Bali Dive Sites:
Padangbai Island
Bali Dive Sites: |
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DESCRIPTION OF PADANGBAI'S DIVE SITES:
Biaha is however, currently, Annabel's (the owner of AquaMarine) #1 dive site, and Annabel is not into ripping currents or 'washing machines'.
While The Blue Lagoon is easy diving, sometimes used for Open Water Courses and popular with snorkellers, experienced divers and photographers also thoroughly enjoy the site. Visibility is 15-20M, there is sometimes a little surge and a mild current, but the bay is fairly protected. The site has a good variety of Sweetlips, Angelfish, Surgeonfish.
Night-diving can be possible (dependent on conditions) and is recommended, several unusual nocturnal species can be found.
Mimpang, Tepekong and Biaha are all surrounded by remarkably healthy reefs, but they are generally low-lying due to the - at times, torrential - current that sweeps East Bali. This current brings nutrients to these reef and accounts for their diversity. You'll find a vast number and great diversity of fish, abundant sharks and frequent pelagic visitors set against a backdrop of craggy black walls with beautiful, healthy corals and often superb visibility. The water can be cold although it is precisely this that makes these sites what they are: the deep basin 100km south of Bali from which upwells extremely cold water to replace that taken away by currents to the west of Bali. This upwelling brings with it some of the marinelife for which this area is famous (schooling Pelagics, Mola-Mola).
The AquaMarine dive guides have a great deal of experience diving around Mimpang, Tepekong and Biaha. They will use this experience to judge the sites and tell you whether or not they are diveable. Please do not try and encourage them to dive when they advise against it. You will be embarrassing them and may be putting yourself in danger if you do enter the water. In addition, while the sites may be diveable, as they are relatively small sites, if the current is too fast, your dive may be over in as little as 5mins. If your guide decides to dive a site, you must listen to and follow the briefing. You also need to stay close to your guide while underwater in case conditions change.
Off the boat to 12m where you see small coral reef and white sand and small wall, max depth 30m. You will see Trumpetfish, during the season (Aug-Sep) Mola-Mola (Sunfish). Current is up/down and sometimes strong surge as you enter. Also known as Batu Tiga - Three Rocks - Mimpang is exactly that: 3 large rocks that come to the surface and various others below the surface, which run in a ridge - the north towards Bali and the south (richer end) dropping into deeper water. Although Mimpang is only 1km from Tepekong the conditions are the two sites are regularly not the same. Therefore if you cannot dive Mimpang first, and go to Tepekong, you may well be able to do your second dive at Mimpang. Mimpang's Shark Point offers a better chance to see white tip reef shark than Tepekong does, and often in great numbers. Although we don't guarantee sightings, this is where - according to AquaMarine - you have the best chance of seeing shark in Bali. The current here can be strong, but is fairly predictable. The topography of Mimpang is diverse, with sloping reefs, craggy rocks, walls - all with hard and soft corals and some gorgonians. The reef has a good cover of soft corals, with many stony corals, staghorn and table corals. Big schools of unicornfish and snapper swirl around, many blue-spotted rays, Napoleon Wrasse, Moray Eels, trumpetfish, bannerfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish and trevally as well as the innumerable reef fish. In places you can find large gorgonians and barrel sponges.
It can be possible to snorkel at Mimpang as the reef starts quite shallow on a white sand slope rather than simply dropping off to a wall.
This island (300M long rock) offers some of the most spectacular diving in Bali: steep walls, The Canyon, cold water and strong currents make this a site for experienced divers only. Drifting with the current, you can see shark, moray eel, ray and other pelagics. Visibility is usually very good. If conditions are not suitable, there are other good sites in the vicinity.
East Tepekong
Wall diving. Min depth 14m, max 40m. Entering from the boat, you drop down to 14m with a small coral reef on the slope. To the right is wall-diving, depth 40M+; to the left, the small coral reef continues, with hard, soft and table corals, max depth 24M. The marinelife is excellent with the occasional turtle, tuna, parrotfish, barracuda, Angelfish, scorpionfish, butterflyfish, sweetlips, many kinds of Triggerfish. Conditions are generally easier here than at The Canyon but you can still expect to encounter surge, and sometimes strong down currents. On the gentle slope at north-east Tepekong is a small, shallow (10M), semi-protected, rocky reef with bommies.
This rock is shaped like a banana and is about 4km from Mimpang and Tepekong. AquaMarine is one of the few companies to offer diving here, which is a pity as it offers great diving! There is a beautiful and healthy reef around the island, a rocky slope in the north, a wall around the southern part. This rugged black wall, with the breaking waves above, is utterly beautiful in places and at times it is almost as if the fish are superfluous - but not quite! There are various entry points around the island, and your dive can cover almost the entire circumference of the island, or just a small part, dependent upon your interests and also, of course, the currents and conditions! Ah yes, the conditions, the current here can be very strong, not only horizontally, but also downwards; there is sometimes surge. Most of the awkward currents are on the northern slope. The inside area of the crescent (the east side of Biaha) has a cave large enough for 6 divers, in which white tip reef shark often sleep. The protected area outside the cave has interesting corals with many commensal shrimp and crab, and is home to anglerfish, leaf scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish, nudibranches, and could take up an entire dive (and sometimes does!).
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