Diving in Bali?
 

Where is the best areas to dive in Bali? We are currently in Sanur and were thinking of heading over to Nusa Lembongan. We only want to go diving once while we are here, but want to make it worth while. We had also been thinking about the Gili islands as well. Any recommendations would be great.

I am not a diver, but we did see several dive shops in Amed. I don't know the relative merits of Amed as a dive location compared with the others, but it seemed fairly popular with divers.

I quite like the Liberty wreck dive up in Tulamben, and the wall in the same bay is also an excellent dive. That's an easy day trip from Sanur.

I understand Nusa Lembongan can be quite challenging due to strong currents. The thing to see there are the mola-mola, which don't show up until August - which is when I'm going.

The regional correspondent for Easy Diver recently told me the Gilis were crap for diving - cheap place to stay, easy conditions to learn in, but nothing to see. That's his opinion, of course, but the Gilis are a long way to go when there are really good dive sites closer at hand.

If you like muck diving, Menjangan Bay is supposed to be very good, but it's a long way from Sanur, and probably requires an over night stay to make it worth while.

We dived at Menjangan Bay a few years ago but as Michael says it is a long way. The diving was good and easy with weak currents. Some nice coral and decent sized fish. They also have an artificial reef there. We stayed at http://www.balitamansari.com/dive.htm a very nice palce with a dive shop next door.

My fave spot to dive or even just to snorkel in Bali is also the Tulamben. It's easy to be reached and I kinda feel the ship wreck surrounded by fish and corals kinda bring me a romantic mood in a strange way :)

Jenni_P,

Don't know if you've completed your trip yet. I just dived in the Amed/Tulamben area last week and I highly recommend the Liberty wreck. At the Liberty site, I did two dives, one circling the wreck and one going into it. I went with Adventure Divers Bali and can recommend Ian and his team wholeheartedly.