Artificial reef
down to 18 m
Coral Garden (Tulamben)
Shallow shore dive off Tulamben beach where anemones host dozens of clownfish and coral bommies swarm with anthias.
- Open Water
- Turtles
Bali & Nusa Penida
Diving in Indonesia
28 documented dive sites, 10 of them for Open Water divers. Known for manta rays, nurse sharks and reef sharks.
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
- Water
- 18–29 °C
- Levels
- Open Water, Advanced, Experienced
- Diving from
- Dive resorts, Day boats
- Nearest airport
- DPS
When to go
Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.
Pick a month
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
Bali & Nusa Penida in October
Best season- Sea
- 28 °C
- at the surface
- Air
- 31 °C
- 25 °C at night
- Rain
- 90 mm
- average for the year
- Wind
- 10 km/h
- on average
Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind) and 2023–2025 (sea), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.
Dry season Apr–Oct best. Jul–Oct cold upwellings (can drop below 20 °C) bring mola mola. 5 mm advised.
Dive sites in Bali & Nusa Penida
From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.
Open Water friendly
usual dive down to 18 m10 sitesMuck
down to 25 m
Ghost Bay
Easy shore muck dive in Amed with minimal current, known for ghost pipefish, frogfish, coconut octopus and abundant nudibranchs.
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Reef
down to 25 m
Manta Bay
A shallow bay with a manta cleaning station at 13 m, where Dive Concepts quotes a 95% chance of mantas year-round.
- Open Water
- Manta rays
Muck
down to 20 m
Melasti (Amed)
Shallow beach-entry muck dive in Amed (average 6 m) with frogfish, ghost pipefish, wonderpus, harlequin shrimp and mimic octopus.
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Muck
down to 25 m
Seraya Secrets
A black-sand muck dive near Tulamben for harlequin shrimps, ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish and frogfish.
- Open Water
- Cuttlefish
Reef
down to 30 m
Blue Lagoon (Padang Bai)
- Open Water
- Reef sharks
Reef
down to 10 m
Sanur Bay
- Open Water
For Advanced divers
usual dive down to 30 m15 sites
Manta Point
Mantas visit the cleaning stations here all year, sometimes in courtship 'manta trains' of up to 30.
- Advanced
- Rock formations
- Manta rays
USAT Liberty Wreck
A 120 m WWII US Army cargo ship resting on its side in 10–30 m, only a few fin-kicks from Tulamben's shore.
- Advanced
- Wreck
- Reef sharks
Crystal Bay
One of the few places to see Mola Mola being cleaned, from July to November, above hard and soft coral gardens.
- Advanced
- Reef
- Whale sharks
Drift
down to 40 m
Karang Sari
A reef on Penida's quieter east coast with bommies and sea fans, where turtles and thresher sharks are reported.
- Advanced
- Hammerhead sharks
Drift
down to 40 m
Batu Mulapan
A drift along a sloping coral reef on Penida's north-east with tuna, barracuda, trevally and turtles, and Mola Mola in season.
- Advanced
- Thresher sharks
Drift
down to 40 m
Mangrove
A drift over a gently sloping coral reef off Lembongan, known for giant pufferfish, barracuda and giant trevally.
- Advanced
- Whale sharks
Wall
down to 40 m
Ceningan Wall
- Advanced
- Tuna
Wall
down to 40 m
Gamat Bay
- Advanced
- Turtles
down to 30 m
Gili Mimpang
Rocks off Candidasa with strong currents, frequent shark sightings and the occasional Mola Mola.
- Advanced
- Mola mola (sunfish)
Drift
down to 40 m
Pura Ped
- Advanced
- Turtles
down to 30 m
Gili Tepekong
- Advanced
- Reef sharks
Drift
down to 40 m
SD Point
- Advanced
- Whale sharks
Drift
down to 40 m
Toyapakeh
- Advanced
- Reef sharks
For experienced divers
usual dive down to 40 m3 sitesDrift
down to 40 m
Blue Corner
- Experienced
- Bamboo sharks
down to 40 m
Batu Bolong
Thousands of Moorish idols wait at this cleaning station where Mola Mola, eagle rays and tuna come in.
- Experienced
- Eagle rays
Wall
down to 40 m
Malibu Point
- Experienced
- Whale sharks
Marine life
When the big encounters happen, month by month.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mola mola (sunfish)Source: diveconcepts.com | ||||||||||||
| Manta raysSource: purpledivepenida.com |
- Peak season
- Seen
Mola mola (sunfish): Jul–Nov. Manta rays: All year
Also reported here, season not documented yet:
- Nurse sharks
- Reef sharks
- Whitetip reef sharks
- Turtles
- Eagle rays
- Stingrays
- Tuna
- Barracuda
- Trevally
- Cuttlefish
- Frogfish
- Ghost pipefish
- Nudibranchs
- Octopus
- Batfish
- Bumphead parrotfish
- Garden eels
- Moray eels
- Napoleon wrasse
- Sea snakes
- Whale sharks
- Bamboo sharks
- Hammerhead sharks
- Thresher sharks
- Wobbegong sharks
- Dolphins
- Pygmy seahorses
- Seahorses
Where is Bali & Nusa Penida?
- Nearest airport
- DPS
- How people dive here
- Dive resorts, Day boats
Somewhere quieter?
Bali & Nusa Penida is one of the busiest dive hubs in the world. These destinations dive in a similar way and see far fewer divers: Wakatobi, Siquijor and Sipadan & Semporna.
See all alternatives to Bali & Nusa Penida →Bali & Nusa Penida: frequently asked questions
- When is the best time to dive Bali & Nusa Penida?
- The best months to dive Bali & Nusa Penida are Apr–Oct. Dry season Apr–Oct best. Jul–Oct cold upwellings (can drop below 20 °C) bring mola mola. 5 mm advised.
- Is Bali & Nusa Penida good for beginner divers?
- Yes, partly: 10 of the 28 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Coral Garden (Tulamben), Ghost Bay and Manta Bay. The others need more experience or a higher certification.
- What is the water temperature in Bali & Nusa Penida?
- The water is usually between 18 °C and 29 °C over the year.
- What marine life can you see in Bali & Nusa Penida?
- Divers regularly see mola mola (sunfish) (Jul–Nov), manta rays (all year), nurse sharks, reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks and turtles.
- How do you dive Bali & Nusa Penida?
- The nearest airport is DPS. Ways to dive here: dive resorts and day boats.
About this page
Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.
- zubludiving.com
- diveconcepts.com
- purpledivepenida.com
- diveconcepts.com
- purpledivepenida.com
- lotusbungalows.com
- purpledivepenida.com
- emperordivers.com
- purpledivepenida.com
- diving-penida.com
- amedjepundivers.com
- purpledivepenida.com
- balifundiving.com
- amedjepundivers.com
- evolutiondiver.com
- diveconcepts.com
- diving-penida.com
Your next dive is somewhere out there.
Find my next dive tripPhoto credits
- Broken Bay sea arch, Nusa Penida, Georgi Kovachev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Manta Point Nusa Penida dive site, Bali / Nusa Penida, Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- USAT Liberty dive site, Bali / Nusa Penida, G patkar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Crystal Bay dive site, Bali / Nusa Penida, Magul, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash
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