Padang Bai and Candidasa Divesite
While planning our underwater journey in Bali, it’s not enough if we don’t discuss about this very dive site – Padang Bai. It beautiful, one-of-a-kind dive site around Bali and definitely a must-visit while you are here.
Padang Bai is a small port town that is located on the east coast of Bali. It’s basically the connector between Bali and Lombok island. It means if you plan to visit Gili Island, you will drop here first. Too early? Just go diving 🙂
The dive site itself is beautiful and diverse. are a lot of dive sites that you can visit, some of them are really easy, perfect for beginner divers, snorkelers or freedivers. This time, we will discuss a little bit further about the dive site around Padang Bai. Without further ado, let’s begin!
Blue Lagoon
Alright! Let’s begin our discussion with the very first dive site on the list – the Blue Lagoon. The infamous dive site that is located not that far from the beach, the name was taken from the crystal-clear water that unveiled the beauty of the ocean itself. Well, based on the conditions. Basically, the dive site consists of two parts; the white-sand bottom where you normally see the flounders, the second is the part where the coral was scattered and the reefs that blossom beautifully. Normally the diving will begin on the sand first, then exploring the reefs to see the marine life.
Speaking about the marine life, Blue Lagoon has everything to offer. Start from the micro nudibranchs, into the reef sharks and blue spotted rays. If the condition is good, sometimes we can see the Napoleon fish as well, the moray eels, lionfish and many more
Tanjung Jepun.
Or well-known as only ‘Jepun’. The next dive site on our list, Tanjung Jepun is the combination of artificial reefs and the natural reefs. The marine life here is very spoiled because of that! And in exchange, you will see something that you didn’t see on the other site.
Oh, by the way, the dive site also have a shipwreck, even it’s not the same with the one in Tulamben, but the wreck gives a new home for all the marine life in Padang Bai. That is the most important part, right? And if the time is right, we can see the submarine that going around the dive site.
Because of all the elements that Tanjung Jepun has, the dive site becomes busy. You will see the Blue-spotted Rays, Sea Snakes, different types of Eels, Lionfish and many nudibranchs as well. If we are lucky, sometimes we can also see the frogfish and scorpionfish in the house.
Jetty
nope… it’s not the Jet engine that we talk about… but it’s the dive site that we have on the list. Located a bit to the north from the main beach, it’s one of the famous dive sites for muck dive. However, it holds the mysterious aura as well.
The dive site is covered by the ruin-like concrete which was used as a large ferry docking station. even though, the corals here live a healthy life on the sandy bottom of the sea. The visibility here sometimes not very good, but that just makes things more interesting.
The fishes that you can see here is different than the one that you see around the area. Sometimes we will see the Sardines that swim in a colony, the batfishes that swim through the current, to the wonderful frogfish that rarely seen. Also another species like Indian walk-man, pipefish and also the cuttlefish.
Bias Tugel
This dive site is located a bit to the south from the main beach, the underwater landscape here is almost the same (but different) with the other dive site around Padang Bai. It is because the plateau of corals here are larger than the other, but offering something unique in exchange.
Starting from the table corals and fan corals that grow healthily, the coral bommies here are some of the best in Bali with the good condition as well.
What we can find here is the large variety of moray eels – that is including the blue and black ribbon eels. Other things to see are the triggerfish, sweetlips, wrasse, Frogfish, Lionfish and many more.
The Ferry Channel
It is actually one of the closest dive sites that you can find on the beach. This dive site basically got its name since there is indeed the ferry harbor. Well, in this case, you need to prepare your certification level and be extra careful for the ship above your head! otherwise, prepare the amazing underwater beauty.
The Ferry Channel also known as the Shark point in Padang Bai. Since there are quite a lot of small caves there, the reef sharks love to hang out here or just having a rest in one of the cave. The others are also amazing! For example the gorgonians, the Shrimps include the mantis shrimps, sweetlips, perch, Scorpionfish, Frogfish, blue and yellow-stripped Ribbon eel, and the nudibranchs while we goo deep. So grab your camera and let’s take a picture!
Gili Tepekong
From the nearest dive site from the beach to the furthest island that is meant for challenge! That is Gili Tepekong. Situated on the east side, approx. 15 minutes from the beach, this dive site is the furthest dive site on the area. Because of that, sometimes we will find quite the strong currents here that came directly from the ocean. But well, everything is worth.
Gili Tepekong has a combination of hard and soft corals that grow on the wall. The reefs here are filled with exotic fishes like Barracuda, the white and blacktip sharks, stingrays. Oh, did I mention that it is also one of the good places to see the Majestic Sunfish or the Mola Mola? Yeap yeap. But again, let’s crossed our fingers to see them.
Gili Mimpang
Another challenging dive site on the list. Located very near with Gili Tepekong, it was the combination of three big rocks islands with small islands between them. The current here can be quite strong but the underwater life here is magnificent. The deep is variable – we will start in the location where we can find large areas of coral bommies, then going into the slope and eventually turns into the vertical wall. If the condition is good, we will go from the wall into the shallow part then going to the first location we enter. As easy as that, but don’t forget about the current.
We often spot the reef sharks here, the huge Giant Trevally, turtles. They normally seen on colorful corals which also become the house of school of fishes. Gili Mimpang is also one of the locations where we can see the Majestic Mola Mola when the season comes.
Gili Biaha
Gili Biaha is an impressive site where large marine life can be found. The dive site consists of one big island and located far to the north from Gili Mimpang. Because it’s location that quite far from the beach, we often get quite strong currents here, making it one of the challenging dive sites in Padang Bai. So, let’s prepare our Advanced Certification and let’s go diving! 🙂
The marine life is beautiful as well as the corals, like the Gorgonians, black corals and many soft corals that we can find. It’s basically the house for different species of fishes from black and white tip sharks, the Lobster that rarely found elsewhere, sometimes the Geart stingray and also the Mola Mola!
Gili Selang
The Gili Selang Dive site also called the Waterloo, it’s basically a newly discovered dive site located northern area of Gili Biaha. Because of the current conditions, only the experienced divers can go there. seriously.
The dive site here is quite different compare to its neighborhood – Amed, and Tulamben, but it similar to the one in Nusa Penida. Since it’s newly discovered, it seems the marine life here is quite healthy. Due to the water condition, it’s also famous for the drift dive as well. But please, be careful.
As mentioned earlier, the life here is quite different. Counting from the Napoleon fish, reef and ocean sharks with a lot of small stuff like nudibranchs as well.
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