Bali Dive Sites:
Amed

DESCRIPTION OF AMED'S DIVE SITES:

	Saddleback Anemonefish with Cleaner Wrasse Amphiphion polymnus

Amed is located on the north-east coast of Bali. By car, about 15 mins south of Tulamben, along the main road, and then 15 mins on a local road, so Amed is much prettier than Tulamben. It is also a sand beach as opposed to Tulamben's stony one. On the outskirts of Amed, you can see traditional salt-panning and buy sea salt as a souvenir of your visit!

As recently as 1997 the reef within the shallow bay at Amed (more accurately called Jemeluk) was extremely healthy - full of hard corals, magnificent barrel sponges and gorgonian fans. However, in 1998, Amed was badly affected by coral-bleaching as a result of El Nino that affected the reef within the bay and down to 10-12M. The reef is slowly recovering but we cannot yet tell when it will reach its former glory.

Immediately outside Jemeluk Bay are 2 dive sites, Amed Wall and Amed Reef, both of which can be done as a shore- or boat-dives. The boats are small outriggers (jukung) - long and narrow fishing boats.

Due to the easy conditions at Amed, it is suitable both for novice and experienced divers. There is very rarely any wave action at the surface, so any surface swims and ascents/descents, are worry-free. Divers have virtually no currents to contend with, so no buoyancy problems for the less-experienced, and the opportunity to get right up close for those who have perfected their buoyancy and enjoy all the smaller animals on offer. The water temperature can be affected by thermoclines, and the visibility is usually 14-22M.


Amed Reef

This small coral reef lies in depths ranging from 12-22M. In this area you will find many different kinds of sponges and gorgonians and the marinelife includes everything from gobies and shrimp as well as anemones with attendant clownfish to schools of barracuda and Blue Spotted Ray. Many different kinds of parrotfish, angelfish, surgeonfish and moray eel.


Amed Wall

Nudibranch Hypselodoris sp.

This dive site is from 10-35M in depth and although the Wall itself is a relatively small part of the dive, there is great diving to be had here. On the Wall you can usually find white tip reef shark, Napoleon Wrasse and occasionally big trevally. Huge numbers of fish can be found: butterflyfish, bannerfish, snapper, fusilier and triggerfish. The deep slope after the wall is rich in corals and invertebrates with crinoids as well as fishlife. Coming shallower - hard and soft corals, bommies with sponges and gorgonians. The fish found here include Lionfish.


Lipah Bay

Lying 3km south-east of Amed, this quiet little black sand bay is home to the wreck of a 20M steel freighter. The wreck lies in very shallow water, 6-12M, between a reef and the sand bottom, and is encrusted with sponges, gorgonians and coral bushes. Visibility can be greatly reduced if there is a current or any wave-action, however the bay is well-protected on both side. The sloping reef is spectacular, particularly in the bottom (15-20M) section, with soft corals, gorgonians and sponges. The reef continues in patches to 40M+. The shallowest section of reef (unaffected by the coral-bleaching after El Nino in 1998) contains table and staghorn corals and is home to clouds of damsels and anthias as well as schools of many kinds of fish.


Peselatan Temple

At the time of the last revision of this website, AquaMarine was planning to carry out some survey dives at a reef area in front of Peselatan Temple. Ask us for more details!


Gili Selang

	Jacks and Surgeonfish Caranx sexfasciatus

A small island lying off Bali's eastern point which, like all exposed sites, at times has ripping currents. We therefore restrict this to expert divers only. AquaMarine takes a fast boat from Padangbai, and you can either dive once at Gili Selang and then go on to Amed, or dive within Padangbai and then on to Gili Selang (although that is a long return journey).

The interesting and rich sand slope to the north of the island has some stands of hard branching corals and occasional bommies, the deeper areas of the slope are more protected and therefore home to sea fans, soft corals, barrel sponges and coral bushes. Along this sand slope you may well see white tip reef shark and Bumphead Parrotfish. Sitting at around 18M, moving southwards with the current, around the east side of Gili Selang, can provide you with great visibility. Here however, the slope becomes rockier, much steeper and loses any significant coral cover. Tucking into the south side of the island and coming in towards Bali, you'll get out of the current, and encounter another area of low but healthy reef with many moray eels and schooling fish including trevally. Dotted around are bommies and leather corals.

AMED HIGHLIGHTS
LOCATION:	A quiet fishing village in north-eastern Bali, a short distance from Tulamben
TYPE OF DIVE:	Shore and Boat diving (outriggers large enough for 2-3 divers, Reef-diving, Wall-diving
VISIBILITY:	15 - 25 metres
CURRENT:	Zero to mild current
DEPTHS:	3 - 40 metres (average depth 18 metres)
MIN LEVEL:	Introductory
HIGHLIGHTS:	Fantastic coral formations, density and variety of fish AquaMarine's second choice for our 1Day Intro Adventure Diving Program. Great snorkelling site. Very occasionally Wobbegong Shark.
CONDITIONS:	Black sand beach sloping into the water, coral reefs and a wall. As the outriggers are small, divers put on/remove equipment in the water.

info@AquaMarineDiving.com
Tel: +62 361 730 107 Fax: +62 361 735 368 Office Address: Jl. Raya Seminyak 2A Kuta, Bali 80361 Indonesia		Mobile: (English) +62 81 236 588 29 Correspondence Address: PO Box 2098 Kuta - Legian, Bali 80361 Indonesia