Diving in Nusa Penida
Diving in Nusa Penida
Diving in Nusa Penida's Marine Protected Area with Ceningan Divers, PADI Five Star Dive Resort
Diving in Nusa Penida, Bali
Diving in Nusa Penida's Marine Protected Area with Ceningan Divers from our PADI Five Start Dive Resort on Nusa Ceningan (Nusa Lembongan). The Nusa Islands are part of the Coral Triangle and located approximately 20km off the south east coast of Bali. This world-class dive destination is best known for its large manta population and the annual mola season. Welcome to Nusa Paradise where you will find colourful reefs populated by various species of tropical fish. The average visibility ranges from 15 to 30 meters, dive site depth ranges between 5 and 40+ meters. The water temperature can drop to low 20s during the months of July to October, which is the best time to see the mola. Whether you are a new or an experienced diver, you will find a variety of conditions and sites to meet your needs, learning goals or desire for adventure.
Diving Nusa Penida's Famous Dive Sites
Explore Nusa Penida's Renowned Dive Spots with Ceningan Divers. Immerse yourself in exceptional dive sites teeming with manta rays, mola, and a captivating array of marine creatures and vibrant coral reefs.
LEMBONGAN BAY
Required Level : Beginner Depth : 12 meters Location : Lembongan Island Travel to Dive site : 20 Minutes Description : Lembongan Bay is an ideal site for night dives, beginner divers, or for avid photographers. The sandy bottom is scattered with coral bommies which are home to frog fish, moral eels, lobsters, schools of damselfish and many more of the smaller species.
BLUE CORNER
Required Level : Advanced Depth : 30+ meters Location : North-West Lembongan Island Travel to Dive site : 15 Minutes Description : Located on the northwest of Nusa Lembongan is the famous Blue Corner dive site. This site offer some of the most extreme condition around the islands. If you are hoping to dive with amazing pelagic like Mola Mola, a school of bullrays, and you are okay with cruising in strong current, look no further.
MANGROVE
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 30+ meters Location : North Lembongan Island Travel to Dive site : 10 Minutes Description : Sakenan also known as Jack's Point or Mangrove. This site is near the mangrove forest to the north east of Nusa Lembongan. The coral slopes gently outwards and has often been compared to diving in a giant underwater aquarium due to the many varieties of reef fish found here!
CENINGAN WALL
Required Level : Advanced Depth : 40+ meters Location : East Ceningan Island Travel to Dive site : 15 Minutes Description : Located on the east side of Nusa Ceningan Island. This impressive coral wall at the base of limestone cliffs is fed by nutrient rich waters from the nearby mangroves and upwellings from the deep channel. The colourful coral wall drops vertically to depths beyond recreational diving.
TOYAPAKEH
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 30+ meters Location : West Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 10 Minutes Description : Toyapakeh is located at the north end of the deep channel between Penida and Ceningan. It offers a steep wall to the south, terraces with huge hard coral bommies in the bay and a terraced reef in the north. We think this is possibly one of the best dives around the area!
TOYAPAKEH WALL
Required Level : Advanced Depth : 5 - 30+ meters Location : West Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 10 Minutes Description : Constant current, very deep towards the Toyapakeh Straight, the current runs along the wall, with a wide variety of tropical fish, which thrive in this current swept environment. Prolific marine life can be found along the wall, along with hard and soft corals and if you are lucky, the mola mola.
GAMAT BAY
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 30+ meters Location : West Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 15 Minutes Description : This is a good site to discover different invertebrates in the sheltered bay area and if the swell is not too strong, you can spend time between 10-20 meters and look for the macro creatures which inhabit the bay. Big table corals, coral bommies and on the steep slope sponges and whip corals.
CRYSTAL BAY
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : West Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 20 Minutes Description : Crystal Bay is one of Bali’s most popular dive sites. Located on the south west of Nusa Penida, this bay with a rocky island in the middle can be an amazing dive site. The inside of the bay is sheltered from the currents, and house a colourful reef sloping down to the white sandy bottom.
MANTA BAY
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 10 meters Location : West Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 25 Minutes Description : Manta rays frequently sighted feeding on plankton near the rocky shore. Normally a calm dive, but occasionally affected by surge. The coral life is not as prolific as other sites, but the mantas make up for it! There are many holes, cracks and overhangs where you will find many different shrimps, crabs & octopus.
MANTA POINT
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 10-30+ meters Location : South Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 45 Minutes Description : This Manta cleaning station is located on the south-west side of Nusa Penida. This site provides a fantastic opportunity to see Manta Rays, often in large groups just circling around waiting to be cleaned.
SD
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 15 Minutes Description : The current can be to strong here and is often changing directions. Enjoy drifting past schooling fish and don’t forget to keep an eye on the blue as sometime giant trevallies, whitetip sharks and barracuda pass by. Lots of macro life here with the orang-utan crab being regularly sighted. Large coral bommies and massive fields of branching coral. Very healthy reef with normally good visibility.
PED
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 20 Minutes Description : The slope is bit steeper than SD, but with similar coral. The huge sponges and long whip coral, are good indicators that strong currents are evident. Lots of schooling fish, unicorns, orang-utan crab, snappers, ribbon eels, clouds of triggerfish, anthias and occasional turtle.
SENTAL
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 25 Minutes Description : Similar site to SD and Pura Ped, with a steeper slope and large coral bommies. Schooling fish, unicorns, snappers, ribbon eels, triggerfish and anthias. Good site for macro life, with the orang-utan crab hiding in the anemone. Another site where the mola mola can be spotted. We even have the occasional whalesharks sightings.
BATU NGULAPAN
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North East Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 25 Minutes Description : Batu Ngulapan is a sloping reef at the nort east coast of Nusa Penida. The huge barrel sponges and long whip corals, are good indicators that strong currents are evident. Lots of schooling fish, hawksbill turtles, lionfish, snappers, scorpionfish, moray eels, clouds of triggerfish and anthias. Whitetip reef sharks can sometimes be spotted cruising past in the blue.
SAMPALAN
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 40 Minutes Description : Sampalan Dive site is located on the north side of Nusa Penida; the marine life is similar to SD with some high lights of underwater structure that is quite different. A few thermoclines are present in deeper water. Some slopes are full of soft coral with reef fish hovering to get nutrients from the rich water.
KARANG SARI
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : North East Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 45 Minutes Description : Karang Sari Dive site is located on the north east side of Nusa Penida; the marine life is similar to Sampalan and Batu Ngulapan with some very healthy corals and a good chance to spot sharks. The slopes are covered with a mixture of soft coral, reef fish and a diversified eco system.
MALIBU
Required Level : Open Water Depth : 5 - 40+ meters Location : East Coast of Nusa Penida Travel to Dive site : 50 Minutes Description : Malibu Dive site is located on the east side of Nusa Penida; the marine life is similar to Karang Sari with some healthy coral and underwater structures at various depths. A few thermoclines are present in deeper water. Some slopes are full of soft coral with reef fish hovering to get nutrients from the rich water.
Diving in the Coral Triangle
The Coral Triangle is a geographical term referring to the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste that contain at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion.
The Coral Triangle is recognized as the global centre of marine biodiversity and a global priority for conservation. It also called the “Amazon of the seas” and covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean waters.
While only covering 1.6% of the planet’s oceanic area, the region has 76% of all known coral species in the world. As a habitat for 52% of Indo-Pacificreef fishes and 37% of the world’s reef fishes, it encompasses the highest diversity of coral reef fishes in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish live in the Coral Triangle, including the largest fish – the whale shark, and the coelacanth.
The Coral Triangle is the epicentre for the biodiversity of not only corals and fish, but many other marine organisms as well. It also provides habitat to six out of the world’s seven marine turtle species.
The Coral Triangle also has the greatest extent of mangrove forests in the world. The large area and extraordinary range of habitats and environmental conditions have played a major role in maintaining the staggering biodiversity of the Coral Triangle
On August 2007, Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono proposed a multilateral partnership to “safeguard the region’s marine and coastal biological resources” with five other countries geographically located in the Coral Triangle (Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and the Philippines). The multilateral partnership then named as Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF)
Code of Conduct for Diving in Nusa Penida
For Manta Ray and Mola Mola Encounters.
These guidelines have been created to ensure you have a great visit in our waters while our breathtaking big fish remain unaffected by your presence. By following these simple rules, it has been proven that you will have longer more enjoyable interactions with our beautiful manta rays and mola.
These guidelines apply To divers and snorkelers alike:
• Never touch a manta ray, mola, other fish, coral, or anything else while diving. If a manta ray or a mola approaches you, remain still, but do not touch it!
• Always approach manta rays and mola very slowly within their field of view and do not splash the water.
• Stay close to the reef and never surround the manta ray or mola.
• Never enter the cleaning station. If the cleaning fish are disturbed or the coral on or near the cleaning station is damaged the cleaning station can be compromised and the manta rays and mola may not come back.
• Always maintain a minimum distance of 3m (or 2 body lengths) from the closest manta ray or mola.
• Maintain a minimum distance of 10m (or 5-6 body lengths) when they are unsettled (not cleaning) and approaching the reef.
• Never be closer to the manta ray and mola than your guide.
• Do not swim closely behind the manta ray or mola; this is how predators usually attack and your close proximity may startle them.
• Do not swim directly above or below the manta ray or mola as this may disturb cleaning and feeding behaviour. However, if the manta ray or mola decides to swim above you remain still and blow as few bubbles as possible.
• Never block the escape route off the reef, out of a feeding area, or the pathway onto a cleaning station.
• Do not use personal underwater motorized propulsion vehicles or make any unnecessary loud noises.
• Follow the directions of your dive guide.
• Do not touch or kick the hard or soft coral. Good buoyancy is a must!
AGAIN, NEVER EVER TOUCH A MANTA RAY OR MOLA!
Ceningan Divers
Ceningan Divers is an award-winning eco-friendly PADI 5 Star Dive Resort. A PADI Eco Center, Top Rated Green Fins Member, a 100% AWARE Partner, and the winner of the Dive Operator of the year and The Best Dive Resort of the Year at the 2018 and the 2019 BlueGreen360 Awards.