BALI & LOMBOK Scuba/Snorkel Info Request

[BKtraveler]

Greetings all,

My wife and I have 3 weeks for Bali & Lombok in July We hope to dive and snorkel a bit on our trip. We have the Lonely Planet for B&L and are looking for the idyllic SCUBA/snorkel spots. According to LP they abound as they tout several areas. I've worked in diving and dived for some years in quite a few locations including some great locations around Indonesia; I've rarely heard anyone mention Bali or Lombok as amazing scuba/snorkel destinations, needless to say we are bit sceptical of LP's many praises of Tulamben, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Pulau Menjangan, The Gilis etc.

Hear a lot about the Gillies, but all I hear is a turtle here and a turtle there. This alone does not warrant a detour (for us) unless it's got something else very special or an abundance of live coral?

Has anyone out there dived around Bali Lombok and had some really great experiences they can share with us? Or negative experiences/disappointments to share?

Which places on the scuba snorkel circuit should we avoid? The "have been" diving spots per se...

Which places are really worth the time and effort?

Thank in advance,
BK

 

[Tippytoes12]

We have dived in Bali , NL and the Gilis many times and absolutely love it there. For three weeks in the past , on several occasions ,we have done Tulamben, Gili Air and Lembongan , a week on each. They will be plenty of people on some sites, but I would do this trip tomorrow if I could. However in view of your experience , you could easily fit in one week on Komodo , Raja Ampat or Lembeh.

 

[Luko]

I've rarely heard anyone mention Bali or Lombok as amazing scuba/snorkel destinations, needless to say we are bit sceptical of LP's many praises of Tulamben, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Pulau Menjangan, The Gilis etc.

I am not afraid to say Bali can offer some excellent diving/snorkeling in Indonesia. Now you have to be selective :
- Almost guaranteed manta rays sightings on Manta bay, add on top great coral life on other sites (Nusa Penida)
- one of the most spectacular wrecks you can snorkel in Tulamben
- some turtles sometimes reef sharks on the Gilis
I wouldn't recommend Menjangan which is boring, with scarce fish life.

For me the some of the best snorkeling in Indonesia you may experience is Komodo/Batu Bolong. There is usually a side which is sheltered from any currents, there are also many more sites that can be snorkeled in Komodo, like Pengah, Mawan, etc. Go there it's great.
I wouldn't recommend Lembeh for snorkeling though ... Bangka or Bunaken should be better on this part of N/Sulawesi.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Penida certainly has the best snorkeling in Bali especially with the ease of manta ray encounters there. Also some decent spots in the Amed area such as around the "Japanese Wreck" and further south toward Gili Selang.

 

[xmass-Eve]

I always went on holiday to Lombok when I had some days off. Rather going there than Bali but that's just because I didn't want to deal with hundreds of tourists... I loved the relaxed feeling of Sekotong and the gilis around. Not THE gilis but the ones on South-East Lombok, Gili Gede, Gili Asahan... The diving there is macrodiving: Lots of seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish...
South Lombok (Kuta Lombok) isn't worth it...

 

[sasmac]

There is (apparently) really amazing diving with hammerheads in Belongas Bay, south Lombok. We were there in August and due to weather all diving and snorkling trips were cancelled so we never got there. The charming dive master who broke the news to us said Belongas is really tough currents at the best of times (and he had been throughout Komodo and the Galapagos so obviously wasn't scared of currents) so is often not available. I agree that without Belongas Bay the south of Lombok doesn't offer that much- so being there and having all diving and snorkling trips cancelled was not fun.

We headed up to the north east (not north west) Gilis and they were very nice, but not absolutely mind blowing, for snorkling. We also climbed Mt Ringani which we found completely depressing due to the amount of filth and rubbish there.

I haven't dived Bali but the charming dive master said Penida is by far the best location there.

To be completley honest I was a bit underwhelmed by Lombok. If you're willing to travel outside Bali (which I recommend) you could easily fly to Labuan Bajo, Flores which is an amazing area with great diving. Or you could head to Sulawesi or Raja Ampat.

Wherever you go, enjoy!

 

[Dan]

Greetings all,

My wife and I have 3 weeks for Bali & Lombok in July We hope to dive and snorkel a bit on our trip. We have the Lonely Planet for B&L and are looking for the idyllic SCUBA/snorkel spots. According to LP they abound as they tout several areas. I've worked in diving and dived for some years in quite a few locations including some great locations around Indonesia; I've rarely heard anyone mention Bali or Lombok as amazing scuba/snorkel destinations, needless to say we are bit sceptical of LP's many praises of Tulamben, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Pulau Menjangan, The Gilis etc.

Hear a lot about the Gillies, but all I hear is a turtle here and a turtle there. This alone does not warrant a detour (for us) unless it's got something else very special or an abundance of live coral?

Has anyone out there dived around Bali Lombok and had some really great experiences they can share with us? Or negative experiences/disappointments to share?

Which places on the scuba snorkel circuit should we avoid? The "have been" diving spots per se...

Which places are really worth the time and effort?

Thank in advance,
BK

I’ve been visiting Bali almost every year in the last 10 years. July is the best time to be in Bali. You will get a nice cool winter breeze from Australia.

July is also Mola Mola season in Nusa Penida. I would take an advantage to dive there, including the Manta Point. The next best site to dive in Bali IMHO, is Tulamben, around USS Liberty Wreck.

I have never been in Lombok & have not done much snorkeling around Bali either. So, I can’t say much about it.

 

[xmass-Eve]

There is (apparently) really amazing diving with hammerheads in Belongas Bay, south Lombok. We were there in August and due to weather all diving and snorkling trips were cancelled so we never got there. The charming dive master who broke the news to us said Belongas is really tough currents at the best of times (and he had been throughout Komodo and the Galapagos so obviously wasn't scared of currents) so is often not available. I agree that without Belongas Bay the south of Lombok doesn't offer that much- so being there and having all diving and snorkling trips cancelled was not fun.

We headed up to the north east (not north west) Gilis and they were very nice, but not absolutely mind blowing, for snorkling. We also climbed Mt Ringani which we found completely depressing due to the amount of filth and rubbish there.

I haven't dived Bali but the charming dive master said Penida is by far the best location there.

To be completley honest I was a bit underwhelmed by Lombok. If you're willing to travel outside Bali (which I recommend) you could easily fly to Labuan Bajo, Flores which is an amazing area with great diving. Or you could head to Sulawesi or Raja Ampat.

Wherever you go, enjoy!

The hammerheads, on the Magnet, should be arriving, yes. They are there between July and November... But it is a dive site for really experienced people. Currents go berserk and it's not for the fainthearted. Sometimes you're lucky and there is no current at all, sometimes there is a massive swell where you have to be careful to not be swept against the rocks, sometimes a down current that brings you to 80 meters and then out. If you dive the Magnet, you should have your deep spec.
Another dive site in the south is the Cathedral, with lots of sea snakes... But then you're out of good dive sites.

Snorkeling the gilis will be with looooots of other people together, especially in July if you snorkel Turtle Point... But yes, you'll see turtles. They are everywhere

 

[Scubamat]

As others have said Nusa Penida, Tulamben ECT. Are excellent diving. In July I would spend days diving Nusa Penida for mola mola, they are amazing fish I got lucky and got to see a small one in November.

Now with Gili Trawagan/Air/Meno take your pick. I personally wouldn't go just for diving unless you want to see turtles. In general while the reef is recovering there is still lots of damage from their past of dynamite fishing. There is still plenty of fish life and chance of sharks. Having said that if you want to spend a few days relaxing while doing some diving Gili T/A/M is great for that most sites are 15 minutes by boat you don't have to commit to a day of diving. Just open a tab at the dive shop let them know if you're going to do the next dive(2-3/day +1 night depending on ship) just show up for the brief. NirmaNor back on the island inside 2hours depending on number of divers, you can easily pick and choose which dives to go on. Want a sleep in skip the morning long lunch skip the early afternoon dive.


Now if this is big trip you're not likely to repeat soon I would dive tulamben (liberty wreck) Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan and try to get on a liveabolive to raja Ampat or Komodo. Then recover on Gili before heading home.

 

[peterak]

I had a great time diving Menjangan in November and snorkeling the Amed coast—Japanese wreck, Lipah, Jemeluk. Some of what we saw is described here: Bali—thirteen angels
And here: These are a few of my favorite fish(es)
And here: Bali clownfish

I found this book to be very helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Diving-Snork...&keywords=diving+and+snorkeling+guide+to+bali Kindle version is inexpensive.