Nusa Lembongan, located just off Bali’s exotic southeastern coast, is home to adventurous and fantastic scuba diving in Indonesia. You can ride the island’s famously strong currents along plummeting walls, craggy cleaning stations, and colorful sloping reefs where Mola Molas await. Nusa Lembongan island also has sheltered areas packed with fascinating light-filled coral gardens that are ideal for underwater photography too!
With water temperatures ranging from 20 to 28 degrees Celsius (68 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit), the Scuba diving Nusa Lembongan experience goes well with a 3mm wetsuit. During the Mola Mola season, of July to November, temperatures can drop to about 15-17°C (59-63°F) and you may require an additional neoprene diving hood.
Since the weather and currents can change so quickly, it is best to follow the decisions and recommendations of your local divemaster. Preparing some emergency diving equipment, such as a surface marker buoy, to become visible in this area that is densely packed with boats, it may prove to be useful when scuba diving in Nusa Lembongan. Here’s a highlight of some of the popular world-class Diving Spots in Nusa Lembongan that you should explore.
1. Blue Corner
Blue Corner is undoubtedly Lembongan’s most famous dive site. It has a steep, rocky slope dropping into the depths, overhangs, stone outcrops, and a plateau. Drift downstream with the current in search of Mola Mola and marble rays while keeping an eye out for passing reef sharks, eagle rays, tuna, and wahoo.
Large schools of butterflyfish, triggerfish, snapper, fusiliers, and trevally inhabit the drop-off. While you’ll most likely be focused on the sea, Blue Corner’s current-swept reef is simply stunning, with hard coral, supersized sponges, and swaying sea whips and fans.
Watch this to get a glimpse:
2. Mangrove Point
When the tides and currents around Blue Corner are too strong, this Mangrove Point dive site can be a more comfortable option. Mangrove Point dive site is located just off the natural mangrove area, northeast of Nusa Lembongan, and is suitable for all levels of divers, including beginners.
Drifting over the colorful corals, you can see a stunning panoramic seascape teeming with fish species such as giant pufferfish, scorpionfish, angelfish, boxfish, moray eels, nurse sharks, turtles, barracuda, giant trevally, and many more. It’s known as one of the best dive and snorkeling sites in Nusa Lembongan.
Watch this to get a glimpse of what you’ll see there:
3. Lembongan Bay
The Lembongan Bay is a shallow and calm site ideal for beginners. There are various interesting things to see on this popular site! Set up your camera and head to the sandy bottom in search of fascinating bottom dwellers such as fire and shrimp gobies, frogfish, pipefish, seahorses, cuttlefish, and various octopuses.
The massive bommies at this site are also a haven for marine wildlife, with kaleidoscopic nudibranchs, leaf fish, moray eels, and schools of silversides. Lembongan Bay is also excellent for viewing local reef fish such as anthias, unicorn fish, and Moorish idols.
4. Crystal Bay
Crystal Bay is a popular dive spot near Nusa Lembongan. It is home to the famous Manta Ray and Sunfish or mola-mola, as well as beautiful corals and pelagic fishes. From June to November, this is one of the best dive sites on Nusa Lembongan, with divers from all over the world flocking to see the ocean sunfish up close. When the water temperature drops, the sunfish will emerge from the depths, where banner fishes and Morish Idols will clean it.
As the name suggests, Crystal Bay’s visibility can be as clear as crystal up to 40 meters. The strong currents into the bay bring so many nutrients for the healthy hard and soft corals, which serve as homes for an abundance and diversity of marine life, including reef sharks, octopus, sea horse, nudibranch, scorpionfish, surgeonfish, sea snakes, and, of course, the sunfish or mola-mola. Crystal Bay is best suited to more experienced divers because of its strong currents.
Watch this to find out how a dive will look like at Crystal Bay:
5. Toyapakeh
Toyapakeh, which translates to “saltwater,” is the richest and one of the best dive sites in Nusa Lembongan. The topography is breathtaking, and the seascape includes everything from a steep wall to a massive coral terrace and shelving reefs. This diverse habitat allows you to see pelagic fishes like eagle rays, sharks, and mola-mola, as well as smaller creatures like mantis shrimp, colorful nudibranchs, orangutan crabs, mantis shrimp, and blue-ribbon eels.
Final Takeaway
Nusa Lembongan hosts various fantastic diving sites with something for everyone. It is one of the few places on the planet where you can spend one-day exploring current-swept slopes, coral reefs teeming with macro, and deep, rocky channels teeming with cleaner fish, reef mantas, and Mola Mola. The island also has an impressive number of diving spots that offer courses for divers of all skill levels, making it an excellent place to start or continue underwater explorations.
Want to read more of our latest posts? Check out this one about getting a tour guide in Israel.
