Bali Dive

Bali dive sites are almost always along the shore or along one of the close smaller islands such as the Gilis - Tepekong, Mimpang, and Biaha - or Menjangan Island, Nusa Penida, or Nusa Lembongan. Boat sizes range from tiny jukungs that hold 2-3 divers and require gear to be donned in the water, to comfortable speedboats designed for scuba diving that can hold 8-12 divers.

Diver-to-guide ratios are generally small, and the guides are usually local Balinese or divers from other regions in Indonesia such as Sulawesi. Dive sites in Bali range from walls to slopes, sandy to rocky, and include wreck dives, rubble, reef, black sand, and hard coral. Most Bail dive sites gradually drop in depth to well past 120ft deep, with prolific marine life at that depth and deeper. Since Bali has a large amount of marine life between 50 and 90ft depth, it is the perfect place to use nitrox, which is offered by many dive operators. 

For more information, check out the recap of our trip to Bali and Lembeh

 

Shore Diving

Bali diving offers some of the best shore dives in the world, particularly in the northeast areas of Tulamben and Amed and the northwest areas in and around Pemuteran. In fact, there is in general excellent diving all along the entire northern and eastern coasts, resulting in many new and unexplored dive sites.

If you like shore diving, check out scuba diving in Bonaire or Bonaire's top dive sites.

  

BALI's DIVE REGIONS & Best BALI Dive Sites

There are many different areas to choose from for scuba diving in Bali, which is why we highly recommend a dive safari to visit them all. Some of the best dive spots in Bali are located off the east coast of the main island, and of the two small Bali islands called Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. The northwestern coast of Bali, where Pemuteran and Menjangan Island are located, is also well worth checking out, and some of the best diving in Bali is done at the spectacular walls of Menjangan Island. In the following section, we have rounded up some of the best dive sites in Bali.

 

BALI'S BEST DIVE SPOTS

The best scuba diving in Bali. Pick a dive spot or read the entire list:

  1. 1. Tulamben, East Bali
  2. 2. Gili Islands, East Bali
  3. 3. Amed/Gili Selang, East Bali
  4. 4. Nusa Penida, East Bali
  5. 5. Padang Bai, East Bali
  6. 6. Secret Bay, Northwest Bali
  7. 7. Menjangan Island, Northwest Bali
  8. 8. Pemuteran, Northwest Bali

TULAMBEN - Tulamben is home to the Liberty wreck, one of the most famous wrecks in the world. This is no ordinary wreck dive – it is a very large wreck, easily dived (or snorkeled) from shore, very shallow (20ft) at the top, deep at the bottom, with an amazing variety of big and small animals including resident bumphead parrotfish, a resident school of jacks, and a resident great barracuda. Other nearby dive sites are also excellent, including the famous “drop-off”, and the world-famous muck site “Seraya secrets”, in front of Scuba Seraya.

Liberty Wreck: The liberty wreck is enormous and definitely deserves several dives, including early morning "dawn" dives and night dives. The wreck is most often dived from shore, where strong Balinese women (porters) will carry your tanks and gear to the shoreline on their heads or shoulders. Once near the wreck, you enter the water over rocky pebbles, which ranges from moderate to difficult depending on the conditions (waves). If you are wobbly with a big camera, your dive guide will often carry the camera in/out of the water for you. Sunrise dives at the wreck are exceptional, and well-deserving of an early wake-up call.

GILI ISLANDS - Not to be confused with the more popular Gili Islands of Lombok, Bali's Gili islands consist of Tepekong, Mimpang, and Biaha. These small rocky outcrops boast prolific fish life and the chance to encounter mola molas with fewer divers around (compared to the busy Nusa Penida). Tepekong can have exceptional fish life and visibility, and when the current picks up the schooling fish are quite a show. We recommend these sites for experienced divers who are comfortable in unpredictable and often changing currents, which can be fierce and include dangerous down currents.

AMED / GILI SELANG - Amed is 30 minutes east of Tulamben and is our preferred village to stay in because of the plentiful dining options. Along the road from Tulamben to Selang, there are numerous dive sites with muck, macro, walls, and healthy corals. Selang is a strong-current drift dive where hammerheads have occasionally been spotted. With the strong currents that can take unprepared divers far away from the island, we recommend you do not dive Selang unless you are with a trustworthy, experienced, and professional guide.

NUSA PENIDA - Nusa Penida is an island surrounded by fantastic dive sites full of healthy corals and strong currents. The sloping reefs are full of fish, turtles, and occasionally larger animals. Manta Point is home to the most reliable place to dive with manta rays as they visit a cleaning station. One of Bali’s most famous (and infamous) dive sites, Crystal Bay, is on Nusa Penida and is where the crowds go to seek the elusive mola mola. Pay close attention to the dive briefings at Nusa Penida, as currents demand the sites be dived in certain ways to avoid unfortunate (and sometimes tragic) consequences.

PADANG BAI - Padang Bai is a quaint little village home to the ferry terminal to Lombok. Visitors looking for more upscale accommodation can stay in nearby Candidasa, but Padang Bai has a much more relaxed and local feel. Padang Bai's dive sites are suitable for all levels and are also popular with snorkelers and are reached by traditional jukungs. You'll find a variety of fish and macro life, plus Bali's Gili Islands and Nusa Penida can be reached by speedboat.

Secret Bay:  Located in Gilimanuk next to the ferry crossing to Java, Secret Bay is well known for muck diving (and its chilly water temperatures). It's a shallow site that is often explored in longer dives, with the guide searching the trash on the bottom for weird and wonderful critters. This dive site is not for everyone: it's cold, dirty, and primarily of interest to serious macro lovers and underwater photographers. It does have some newly-installed dive infrastructure including showers and rinse tanks so you can clean the muck off before getting back in the car.

MENJANGAN ISLAND: Part of the West Bali National Park, Menjangan Island is dived only by boats departing from Pemuteran, Sumberkima, and Pejarakan. The uncrowded dive sites have very healthy reefs, plenty of fish, and the most stunning coral walls in Bali. Divers enjoy consistently warm water year-round, spectacular topography, macro critters such as electric clams and pygmy seahorses, and larger animals such as reef sharks and schooling barracudas.

PEMUTERAN: A village on a quiet bay off the beaten tourist track, Pemuteran is home to a host of dive sites and coral restoration projects. All dive sites are within a ten-minute boat ride and offer a huge variety of nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, sea moths, and lots of fish. Night dives from shore provide the opportunity to see mandarinfish, frogfish, and more.

 

Top dive sites in Bali

1. USAT Liberty Wreck - Tulamben's Liberty wreck is enormous, and definitely deserves several dives. It is usually dived by the shore. Super-strong Balinese women will carry your tank for you on their heads, sometimes even with a child being held in their other arm. Once near the wreck, you enter the water over rocky pebbles. If you are wobbly with a big camera, your dive guide will often carry the camera in/out of the water for you. Sunrise dives at the wreck are the absolute best, and well-deserving of an early wake-up call. Night dives are also fantastic at the Liberty, where large groupers will often startle you to be the center of attention in your torch beam!

2. The Drop Off - This beautiful coral wall in Amed offers a nice change of scenery from the muck diving the area is best known for. Photographers will have a tough choice between macro and wide-angle lenses here, with the opportunity to photograph gorgeous gorgonian sea fans or small nudibranchs decorating the reef. Suitable for all divers, the site generally has minimal current.

3. Seraya Secrets - Also located in Amed, this amazing muck diving site has easy conditions with a sloping black sandy bottom. Scour the mucky bottom for a huge variety of nudibranchs and a plethora of other small critters. Seraya Secrets is amazing for night dives when all the nocturnal critters come alive and give you a magnificent underwater show. The site can be dived from shore or boat, making it an easy addition to your itinerary diving in Northeast Bali.

4. Manta Point - Imagine yourself peacefully floating in the water while being surrounded by gentle curious manta rays. That’s what you’ll get when diving the Manta Point located in Nusa Penida. Mantas come here due to the cleaning station and closely pass by the divers. The dive site itself is shallow but sometimes can have strong surge and is inaccessible when the surface conditions are too rough due to its proximity to the rocky shoreline. 

5. Crystal Bay - Mola Molas are the main highlight that attracts scuba divers around the world to visit this dive site at Nusa Penida. The high season for seeing Mola Molas is from July to mid-November. Sometimes they are also spotted outside the season but generally, mola molas stay deep and don’t come close. The dive site is a bay with a white sand bottom and coral reef extending on either side. In high season, this site is exceptionally crowded, so we recommend experienced divers head to Candidasa to try their luck at spotting mola mola.

6. Napoleon Reef - This healthy reef in Pemuteran Bay shouldn't be missed during your trip to Northwest Bali. Best dived using Nitrox (but also great on air), this site boasts sprawling soft coral gardens carpetd with xenias, small coral drop offs, and is frequented by schooling fish, turtles, and white tip reef sharks. Advanced divers with Nitrox certification will experience the best parts of the site in the deeper areas, but the shallower reef is also full of exciting marine life.

7. Blue Lagoon - This Padang Bai dive site is great for beginners and is popular for training dives because the bay is protected and the coral is closer to the shore in shallower depths. The white sandy bottom dive site has great conditions with no current and amazing visibility. Sometimes the Spanish Dancer Nudibranch can be spotted here among squid, frogfish, rays, peacock mantis shrimp, eels, and many other colorful marine animals. 

8. Eel Garden - This stunning wall at Menjangan Island drops to 160 feet (50 meters) and boasts healthy coral, massive sea fans, and loads of marine life. Pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish, electric clams, and orangutan crabs are just some of the critters to spot on the wall. When currents are right, thousands of garden eels dance in the sandy bottom at the end of the wall (at about 65 feet), and divers can enjoy schools of barracuda, mackerel, and fusiliers in the blue. The shallow reef shelf is incredibly healthy and a great spot for snorkelers and novice divers. "This is my favorite dive site in all of Bali. If the conditions are just right, it is absolutely spectacular and rivals dive sites in Raja Ampat. I have dived it hundreds of times and always look forward to it." - Jenny, Bluewater Travel

 

 bali diving manta point nusa penida bali

Images by Bryan Chu

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Travel Information 

Travel Information for Scuba Diving in Bali 

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How to Get to & AROUND Bali

From the United States: There are many international flights into Bali's Ngurah Rai airport (DPS) available with a stop in major Asian cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Bangkok, and some cities in China. From the East Coast some flights stop in major Middle Eastern cities such as Doha and Dubai. 

From Europe: The most common hubs for international flights from European countries are located in the Middle East. Some of the more popular air companies with flights into Bali are Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and Turkish Airlines. 

Once you land and get through customs: you can be in Tulamben in 3 hours or Pemuteran in 4 hours and it's best to arrange a private driver through your resort or travel agent for the most comfortable option for reaching these destinations. It's easy to get an official airport taxi upon arrival in Bali to reach nearby areas, but most dive resorts also offer to arrange an airport pick-up, either free of charge or with an additional cost. You may find comfort in knowing there is a driver waiting with your name on a sign after you exit customs instead of navigating the taxi queue after a long flight. 

Getting Around: Most locals and long-term visitors are accustomed to riding a motorbike or scooter to get around. However, driving a scooter in Bali can be dangerous if you're not used to the local way of driving. Note that you are required to hold a motorcycle licence and international driving permit to drive a scooter in Bali and you should check your travel medical insurance coverage in case of an accident. Grab, a similar service to Uber, is available in some areas of Bali, but they are restricted in certain areas such as Ubud and do not travel to Pemuteran. We recommend sticking to the transfer options recommended by your dive operator or get an official taxi. 

 

How to scuba Dive Bali

A popular term in Bali is “dive safari”, which means you stay in at least 2 different hotels in different regions to experience the best scuba diving in Bali. In our experience, your trip to Bali should involve at least 3 hotels – one in the Pemuteran area, one in the Amed area, and one in South Bali (such as Sanur, Ubud, or Seminyak). If you are staying in South Bali to dive Nusa Penida, we recommend you stay in Sanur as that's where the dive shops are located. If you are staying in the south for just a night or two before your departure flights and want to see some sights and experience the local culture, Ubud is the place to be. Seminyak has many high-end accommodations but the traffic around Seminyak and Canggu is extremely congested. Aquamarine is one of the major tour operators with plenty of Bali dive safari options to choose from, but Bluewater's experts can help to arrange a customized safari through our many partners in Bali and our extenesive experience in the region.

Moving between hotels in Bali is painless; all you need to do is pack your suitcasee and check out. In addition, any drive in Bali is usually just a few hours in the comfort of a private air-conditioned vehicle and is extremely picturesque. Take advantage of the time you spend transfering from one location to another by doing so in daylight hours and stopping at sightseeing spots such as waterfalls, viewpoints, and temples. The driver may charge a bit extra for this service, but it is the best way to maximize your time on the island and see as much of it as possible. If you feel compelled to visit another location after Bali, Komodo is a great option for a liveaboard or land-based diving and is just a short flight away. 

Find out more about dive resorts in Bali.

For another destination with gorgeous coral reefs, read about Cozumel here.

 

Best Time TO scuba DiVE Bali

Bali diving conditions are excellent all year round, but we believe the best time to dive and visit is March-mid June and September-November. Bali gets crowded in the summer months, and December to February is the rainy season which may affect visibility at some of the dive sites, particularly those near rivers that run off into the ocean.

Tulamben and Pemuteran get less rain than other places in Bali and the visibility at Menjangan Island is typically unaffected during rainy season. July and August are the windy months in Northwest Bali, so boat rides to Menjangan Island are often very bumpy and wet and while the Island is always accessible, dive sites may be limited. There is still amazing diving, but if the wind is coming from the north, dive boats will visit the sheltered dive sites on the south and vice-versa. 

August to September is the typical season for mola molas (sunfish) in Nusa Penida. (2023 update: mola mola season varies depending on the year. Contact us for the latest update on the best time to dive for mola mola).

We think a great time to visit Bali is during its shoulder season when there are fewer tourists from March-May & September-November. Learn more about why we love diving in Bali in September.

 

Topside & Non-Diving Activities in bali

What can you do in Bali when you're not diving? Here is a list of ideas:

  • Spend a day hiking through unbelievably photogenic rice paddies. 
  • Spend several days or more in Ubud eating at fabulous restaurants and going to inexpensive spas. You can also do the scenic Camphuan Ridge Walk, visit local artists, and visit the famous Monkey Forest. There are also some excellent cafes in Bali that should not be missed!
  • Join a yoga class or meditation retreat. These are popular activities that can help you get in touch with your spiritual side.
  • Surf in the little beach/surf town called Canggu, about 1 hour north of the airport (depending on its infamous traffic). If you're an advanced surfer, head to Uluwatu, where surfers from around the world flock to catch the world-class waves.
  • Stay in a beachfront cottage in a small village where you get to know all the locals within a few days and look forward to their morning greetings of “Selamat Pagi!”.
  • Buy a sarong, visit some temples, have a fisherman take you out at sunrise to see the fantastic colors of the fishing fleet boats. Do a night hike up a volcano so you arrive at the top at sunrise. 
  • Experience a Balinese ceremony, witness a traditional Kecak dance, and visit the impressive sculptures at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (you can see the massive statue of Garuda from the airplane!). Uluwatu temple is one of the most stunning in Bali and you can watch the nightly Kecak dance there (just be aware of the robust population of monkeys ready to steal your belongings).
  • One word of advice – I often find that the further I get from the airport, the more I enjoy my time in Bali. For many people, the area near the airport including the touristy areas of Kuta, Jimbaran, and Legian can be skipped entirely. 
  • Do some snorkeling in Bali. Especially if you have some non-diving family members, snorkeling together is another option to enjoy Bali's beautiful marine life. Most areas that offer the best diving also have great snorkeling opportunities, including Menjangan Island, Nusa Penida, and Tulamben.

 

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7 Tips for your Bali Trip

We love Bali and know you will, too, so here are some tips from our experts on the ground:

1. Culture: Show respect for the local culture at all times. It is offensive to dress for the beach when you are not at the beach, so if you are on the street, in a shop or restaurant, on a motorbike, or anywhere that is not a beach or swimming pool, you should be wearing a shirt and shorts/pants/skirt. We know it's hot, but it is not appropriate to walk around the streets topless or wearing a bikini. Confrontational behavior is also offensive, so do not yell, swear, or speak degradingly.

2. Language: In Indonesian, the letter "C" is pronounced as "Ch". The locals will be impressed if you pronounce it correctly (for example, Changu, not Kangu). Learn a few greetings and words: "Selamat pagi" (good morning), "selamat siang" (good day between 11:00-15:00), "selamat sore" (good afternoon after 15:00), "selamat malam" (good evening/night), "terima kasih" (thank you - Indonesian), "suksma" (thank you - Balinese). 

3. Money: We prefer to withdraw cash from ATMs located inside banks or with security onsite. This is preferable to using questionable money exchange offices or streetside ATMs. Credit cards are not widely accepted and vendors may charge additional fees when you use them. Be prepared with cash, especially at small warungs (restaurants) and shops, especially outside the city areas. Local payment options are fairly advanced (QR codes, bank transfers, e-wallets), but international visitors have fewer options.

4. Tipping: While not expected, tipping is greatly appreciated. Balinese earn modest wages and tipping is a great way to express your gratitude for exceptional service. Note that western-style restaurants and hotel services often include a "service charge" on your bill, which is a gratuity.

5. Communication: Download WhatsApp to your phone before you arrive; everyone uses WhatsApp and it is the easiest way to communicate with most people and businesses. Cellular service is generally excellent and local SIM cards and data packages are inexpensive, just make sure your phone is not "locked" to a carrier as is common in the US.

6. Food: Try the local food (and not just nasi goreng). Bali is famous for babi guling - suckling pig cooked in a variety of ways. Northwest Bali is home to ayam betutu - a spicy and aromatic chicken served family-style with rice, peanuts, and sauces. Sate is another common dish - pieces of meat (usually chicken, pork, or goat) on small skewers grilled over coals with a delicious peanut sauce and rice. Meat is an important part of most balinese dishes, but there are also many delicious options for vegetarians. Gado gado is a salad prepared with beans, peanut sauce, and some combination of tempe, tofu, and/or boiled egg. Cap cay is a dish of vegetables in a savory sauce served with rice. There are too many delicious options to name here, but a word from the wise: you'll get the best local food from small roadside warungs, night markets, and food stalls - the busier the better.

7. Bonus tip: Read tip #1 again. I can't emphasize this point enough!

Practical Information

  • Currency: Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)
  • Language: Most Balinese are bilingual if not trilingual (Indonesian, Balinese, English).
  • Main Airport Code: DPS (Ngurah Rai Internation Airport)
  • Time Zone: UTC +8
  • Electricity: 230 V 50 Hz
  • Visas: This information is often changing and depends on your country of origin, so consult your travel advisor as to what visa is the best for you. Bali has introduced a new tourist levy in February 2024, requiring tourists to pay an additional fee of IDR 150.000 (approximately USD $10), which can be paid on arrival or in advance on the Love Bali website.
  • Vaccines: The CDC and WHO recommend the following vaccines for Indonesia: typhoid, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, cholera, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and influenza.

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Reviews (10)

5
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I dove around Nusa Penida, a small island just under an hour boat ride from Bali. The diving was absolutely fantastic! I did the famous Manta Point. When we visited there were not so many boats around and the water was very clear. I counted like 6 mantas swimming around me at once. They were so beautiful and curious about our bubbles. The Manta Point dive site is all about the manta rays and otherwise, there is not much else to see. It is still completely worth diving there as you get some great close encounters with manta rays. We also went diving at some local reefs and visited dive sites like the Temple and Sental. The current was just perfect and not too strong so we could have a nice easy drift dive. I spotted several nudibranchs, triggerfish, napoleons, trumpet fish, and lots of other fish plus beautiful coral. Also, there were so many turtles just passing us constantly. And to make the dive even better, we saw dolphins from the boat on our way to de dive site and then again underwater while diving. I loved every moment and can recommend the destination to everybody.

Visited on 03/2020 - Submitted on 05/05/2021
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Diving Bali is something that should be on every diver's bucket list. Bali dive resorts are top notch, and very affordable when compared to many other dive destinations. We only dove in two locations in Bali - Nusa Penida and Tulamben - but both were world class dive destinations.

Nusa Penida is a small island off the Southeast corner of Bali, with reliably great manta encounters at Manta Point, and molas at Crystal Bay from June to October. We were there in April, which meant no mola encounters, but the water was very warm (comfy in a 3mm wetsuit), we had fantastic manta encounters, lots of turtles and octopus, and we had some phenomenal drift dives along pristine reefs.

Make sure you are relatively experienced before scuba diving here, as there are currents, sometimes quite strong ones, and they can be unpredictable. But as long as you go with a reputable outfit and are decently comfortable underwater, you will be fine. And be aware of the water temperatures - outside of mola season the water is quite warm, but in mola season it can drop as low as 12 or 13 C. That is really cold if you are in a wetsuit.

Tulamben is on the north coast of Bali, and is quite different of a destination. The water is warm and calm all year round. There are amazing muck diving sites, full of fantastic macro critters, especially nudibranchs of all shapes and sizes. There is the famous USS Liberty wreck dive, one of the most famous dives in the world. And there are great wall dives with huge sea fans, and beautiful reefs. Not the best place for really large stuff, other than some hawksbill turtles, and the bumphead parrotfish on the Liberty...but still fun for wide angle shooting.

The best time to dive Bali depends on what you are looking for. The rainy season runs from approximately October to April, with the dry season from May to September. Rainy season just means that a lot of days will have some rain, but it is often not too prolonged. The rainy season is the low season. We loved being there in the shoulder month of April because the weather was overall quite nice (with some rain, but not too bad), but most importantly, there were not a ton of tourists around. So, dive sites in Tulamben and Nusa Penida were quieter than peak season. October would also be nice, as it is a shoulder month but it is still mola time. The resort we stayed at in Nusa Lembongan recommended coming back for molas in October. Bali is the kind of place that makes you want to return to, and I think we will have to do that sometime soon!

Visited on 06/2019 - Submitted on 06/19/2019
  • Reviewer
Minneapolis, MN
United States
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I did my Divemaster training and internship in Bali and have been coming back every year since! While the mola mola and manta cleaning station are the draw in the summer months (July/August), this is an excellent time to dive macro because everyone is...well...looking for mola mola! The Eastern side of Bali (Tulamben/Seraya region) is excellent for macro and muck diving photography. Mola are found at Nusa Penida. Mantas are generally at Manta Point. Amed has a lovely wall and lots of octopus. Padangbai is great for macro but the conditions are finicky so you really need to watch the moon cycle.

The only time you may want to consider NOT planning to scuba dive in Bali is on Nyepi, the most holy Hindu holiday and day of silence for Balinese. Windows will be covered, shops will be closed, lights will be off, streets will be vacant and most people will be indoors in silence to celebrate this special quiet holiday. You can check the local calendar in advance for this and other annual holidays to ensure an active and enjoyable vacation that you will not soon forget!

Visited on 06/2017 - Submitted on 02/27/2018
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June 2016: We did a "diving safari" . We were in Bali for 3 weeks, and dove the southern part of the island, eastern Bali and the Menjangan area. We stayed at the Watergarden in Candidasa (southwestern Bali), the Ocean View Tulamben in Tulamben, and the Mimpi in Menjangan. The food and service at the Watergarden were exceptional. We ate all our meals at the restaurant it was so good. The restaurant at the Ocean View needs improvement. Fortunately, the Safety Stop--a local hangout--is a 15 minute walk, and the food was awesome. At the Mimpi, there is only their restaurant. There is nothing to do at night at the Mimpi Menjangan. My wife did a monkey/temple tour, but otherwise, we were there to dive. However, there is topside sightseeing available.

Bali is very inexpensive. We ate huge meals, and the cost was about $25 U.S.

We did 2-3 dives/day. I hired a private spotter (u/w photography), and one accompanied my wife and 10 yr old son who just completed his Open Water diving.

There is both macro and wide angle opportunities. The most prolific macro dive was the Jetty. On a single dive, I saw 7 frogfish including a very large one freely swimming, two enormous stonefish, schooling catfish, octopus, cuttlefish, scorpionfish, demon stinger, etc. The fish are incredibly tame, likely due to the free food off the Jetty (it's a pier) plus the divers who visit.

The wide angle at Nusa Pineda and Menjangan was impressive. The Liberty wreck, especially in the mornings with the schooling Bumphead Parrotfish is not to be missed. Did one night dive on the wreck; it was ok. Did another night dive on the Biorock artificial reef in Menjangan--completely worthless. Puri Jata was a great muck dive, but we were an hour by van away from the dive spot. It would probably be a nice night dive. Secret Bay was just ok. Cold water. Touted as the "ultimate" muck dive, but I thought Puri Jata was much better. We did shore dives, jukung (the canoe type boats with outriggers), "wooden boats" (larger covered boats), and the larger fiberglass/fast boats. Great variety.

I would definitely do a repeat trip to scuba dive in Bali again. We flew Korean Air from Dallas-Fort Worth non-stop, 14+ hours, brief layover in Seoul, then 8 hours to Dempasar, Bali. We had a VIP airport transfer process upon arrival that was well worth the $35 U.S. to expedite us through customs. Bring crisp $100 U.S. bills--best exchange rate, the guides gladly took these as tips.

June is the dry season. Not busy. Business picks up July 1, and continues to be busy until Christmas.

I wore a 5mm wetsuit and was comfortable. Some of the water temps were 77 degrees F, so a 5mm suit was nice.

Visited on 06/2016 - Submitted on 07/06/2016
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Pemuteran: firstly you can take a boat from here to Menjangan for beautiful dives, there was lots of healthy coral, big pretty sea fans, lots of Denise Pygmy Seahorses, cleaning stations and a few white tip reef sharks. A good spot for non-diving friends to join for a snorkel too as it's very pretty in the shallows. My favourite dive here was Bat Caves. From Pemuteran beach you can dive the Biorock project where they use low voltage electrical current on artificial underwater structures to encourage growth of Corals, this in turn attracts other reef life. It is the largest and most successful Biorock reef restoration project in the world. The structures themselves were interesting - a turtle, some Hindu statues, bicycles etc and now there's quite a lot of marine life around exploring the structures. I did 2 night dives also here at Mandarin Point and saw lots of amazing Mandarin fish! Also sponge and decorator crabs, lots of different shrimp and nudibranchs, moray, baby boxfish and 2 different sea horses!

Diving Conditions: dive from the shore when the tide is right, they took us in a bit of low tide and this combined with some waves meant the visibility was about 2 metres! I think it can be dived with a lot better visibility - it was still an interesting dive nonetheless and it made the structures look mysterious! The conditions for the night dives were good and calm. Menjangan we had about 15m visibility, not much current, very calm relaxed dives. As for land activities there: A 3 temples sit between the mountains and the sea. Pura Pulaki is the main temple in Pemuteran. It backs up against the hills and is home to a troop of non-aggressive monkeys. On the beach you will find the Turtle Hatchery at Reef Seen so you can find out about conservation and maybe see some being released. There are also waterfalls nearby and also you can horsehide along the beach.

Visited on 08/2014 - Submitted on 10/01/2014

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