BALI SCUBA DIVE SITES & AREA - GENERAL MAP
Bali is home to incredible dive sites, offering everything from vibrant coral reefs and thrilling drift dives to legendary wrecks and rare marine life. Whether you’re fascinated by tiny macro critters or dreaming of encounters with manta rays and Mola Mola, Bali has it all.
From the dramatic walls of Menjangan to drift dives in Nusa Penida, Bali’s underwater world is full of surprises. Each diving area has unique dive conditions, making every dive site a new adventure.
Bali have 4 main diving dive sites regions
NORTHEAST BALI
Tulamben & Amed, home to the famous USAT Liberty Wreck and stunning black sand macro sites.
EAST BALI
Padang Bai, Gili Mimpang & Tepekong, offering a mix of reef, shark, and drift dives.
NUSA ISLANDS
Nusa Penida, Lembongan & Ceningan, known for Manta Point, Crystal Bay, and exciting drift diving.
NORTHWEST BALI
Menjangan national park, Pemuteran and Gilimanuk. Between Walls and Muck dive.
BALI AQUA - PADI 5 Star Dive Center
we offer Daily FUN Dive Trips
Dive & Stay Packages
Customized Packages
Diving safaris to explore the best dive sites of Bali.
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LET’S EXPLORE BALI’S UNDERWATER PARADISE TOGETHER!
TULAMBEN
- World-class wreck diving, vibrant coral reefs, and stunning macro life.
- Great for all levels, from beginner to technical diving.
- Number of Dive sites: ~15
NUSA PENIDA
- Thrilling drift dives and encounters with manta rays and Mola Mola.
- Stunning coral reefs and more often crystal-clear visibility.
- Number of Dive sites: ~25
PADANG BAI
- A mix of shallow coral gardens, walls, and macro-rich sites.
- Frequent sightings of reef sharks, turtles, frogfish.
- Number of Dive sites: ~10
MIMPANG & TEPEKONG
- Known for adrenaline-filled dives, strong currents, and big fish action.
- Home to sharks, trevally, Mola and stunning rock formations.
- Number of Dive sites: ~5
AMED
- Calm waters, coral reefs, and incredible macro life.
- Top dive sites: Pyramids, Jemeluk Wall or Drop-off, Bunutan.
- Number of Dive sites: ~12
MENJANGAN
- Part of West Bali National Park, offering stunning wall dives.
- Excellent for all levels, with healthy reefs and great visibility.
- Number of Dive sites: ~24
Dive into Bali’s Best Dive Sites
Stunning Reefs, Macro Marvels & Thrilling Drifts!
Stunning Reefs, Macro Marvels & Thrilling Drifts!
What type of diving you can do in Bali?
Bali offers a variety of incredible diving experiences, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced diver.
Here’s a closer look at the different types of diving you can enjoy in Bali.
WRECK DIVING
Explore the Famous Wrecks of Bali
Wreck diving in Bali is an unforgettable experience, with three notable wrecks offering unique underwater adventures.
- The USAT Liberty Wreck in Tulamben is the most famous, a World War II cargo ship now covered in soft corals and home to schools of fish. This site is accessible to all levels and is a favorite for underwater photographers, with marine life ranging from tiny nudibranchs to large bumphead parrotfish.
- Nearby in Kubu, the Boga Wreck sits at a deeper depth, offering an exciting dive for Advanced Open Water divers. This former patrol ship was intentionally sunk and now hosts gorgonians, schooling fish, and even passing pelagics.
- In Padang Bai, the Jepun Wreck—a small fiberglass boat—rests in shallow waters, making it a great spot for macro lovers. Here, divers can find frogfish, ghost pipefish, and even blue-spotted stingrays hiding among the wreckage.
Bali’s wrecks are full of history and marine life, making them must-visit sites for any diver!
DRIFT DIVING
Ride the Currents in Bali’s Best Sites
Drift diving in Bali offers an exhilarating experience, with sites where you can glide effortlessly along vibrant reefs while the current does the work.
Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan are the most famous drift diving destinations, with sites like SD Point, Pura Ped, Sental, and Mangrove offering crystal-clear waters, colorful corals, and encounters with turtles, reef sharks, and large schools of fish.
While many drift dives in Bali are known for their fast currents and thrilling rides, some sites, like Bunutan and Pyramid in Amed, offer gentler drifts where divers can enjoy a more relaxed experience while still benefiting from the effortless movement along the reef.
Whether you’re looking for high-adrenaline currents or a slow, scenic drift, Bali has drift dives suited for all levels.
MACRO DIVING
Discover Rare Critters in Bali’s Best Dive Sites
If you love searching for tiny, exotic marine creatures, macro diving in Bali is a must. The Tulamben area is world-famous among macro photography enthusiasts, offering incredible opportunities to spot ghost pipefish, frogfish, harlequin shrimp, nudibranchs, and even the elusive mimic octopus at sites like Seraya Secrets, Batu Niti, and Melasti.
Padang Bai is another macro hotspot, with sites like Jepun and the Blue Lagoon hiding seahorses, rhinopias, and various species of shrimps and crabs among the sand and coral. Amed also offers some excellent critter diving, though it’s more limited compared to Tulamben and Padang Bai.
Macro critters are highly seasonal, meaning that a dive site may be full of a particular species for weeks and then change. However, at Bali Aqua, our experienced and well-trained macro spotters continuously monitor the best locations and adjust dive plans based on your critter preferences. Whether you’re searching for a specific species or just love the thrill of discovering rare marine life, we’ll take you to the best sites for the best chances of spotting them!
WALL DIVING
Explore Bali’s Stunning Coral Walls
For divers who love dramatic underwater landscapes, wall diving in Bali offers breathtaking scenery with vertical drop-offs covered in vibrant marine life.
- Menjangan Island is the most famous wall diving destination in Bali, featuring pristine coral walls, massive gorgonian sea fans, colorful sponges, and an abundance of reef fish. These walls extend deep into the blue, providing shelter for moray eels, lionfish, sea turtles, and even passing eagle rays.
- In the Tulamben and Amed areas, Drop Off in Tulamben is a well-known wall dive, while Amed also offers some interesting vertical formations with thriving coral growth.
- For those looking for more dramatic and challenging walls, Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan feature some of the steepest and deepest walls in Bali. Nusa Ceningan Wall is particularly impressive, while Malibu Point is an extreme dive site known for strong and unpredictable currents, making it suitable only for experienced divers.
- Even Manta Point has a smaller wall section where mantas can be seen gliding along the reef.
Whether you’re looking for gentle coral-covered walls or deep, adrenaline-pumping drop-offs, Bali has wall diving experiences for all levels!
BIG FISH ENCOUNTERS
Swim with Manta Rays, Sharks, and Mola Mola
Bali is home to some of the most thrilling big fish encounters in Indonesia, offering divers the chance to see majestic manta rays, powerful sharks, elusive Mola Mola, and more.
- Manta Point in Nusa Penida is the top spot to dive with graceful manta rays, which can be seen here year-round.
- For those hoping to encounter the legendary Mola Mola (ocean sunfish), the best time is July to October, with Crystal Bay and Blue Corner being the most famous dive sites for sightings.
- Shark enthusiasts will love Gili Mimpang, Tepekong, and Biaha, where blacktip and whitetip reef sharks are frequently spotted. Occasionally, bigger pelagics like grey reef sharks also make an appearance.
- Beyond these iconic species, divers may also encounter schools of barracuda, giant trevally, and other large predatory fish. And while rare, whale sharks do roam Bali’s waters, with sightings recorded from time to time.
- Most excitingly, in 2019 and March 2025, a great white shark was spotted in Bali, proving that our waters hold incredible surprises for lucky divers!
REFF DIVING
Explore Bali’s Vibrant Coral Reefs
Bali is home to some of the healthiest and most diverse coral reefs in Indonesia, offering divers breathtaking underwater landscapes filled with hard and soft corals, schooling fish, and rich marine biodiversity.
- In Padang Bai, Blue Lagoon is a fantastic reef diving site, known for its colorful corals, abundant reef fish, and frequent sea turtle encounters.
- Amed, particularly Jemeluk Bay, features stunning coral formations, making it a great spot for both beginners and experienced divers.
- Nusa Penida’s northern reefs are among the most spectacular in Bali, featuring pristine hard coral gardens with an incredible diversity of fish species. Sites like Batu Mulapan and Karang Sari offer stunning coral slopes in areas with fewer divers, allowing for a more peaceful dive experience.
- For those seeking majestic sea fans, Menjangan Island is unbeatable, with some of the largest gorgonian sea fans in Bali, creating a mesmerizing underwater landscape.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced diver, Bali’s reef dives promise an unforgettable experience filled with color, life, and beauty!
MUCK DIVING
Uncover Bali’s Hidden Underwater Treasures
For divers who love searching for unique and bizarre marine creatures, muck diving in Bali offers some of the most fascinating and unconventional dive sites. Instead of colorful coral reefs, these sites feature dark volcanic sand or silty bottoms, providing the perfect habitat for some of the ocean’s most elusive critters.
Two of Bali’s most historical muck diving sites are Secret Bay in Gilimanuk and Puri Jati in Seririt. Secret Bay is a shallow bay with calm waters and a unique underwater landscape, home to rare nudibranchs, frogfish, seahorses, and even mandarin fish—a treat for patient photographers. Puri Jati, with its vast, open sandy slopes, is the perfect hunting ground for mimic octopuses, wonderpus, and other masters of disguise.
In Tulamben and Amed, some dive sites also offer excellent macro encounters on black sand slopes. While these sites aren’t traditionally “muck dives,” they attract macro photographers due to the high diversity of small critters like ghost pipefish, dragonets, and rare crustaceans.
Bali’s muck diving sites are full of surprises, and with our experienced macro spotters, we adjust dive plans to help you find the rare marine life you’re looking for!
Daily trip schedules
Our day-trips leave early mornings, so our free pickup is around 07:00 at your hotel (within the main areas of Kuta and Sanur). This means that wherever the dives are planned for, you can complete 2 dives and still be back to your Hotel or Resort in mid-afternoon. Travel time to the dive- sites (from Sanur) varies from 40 minutes (Nusa Penida by Speedboat) to up to 2 hours (Tulamben by car). All our cars are modern and air-conditioned, and we provide lunch, water and towels on all of our day trips.
Schedule exemple:
| DESTINATION | DIVE SITE | TRIP DURATION |
| Tulamben | USS Liberty Shipwreck / Drop-off | 07:00 – 17:00 |
| Padang bai | Jepun, Blue Lagoon, etc | 07:00 – 15:00 |
| Amed | Jemeluk Bay, Pyramid, etc | 07:00 – 17:00 |
| Gili Tepekong & Gili Mimpang | Gili Tepekong, Gili Mimpang | 07:00 – 16:00 |
| Nusa Penida & Nusa Lembongan Island | Manta Point / Crystal Bay / Mangrove | 07:00 – 15:30 |