Mola Mola season, Bali

[gekodivebali]

Hi Bill,

These are locations, islands indeed, alright. That being said, a search on Google Earth/Map does not return any results. Here are the GPS coordinates for Gili Tepekong:
Lat: 8°31'58.51"S
Long: 115°35'8.26È
Gili Mimpang is just South of Tepekong and Biaha dive sites lay just North.

As for cold water: Ocean Sunfish Research has been adamant that there is no relation between cold water and sunfish sighting. The arrival of cold water would just coincide with the time of year when sunfish come to the reefs for cleaning.
Then again we were also told that the type of sunfish seen around Bali are not actually mola mola, but mola ramsayi... It's fantastic that some proper research findings about sunfish is finally being made available to the public!

 

[billt4sf]

Thanks Guys. Those sound like great dive sites, but they may not be for us. Your website indicates medium to strong currents including down currents.

I VERY MUCH appreciate that you mention this in your descriptions. Many operators seem to always give the usual "we have sites for all skill levels" without mentioning exactly what that means.

At the same time I know from experience with you that not all your sites have dramatic currents.

Thanks again! Go Geko Dive!!

- Bill

 

[gekodivebali]

Cheers for the compliments Bill. You need to know that most sites where you are likely to sight sunfish also have currents. This is the case for sites around Penida like Blue Corner or Crystal Bay, as well as Gili Selang, Gili Tepekong, etc...

I reckon the easiest sites where you have good chances to see molas are Buyug, Sental and Ped at the Northen side of Penida. The currents are usually manageable here and (mostly) run in one direction. These are just 30 minutes from our Padang Bai dive base.

That being said, you can dive challenging sites the Canyon or Blue Corner and have almost no current on a good day just before slack high tide. Heck, if lucky, you may even have a sunfish while diving the USAT Liberty in Tulamben.

 

[billt4sf]

You have evidenced a reason to choose to go with the most experienced land-based operators as they will typically have more direct experience of the sites.

Full disclosure: I first picked this idea up from Luko, on this board.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[CJS]

The trick to a guaranteed sighting is to be there just after I have left.

 

[gekodivebali]

You have evidenced a reason to choose to go with the most experienced land-based operators as they will typically have more direct experience of the sites.

Full disclosure: I first picked this idea up from Luko, on this board.

Thanks,

Bill

You're right Bill. Look for operators who've been diving Panida for 15 year +!

 

[charlier]

Cheers for the compliments Bill. You need to know that most sites where you are likely to sight sunfish also have currents. This is the case for sites around Penida like Blue Corner or Crystal Bay, as well as Gili Selang, Gili Tepekong, etc...

I reckon the easiest sites where you have good chances to see molas are Buyug, Sental and Ped at the Northen side of Penida. The currents are usually manageable here and (mostly) run in one direction. These are just 30 minutes from our Padang Bai dive base.

That being said, you can dive challenging sites the Canyon or Blue Corner and have almost no current on a good day just before slack high tide. Heck, if lucky, you may even have a sunfish while diving the USAT Liberty in Tulamben.

Hi Bill -- As other posters have mentioned, try to find a local land-based dive center in Bali. Diving from Padang Bai is wonderful and the diving on the north shore at Nusa Penida is super fun. If I was going for the day or so, I would base on trip out of Padang Bai @Geko Diving. If had a week or more, I might split my trip between Padang Bai and Nusa Lembongan (at least for accommodations). If you are comfortable with current, you will have a blast. Give my best to everyone.

 

[billt4sf]

We are thinking of waiting until mola-molas start to be seen, then heading wherever Geko Dive recommends for about a two week period. We will be living in Bali so we should be able to do this unless we have other trips or non-diving visitors.

Over to you, Cedric...

I do like the idea of spending a week at Lembongan though.

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

The Blue Corner dive site is not suitable for inexperienced divers, please make sure you are confident with the difficult conditions that this site can throw at you.

Thanks for this!

Does the Blue Corner dive site have anything to do with the Blue Corner Dive operator?

Does anyone have any experience with this operator?

http://www.bluecornerdive.net/

- Bill & Emily

 

[sandozhk]

Hi everyone - I wanted to jump into this thread as I'm visiting Bali and would love to try to see mola mola. The problem is the primary reason for my trip is to attend a wedding down in Uluwatu, so I'm limited by 2 factors:
- distance since it takes almost an hour to drive anywhere
- time - I only have 1 possible day out of my trip that I can go diving (and on that day there's a dinner for the wedding starting around 6 or 7pm

I've done some searching around for operators anywhere nearby but have had no luck so far hence I'm hoping to tap the collective wisdom of this board:
- has anyone done any diving at Nusa Penida while based in Uluwatu (around Padang Padang)? Is this even possible in terms of timing?
- if yes, do you have a reputable operator to recommend?
- if not, then are there any recommended dive sites possible as an easy day trip from Uluwatu?

Thanks for the input!

- Alan