Nusa Penida

Diver at Nusa Penida
© Prem Bhaven

Nusa Penida
An intensely vibrant reef with a different range of species, reflecting the cooler waters and sometime strong currents of this island in the channel between Bali and Lombok.

From Nusa Dua or Sanur the boat trip is about 1½ hours and from Padang-Bai, about 50 minutes. Yos can service Nusa Penida from Nusa Dua in about half an hour. Visibility is always in the range of 'Good' - 15m (45ft.) to over 45m (140ft.)

Because of the proximity to the deep Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok, the water in the Nusa Penida region is an average of 5°C cooler than at the sites closer in to Bali. This encourages a splendid display of luxuriant coral growth with it's attendant reef fish and hence the bigger fish from the straits. There are many pinnacles and small caves here with dives at 8m - 12m in the coral gardens, walls or gentle slopes to 30m and slightly steeper slopes to the sea bed at 600m. The Nusa Penida region provides excellent year-round diving for intermediate and advanced level divers.

The northern side faces Bali and banks steeply down to 600m and out into the depths of the Badung Strait.

The southerly side faces the Indian Ocean and naturally this is where the big fish hang out. There are regular sightings of Dolphin, Giant Turtles, Barracuda, Mola-Mola, Shark and Manta Ray.

This dive, off the north of Nusa Lembongan, is fully exposed to the deep waters of the Lombok Straits and provide an opportunity to swim with the 'Big Fishes'! With a large area of reef, and coral wall, the maximum depth here is 50m (150 ft.).

Blue Corner dives are more shallow and take place in the middle of the large reef area. The bottom depth here is moderate and the reef extremely rich and varied.

Toyopakah is Penida's premiere dive site and in fact there are several other sites here and down into the narrow channel between Penida and Nusa Ceningan. This makes for a spectacular and highly enjoyable drift dive with a very large reef on either side of the channel and unerringly excellent visibility usually between 25m and 45m. There are often many species of fish here in huge schools, which are particularly spectacular. It is not uncommon to see 1m Big Eye Jacks in their dozens and one is often rewarded by sight of Tuna which regularly exceed 2m.

S.D. or Sekolah Desar (Primary School) Point is the place to see the giant Hawksbill Turtles which sometimes have a diameter of over 1½m! Here, as at the other Penida sites, the fish are big and in plentiful supply!

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Malibu Point is Wally's favourite Bali dive site. The underwater terrain is particularly varied and interesting, visibility is excellent, coral and fish varieties and abundance are exceptional! One will see big and huge fish on every dive and reef sharks become almost ordinary due to their frequent appearance here.

Another great site, the attraction here are the great number of Manta Rays which are often seen here. As at the other sites, marine life here is exceptionally bountiful and varied.