Nusa Penida Mola Mola Dive

ericong · Aug 13, 2012

Hi,

My in-laws are planning to visit Bali next month and I am planning to do a few days of fun diving while they are busy touring the usual spots with my wife

I have some Bali based dive buddies who are going on a dive trip to Nusa Penida as its still Mola Mola season, and they have invited me to join them and insist that these sites are not too difficult. However, I have read that these sites may not be suitable for beginners.

I am a very novice diver, OW qualification only and with 16 logged dives. If thats too much for me, I'll stick to the other dive sites as there are plenty of places i have not dived in Bali.

Appreciate comments from people who have done that dive.

Angel_diver_biker · Aug 13, 2012

Have been working last summer season in Bali and have been diving often Nusa Penida...

Nusa Penida, Crystal Bay most probably, for mola-mola is a tricky dive.

The currents are the difficult part, they are very difficult to plan, strong, changing direction all the time and can be downward.

The trick is to stay near the rock wall to be able to grab it if you are taken down and climb back the surface. Also keep close eyes on your air and depth gauge. And watch the fishes to see which direction they are swimming and how strong they are swimming. Fishes swimming hard and face up is a sign of strong downward current

Usually this dive is not advisable for diver with your level and experience...
Mola-mola can be seen at any depth, depends how lucky you are, but most of the time they are much beyond your OW depth limits...

Unfortunately there are accident at this dive site every year...

But you could also join your friends, and with a buddy, stay on the upper part of Crystal bay which has a wonderful coral garden that most of divers does not see as they are to busy looking for mola-mola...

Cheers

Dim · Aug 13, 2012

Maybe this is more a question from me to the other, more experienced posters rather than a reply on your post: with about 60+dives and AOW I am not a superexperienced diver, but in the last 2 years I did 5 dives at Nusa Lembongan/Penida. This is including Manta point and Crystal Bay, but I never had any problems with current. Only thing that was a minor problem was getting in the boat again at Manta Point because of pretty big waves. This was before I 'discovered' this forum. Otherwise with the comments and reviews I read at Scubaboard I probably would never have done those dives.

Have I been lucky or is it also a case of diving with the right Dive operator? I remember at Crystal Bay the DM let us stay near the coral and reasonable depth and he ventured out and went much deeper (but in sight) to look out for the mola's.

This reply is not meant as some reason or encouragement to dive at Nusa Penida anyway for those without much experience. Because again: If I have read more about Nusa Lembongan/Penida 2 years ago I might not have done those dives at all...
These are just my own experiences and I wonder why they differ so much from the regular replies at scubaboard.

Anyway I will be in Bali in september and will be diving at Crystal Bay and Manta Point again.

ocdiver1 · Aug 13, 2012

Dim:
Maybe this is more a question from me to the other, more experienced posters rather than a reply on your post: with about 60+dives and AOW I am not a superexperienced diver, but in the last 2 years I did 5 dives at Nusa Lembongan/Penida. This is including Manta point and Crystal Bay, but I never had any problems with current. Only thing that was a minor problem was getting in the boat again at Manta Point because of pretty big waves. This was before I 'discovered' this forum. Otherwise with the comments and reviews I read at Scubaboard I probably would never have done those dives.

Have I been lucky or is it also a case of diving with the right Dive operator? I remember at Crystal Bay the DM let us stay near the coral and reasonable depth and he ventured out and went much deeper (but in sight) to look out for the mola's.

This reply is not meant as some reason or encouragement to dive at Nusa Penida anyway for those without much experience. Because again: If I have read more about Nusa Lembongan/Penida 2 years ago I might not have done those dives at all...
These are just my own experiences and I wonder why they differ so much from the regular replies at scubaboard.

Anyway I will be in Bali in september and will be diving at Crystal Bay and Manta Point again.

Dim,

I think it might be less the dive operator you dove with other than the dive conditions you happened to catch when you went to Crystal Bay. It can be a challenging dive, but I've also been there when there was no current and was easy. In general, I tend to agree with most of the things you've said and have posted as such when NP and NL come up, sometimes number of dives is "just a number," and I also feel the opportunity to challenge oneself can also gain someone valuable diving experience that they wouldn't otherwise get. I'd hate to think someone lost out on the world's best opportunity to see mola molas out of this. While I hate putting a number on something, I think 16 dives is probably too few, and he should stick to other, usually less potentially challenging sites where there is also a chance of molas. In general though, I think one should talk to the operator and one's experience and confidence level and make their own decision...but I agree if i were a newish diver and read Scubaboard I'd probably be scared off from diving there, and that shouldn't necessarily be the case.

When are you going in September? I'm going next week to dive Bali and will be back there in September towards the end of my trip. Hoping for lots of mola molas

Dim · Aug 13, 2012

Ocdiver, could very well be I was just lucky with the currents. We'll see in september.

Your point about number of dives is very valid. It is very hard to give advise based only on a number dives. Besides luck or diving with right diveoperator things like type of experience, personal physical abiliy, confidence, etc, etc. all weigh in. I'm at 60+ dives which very few compared to most on scubaboard, but working in the travel industry I was so lucky that those dives include dives at Maldives and Komodo, so I have some experience with currents.
Having said that and if I may offer some advise to ericong: 16 dives and only OW does sound a little to inexperienced in case of strong currents. But you should be able to dive other sites then Crystal Bay, etc.

@Ocdiver: Still working on my program, but it seems I'll be on Nusa Lembongan between 12-14 september, after that we'll be in Tulamben.

ericong · Aug 13, 2012

Thanks everyone for the replies..

Crystal Bay and Manta Point seem to be a bit out of my current comfort zone, so I will most likely stick to easier sites. Also, Bali isnt too far away for me, so there is always next year for those places.

Cheers

frogfish · Aug 14, 2012

Just heard that there have not been too many sightings of Molas in the last few weeks,and that the season has not really started this year. Anyone can confirm/ infirm ?

divewench1 · Aug 14, 2012

Saw 2 Mola Mola on Friday at Sental (Nusa Penida) and 1 Mola2 at Mimpang a couple of days before that. The season is well and truly started, many more sightings than last year already, but not necessarily in Nusa Penida.

ocdiver1 · Aug 14, 2012

frogfish:
Just heard that there have not been too many sightings of Molas in the last few weeks,and that the season has not really started this year. Anyone can confirm/ infirm ?

The operator I'm going to be diving with actually told me that too. I'll be diving starting Thursday and I'll try to post how I make out with sightings

Hike · Aug 14, 2012

I just working out some details with our op for our september trip and they told me they started seeing them in the end of July and had about 11 sightings already. The end of september cant come soon enough.

Nusa Penida Mola Mola Dive

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