ISLAND OF THE GODS

 ISLAND OF THE GODS

World-renowned as associate degree geographical point for top-notch diving, the Indonesian island of Bali offers a large vary of underwater experiences appropriate for all levels and budgets.

A wealth of top-side culture and first resorts is reflected within the various and exciting diving to be discovered below the island’s comfy blue waters.

From known shipwrecks to encounters with mysterious giants, diving in Bali, the ‘Island of the Gods’ ne'er ceases to amaze even the foremost seasoned ventilator enthusiasts.

Located simply off-shore close to the geographic area city of Tulamben, the USAT Liberty is home to a wide ranging array of marine species in a very distinctive and engaging surroundings. The wreck itself was torpedoed and aground in 1942 before being washed back to ocean by a discharge in 1963.

Now sitting at a most depth of 30m, diverse and snorkelers will simply swim from shore to start their exploration of the shallowest portion.

As a synthetic reef, the USAT Liberty is spectacular, and when nearly sixty years underwater each surface is festooned in colourful encrusting and soft corals. giant table and mushroom corals add more drama, and also the whole seascape is softened by feathery crinoids and tube worms.

Huge faculties of lucent anthias, angelfish, and sweetlips swirl and dart between the portion, whereas spiny-finned fish and trevally college simply come in the blue.

Looking up to the surface, the putting beams of daylight area unit virtually utterly blocked by the silhouettes of thousands of individual fish that build this wreck their home.

HANG OUT WITH MANTA RAYS AND plectognath plectognath AT NUSA PENIDA

Located off the southern tip of Bali, the tiny island of Nusa Penida offers up some huge marine life encounters. A resident population of reef manta rays may be found year-round  at the island’s eponymic dive web site, Manta purpose, associate degreed snorkel diving or diving with these mild giants is an awful expertise.

The mantas at Nusa Penida area unit large and ostensibly alien as they glide and swoop in mild spirals around their reef improvement stations. As dives go, it doesn’t get a lot of easier than kneel within the soft sand and looking at these large filter feeders approach their peaceful day.

Just north of Manta purpose, the gin-clear waters and beautiful coral formations of Crystal Bay area unit one in all the region’s best places to sight the elusive oceanic sunfish or plectognath plectognath.

These peculiar prehistoric fish emerge from deep waters between July and Gregorian calendar month for his or her annual parasite removal treatment, repaired by cleaner fish on the shallow reefs.

Measuring a banging a pair of.5m from fin to fin, and deliberation the maximum amount as one,000kg, diving with these back goliaths may be a rare chance to not be incomprehensible  on a visit to Bali.

PHOTOGRAPH FASCINATING MACRO AROUND AMED

Thirty minutes south of Tulamben, the black volcanic sands of Amed play host to a excessiveness of macro and a few nice opportunities for close-up photography.

Sites like Ghost Bay, Seraya Secrets, and also the Drop-Off feature straightforward conditions with little or no current, permitting even the foremost inexperienced photographers the prospect to catch some nice shots.

Critter hunters will spot all varieties of weird and extraordinary species here, like flying gurnards, sea moths, mimic octopus, and pygmy seahorses, similarly as ghost needlefish and a large vary of bright dappled nudibranchs. Larger species like leaf scorpaenid and scorpaenid may be noticed if you search laborious enough.

EXPERIENCE THE EXHILARATING FISH lifetime of BALI’S GILI ISLANDS

If you thrill in breath-taking drop-offs, brisk currents, and every one the ocean treasures they bring about, it doesn’t get rather more exciting than diving the tiny islands of Gili Tepekong, Gili Mimpang, and Gili Biaha.

A 15-minute boat ride from Padang Tibeto-Burman on Bali’s geographic area, these rocky outcrops area unit a haven for big pelagics and supply a number of the simplest shark diving within the space. 

Gili Mimpang, additionally called Batu Tiga, options healthy reefs resulting in steep walls, giving the proper surroundings for whitetip reef sharks, wobbegongs, and also the elusive coral catshark. a lot of of the diving is between twenty five and 30m, and currents may be amazingly brisk.

The largest island of Gili Tepekong boasts dramatic walls and powerful currents, best suited to advanced diverse. giant faculties of jack, sweetlips, and grouper circle the reefs thriving within the nutrient-rich water, whereas whitetip and blacktip reef sharks patrol the island’s steep rocky sides.

Four kilometers from Gili Tepekong, the crescent island of Gili Biaha, enjoys similar topography to the opposite islands however with the exception of a gently sloping reef to the north.

Smothered in laborious and soft corals, the reef here is home to scorpaenoid, snapper, plectognath, and acanthopterygian, and well as fascinating nudibranchs, cuttlefish, and coral snakes.