Best Scuba Diving Bali

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

This is the third in a series of reviews of the best dive resort locations around the world.  In this post, the focus is Bali, the most popular diving destination in Indonesia.

In addition to this series on dive resort locations, the best worldwide liveaboard dive locations and services are reviewed in their own series.  To check them out, or others in this series, click on Liveaboards / Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.

Have you been diving in Bali before?  If so, I’d love to know about your experience.  What dive shop or liveaboard did you use?  Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.?  Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Scuba Diving Bali

Bali is one of the world’s top travel destinations due to its unique culture and picturesque landscapes with volcanoes, rice paddies, and stunning beaches.  It is also the most popular scuba diving destination in Indonesia featuring great macro spots with abundant coral reefs and spectacular pelagics including mantas and mola-molas.  There is good shore diving and many sites suitable for beginners, but also stiff currents in some areas requiring more advanced skills.  Steep drop-offs, large coral heads and ridges, volcanic outcrops and several famous wrecks are all part of the seascape.  In addition, to the delight of photographers, Bali’s muck diving yields many outstanding shots. All this combined with great weather, friendly people and protected dive sites make for a great diving vacation.

Best Bali Dive Sites

There are a large number of popular and outstanding dive sites around the island, some of the best of which are highlighted below.

Nusa Penida / Ceningan / Lembongan Island: To the southwest of the main island of Bali is Ceningan Island sandwiched by the larger Lembongan and Penida Islands.  Surrounding these are healthy reefs that are subject to changeable currents.  The highlights are schooling fish, manta rays, mola-molas, and big pelagics. When the currents are heavy it is more suitable for advanced divers.

Tulamben: On the northeast coast, Tulamben is serviced by several comfortable and attractive resorts where it is possible to find great diving right offshore including the USS Liberty wreck.  Mild conditions and shallow water make this wonderful and richly inhabited site accessible to even beginner divers. Otherwise, there is a rich and diverse reef great for macro and for pelagics and schooling fish.

Sanur / Nusa Dua: In the south and easily accessible from the capital city, these locations are suitable for beginners as the sites are from 5 to 16m deep and as close as 300m from shore. Current is challenging at times, but tranquil conditions can be found in both areas.  There are beautiful reefs with great diversity and macro life.  Visibility at times can be 10m or less.

Padang Bai is located about midway up the southeast coast.  The reef starts at 10 meters as a ledge that slopes to 20 meters where it becomes sandy and levels at 40 meters.  As usual around Bali, there is great macro life like anemones, crinoids, and sea squirts and a number of colorful and exotic reef fish including sweetlips, boxfish and yellow trumpetfish.  In the sand, you might encounter a peacock flounder or blue-spotted stingray.  This site is popular with beginners and also subject to current.

Amed: Just down from Tulamben on the northeast coast, is Amed, which has several contrasting dive sites.  On the east side in the shallow Cemeluk Bay are rich forests of sloping staghorn corals providing habitat for several varieties of tangs, cardinalfish, orange-lined triggerfish and copious other species of fish. The slope turns into a wall covered with fans, sponges and various soft and hard corals continuing to 40 meters.  Fish life is abundant with huge bumphead parrotfish, tuna, various snappers and triggerfish and smaller lionfish and scorpionfish hunkering into nooks and crannies.  On the west side of the bay, the reef starts as a flat area covered in hard and soft corals, sponges and other invertebrates, with occasional coral heads and metal artificial reef crates on the sandy bottom that makes its way down to the wall.  Blue-spotted stingrays and red octopus are often seen and you might spot a shy ribbon eel if you are lucky.  The sites here are suitable for beginners and advanced divers.

Menjangan Island lies off the northwest coast in Barat National Park.  The surface is usually smooth and visibility great.  Menjangan is characterized by walls that decline to 30 meters on the south side and 60 meters on the east and are covered with sea fans in a variety of colors.  Macro enthusiasts will enjoy the pygmy seahorses within the fans.  All sorts of fascinating critters abide there including various shrimps, crabs, and eels.  Large schools of smaller fish like fusiliers are prevalent as are batfish, cuttlefish and the titan triggerfish, which can on occasion display some frightening territoriality toward divers.

On the north side of the island is the Anker Wreck, a 25 meter, 19th-century wooden ship that went down with a cargo of ceramics and copper.  Its anchor is stuck in at 5 meters, but the bow of the wreck lies at 30 meters and the stern at 50 meters. Whitetip reef sharks hang out there.

So, you can see that Menjangan Island has diving that is suitable for very advanced divers and for the less advanced, as well.

Season, Visibility, Temperature

It is possible to dive year-round in Bali.  Conditions vary from place to place around the island, but generally speaking, the rainy season is from December to March with visibility reduced in the north and west of the island.  Some divers shy away during that period even though it doesn’t rain every day.  The best time for diving in most areas is the dry season from April to November.  Visibility increases up to 40 meters in some places.  Most of the year water temperatures are around 25-26°C.  Between mid-June, to early November it can drop a couple of degrees and this is the time the mola-molas come to Bali.  Sharks and other pelagics are most likely on the reef between June and September when the monsoon winds are highest and have enriched the seas with nutrients.  Manta sightings are greatest from April to June, although they are on the reef all year.

There is not a liveaboard that directly cruises the Bali dive sites, but there are many to wonderful sites around Indonesia.   To check out all the liveaboard options click here:

• Indonesia Liveaboards

Popular Bali Dive Resorts

• Tulamben Wreck Divers
• TWD Beachfront Villas
• Kubu Indah Resort
• Siddhartha Dive Resort & Spa

Tulamben Wreck Divers 

Featuring

• Swimming pool
• Babysitting and cots
• Only need to pay a 20% deposit
• Other dining options available in the area
• Diving packages available which can include PADI courses
• Experienced English-speaking divemaster (maximum 4 divers per DM)
• Equipment rental: BCD (approx. $5 per day)), regulator (approx. $5 per day)
• Diving Destinations:  Tulamben  – USS Liberty shipwreck, Tulamben Wall, House Reef. Other Bali dive destinations such as Lembongan, Amed (just 20 minutes south of Tulamben), and Padang Bay can be arranged on arrival as day trips.

Check the Pricing

TWD Beachfront Villas 

Featuring

• Swimming pool
• Free WiFi in certain areas
• Balinese massages
• Scooters for use, free of charge
• Free local car use
• Other dining options available in the area
• Diving packages available which can include PADI courses
• Experienced English-speaking divemaster (maximum 4 divers per DM)
• Equipment rental: BCD (approx. $5 per day)), regulator (approx. $5 per day)
• Diving Destinations:  Tulamben  – USS Liberty shipwreck, Tulamben Wall, House Reef. Other Bali sites such as Nusa Penida, Lembongan Island, Amed (just 20 minutes south of Tulamben), and Padang Bay can be arranged as day trips on arrival.

Check the Pricing

Kubu Indah Resort 

Featuring

Siddhartha Dive Resort & Spa 

Featuring

• Infinity pool
• Delightful spa rooms
• Small gymnasium and games room
• Babysitting and cots
• Other dining options available in the area
• Diving packages available
• Scuba equipment (approx. $33 per day)
• Nitrox is provided free of charge
• Diving Destinations:  Tulamben/Kubu  – Liberty Wreck, Coral Garden, Drop Off, House Reef. Day trips to Amed, Menjangan, Secret Bay and Padang Bay are available at extra cost.

Check the Pricing

Photography in Bali

With the colorful coral reefs, a variety of fish, sharks, rays, Mola Mola, and beautiful onshore targets, as well, there are many excellent photo opportunities.  For information and reviews of dive cameras, click here:

• Best Underwater Cameras Compared and Reviewed
• Best Waterproof Cameras

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

A cushion for emergencies provides peace of mind when on vacation.  I recommend this diving insurance as they have worldwide coverage and provide scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on Bali scuba diving interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section.  I’d love to know of any experience you have.  If there is no comments section directly below, click here:   >>comments<<