Sharks in Indonesia

[Jakub_Svoboda]

Hi guys,

I'm going to Indonesia in the 1st half of August and I want to spend there about 5 - 6 days of diving. I'm really interested in sharks, so I want to see some of them, especially the whaleshark.
Does anyone have some recommendations or personal xp on which locations to go to see sharks and whaleshark?

I've read everywhere something else, where to go for diving(now I mean not just to see sharks), so I'm bit confused. I will probably visit Java, Bali, Lombok and Komodo. So my second question is almost the same, where do you think I should go If I'm interested in bigger animals overall and do you have any recommendation for dive centers?


Please don't recommend me something like Raja ampat, I know it's incredible but it's too far away

Thanks a lot for replies and I know that I should firstly read the old threads but I'm bit busy these days, so I'm sorry for this.

 

[Luko]

Bali is fine for sharks (Candi dasa area, Gili Mimpang) or mantas (Nusa Lembongan).

Whalesharks will be very very difficult to spot though, there are only a few locations in the world where you can spot them with reasonable chances, and nowhere in Indonesia except for Ahe/Nabire, which is even further east than Raja Ampat.

 

[Bali Diver]

Not wanting to go too far Bali and as Luko said Candi dasa area, Gili Mimpang you will find them for sure and enjoy Bali and its diving around Gili Islands also,from what you said Bali would be fine.

@Luko not dived Gili Mimpang for a while whats the shark action been of late.know you will find them there.

I love Gili Selang you will see sharks there but you have to be very careful of condition there,love the site very much and stunning corals,will be spending some time there later in the summer.but respect the site and conditions

 

[BLUESEASONBALI]

Hi Guys,

I have dived Gili Tepekong 3 times in the past 2 weeks and the sharks are out in force there. On Mimpang between the two northern pinnacles there is a bommie around 20m depth covered in soft corals where we saw 8 or more good sized whitetips circling, the currents between the two pinnacles must attract them there i guess. As far as Gili Tepeking goes, the swim-thrus on the northface havent had so many sharks there recently but maybe that is to do with the surge we have ben getting due to the strong winds in the past month as on the shadow of the island on the south face we saw a school of white tips (one of which was pregnant), black tips and 2 grey reef sharks all the one dive in much calmer waters.

Some of the best diving i have done in a long time here in Bali has been in the past few weeks at Gili Mimpang/Tepekong area!! SHARKS GALORE!

 

[BLUESEASONBALI]

Hi Guys,

I have dived Gili Tepekong 3 times in the past 2 weeks and the sharks are out in force there. On Mimpang between the two northern pinnacles there is a bommie around 20m depth covered in soft corals where we saw 8 or more good sized whitetips circling, the currents between the two pinnacles must attract them there i guess. As far as Gili Tepeking goes, the swim-thrus on the northface havent had so many sharks there recently but maybe that is to do with the surge we have ben getting due to the strong winds in the past month as on the shadow of the island on the south face we saw a school of white tips (one of which was pregnant), black tips and 2 grey reef sharks all the one dive in much calmer waters.

Some of the best diving i have done in a long time here in Bali has been in the past few weeks at Gili Mimpang/Tepekong area!! SHARKS GALORE!

 

[Jakub_Svoboda]

Thanks for replies,

Not wanting to go too far Bali and as Luko said Candi dasa area, Gili Mimpang you will find them for sure and enjoy Bali and its diving around Gili Islands also,from what you said Bali would be fine.

@Luko not dived Gili Mimpang for a while whats the shark action been of late.know you will find them there.

I love Gili Selang you will see sharks there but you have to be very careful of condition there,love the site very much and stunning corals,will be spending some time there later in the summer.but respect the site and conditions

I read that on Gili islands it's getting worse and worse in these days and a lot of divers are very disappointed from dives there. I read it on Dive The World - Scuba Diving Vacations - Dive Travel - Liveaboards - Diving Holidays, but I don't know if it's so bad as they say.
And what conditions did you mean? You mean the usual stuff like: don't touch corals and be careful about streams and so on, or you mean with sharks there?

thx again )

I'm going to do most of my dives on Bali but I want to do several dives on Komodo also, any xp? and it's really that better than on Bali?

 

[Bali Diver]

@Jakub_Svoboda OK as you did not want to go far was why i mentioned Gili,lovely beach islands diving not great ect.. but you would see sharks which is your desire.as mentioned with what you want Bali will give you and Komodo is world class and will be a fantastic memory below and above.

Bali has really great diving and macro and you can come across most things there and Nusa,you really want sharks to Gili Mimpang/Tepekong area is the place for you Tepekong i always found more reliable for sharks but up to date sighting local op's will know enjoy Bali and then save all you energy for Komodo.

Conditions i was meaning at Glil selang this is a very difficult sight due to currents and conditions can change quickly.It is not always possible to get the right condtions.The corals are wonderful.Always see sharks at some points and good size but they are very shy most likely as due to the difficulty to dive this site they are not use to lots of diversGili Mimpang/Tepekong area is the place you will be happy at for your sharks

 

[buiszie]

The diving around the Gilis is not bad at all. Like every where in SE asia the Gilis were last year effected by El Nino. You can find the reports on Reef Check Indonesia. The Gilis were not affected that much as Thailand. At this moment the coral is recovering from the temp increase and we can say its became better the last few months, also see Reef Check Indonesia.

The Gilis dont have whaleshark season, last year there were 5 whaleshars around, and mostly spotted in the beginning of the raining season. On a few dive sites around Gili Trawangan we can offer you black tip reef sharks and white tip reef sharks. The big rays like mantas are mostly seen during the rain season, but surprisingly last week we saw a few of them.

For more information about coral bleaching, coral conditions etc contact Reef Check Indonesia or Oceans 5 dive Gili Air, the only Reef Check facility in the Gilis.

 

[shutsal]

I'm going to do most of my dives on Bali but I want to do several dives on Komodo also, any xp? and it's really that better than on Bali?

I just got back from a liveaboard in Komodo. Diving was awesome, but not many sharks. One dive had 5-6 white tips, but they aren't terribly exciting. The macro is what most people go for and is amazing. If you get a chance go to Manta Alley in southern Komodo. We were surrounded by about 15 Manta Rays that just circled us for the entire dive!