Where is the best scuba diving in Indonesia? Read on for 6 places that should be on every diver’s To Do list.

Komodo Diving

It’s not often that Komodo makes an appearance in the Top 5 of places to dive in the world – as a premier diving destination, it still remains relatively unknown. It’s my personal Number 1 favourite dive area anywhere in Asia – I’ve been there three times in the last three years and would like to continue making an annual return. In terms of bang for your buck for a 10 day liveaboard trip, I would say that Komodo is actually even better than the holy grail of Indonesian diving, Raja Ampat. While Raja has incredible biodiversity, Komodo provides an amazing variety within a standard week and a half liveaboard format.

From the temperate waters of Cannibal Rock and Manta Alley in the south to the tropical waters of the still active volcano Sangeang in the north, Komodo has a spectacular array of different dive environments that also provide a feast of big and small critters. There’s also the chance to encounter the fascinating Komodo Dragons on land and see Komodo’s primeval landscape from the vantage point of the boat. Of numerous stand out areas, Gili Lawa Laut is probably Komodo’s highlight of highlights, as it’s home to Castle Rock, one of the world’s most stunning dive sites. This is a true fishbowl where sharks, dolphins, tuna and thousands of fish can be encountered en masse. There are numerous liveaboards to choose from and also daytrips if you want to spend more time exploring on land. Bali is the initial arrival point for guests, with many boats organising a domestic flight into Maumere or Labuan Bajo to meet with the boat.

For more information, I’ve written three Komodo trip reports – the most recent is probably the best one:

• Komodo November 2009 on MSY Damai
• Komodo October 2008 on S/Y Siren
• Komodo December 2006 on Paradise Dancer

Raja Ampat Diving

It’s a scientific fact – Raja Ampat has the most underwater species of any place in the world, and for a diver, that means there is a plethora of stuff to see. Raja has become The New Big Thing for discerning divers and despite the effort to get there, very few divers are disappointed. The Waigeo and Misool regions around Bird’s Head Peninsula have scores of dive sites that have a profusion of spectacular corals and critters, as well as a couple of signature manta ray cleaning stations too. The picturesque limestone rocky outcrops that pepper the coastline form secret lagoons above water and intriguing caves and canyons below the water too. Further south lies Triton Bay, whose milky, nutrient rich waters are home to an amazing array of soft corals and macro critters . Liveaboards typically last for 10 days and depart from Sorong. There are also several resorts around Raja Ampat – Misool Eco Resort and Max Ammer’s Kri and Sorido resorts.

Read my Diving Raja Ampat: A Quick Guide for a full rundown of diving Raja, plus tips on getting there and what to bring. See also my Raja Ampat and Triton Bay trip report on MSY Seahorse.

Banda Sea Diving

Crossing the Banda Sea is only possible a couple of times a year when the seasons allow for calm seas and let divers take on a truly epic voyage to some of Indonesia’s most remote dive spots. Departing from Maumere and heading along lor for a few days before entering the Banda Sea proper, liveaboard trips typically take two weeks to make the crossing. En route there are numerous atolls to be explored, including the two spectacular volcanos of the sea snakes at Gunung Api and Manuk which also boast centuries old coral. It’s rare to see another boat during the whole crossing, and arriving in the tiny but bustling Banda Islands is a fascinating contrast to the solitude and expanse of the Banda Sea.

The islands are great to explore on land and learn about the islands’ troubled past as the only source of nutmeg, once considered more valuable than gold. Banda Sea crossings typically conclude in Ambon where there is some excellent muck diving, or continue on into Raja Ampat and explore Misool for a couple of days before concluding in Sorong. Banda Sea trips also head in the opposite direction, from Ambon to Alor. Given the huge distance to cross, there is a lot of travelling and itineraries can change depending on weather. There is something magical about the Banda Sea and it’s a trip I would love to do again.

For more info, read my Banda Sea trip reports on

• Diving Gunung Api
• Diving Manuk
• Diving the Banda Islands
• Diving Nusa Laut
• Diving Ambon

Lembeh Strait and Bunaken Diving

If seeing weird and wonderful critters is what floats your boat, Lembeh Strait is the underwater world capital of all things aquatic and strange. It’s also an excellent value diving destination, with resorts to cater for all budgets. Mimic octopus, hairy frogfish, pygmy seahorse – there is a seemingly endless list of ultra rare underwater creatures that are almost common in Lembeh. Black sand forms the backdrop for many dives but there is also some fairly decent coral too. However, such is the profusion of life that you will rarely have time to consider the environment as there are so many creatures to look at. Bunaken is only a half hour boat ride away and has some big walls, a complete contrast to Lembeh – it’s better to split your trip in two and spend some time at separate resorts in Lembeh and Bunaken rather than trying to explore from just one base. Bunaken and Lembeh lie at the bottom of the Sangihe archipelago and just a little further on is the fairly unknown area of Gangga, which has some beautiful underwater canyons and pinnacles as well as a lot of macro life like ornate ghostpipefish.

Read my Ocean Rover liveaboard trip report on Lembeh, Bunaken and Gangga (August 2008) and my trip report on my stay at NAD Lembeh Resort (August 2008)

Bali Diving

Often overlooked thanks to Indonesia’s unparalleled array of great dive spots, Bali is a hugely underrated destination which provides not only excellent diving but the convenience of shore dives and comfortable living in either hotels or villas. The three key diving areas are Tulamben – home of the famous Liberty shipwreck and a paradise for divers that love macro stuff – also a great place to learn to dive; Lembongan – big channel diving looking for mola mola sunfish and exploring cold water epic seascapes; and Pemeturan, lost in Bali’s northwestern tip with Menjagan Island nearby which has some great corals and fish life.

For more on Bali, read my Bali Dive Safari article written for Sport Diver USA magazine and Diving the USS Liberty: A Quick Guide

Kalimantan Diving – Nabucco, Sangalaki and Derawan

Located further along Borneo’s coast from Sipadan, Indonesian Borneo has several islands with great diving and some submerged atolls that are only accessible by liveaboard. Sangalaki is perhaps the most famous island for its schooling manta rays, although they are not there all the time. Derawan has some great reefs and this area in general has fallen off the dive map a little so it’s one of the new frontiers of Indonesia diving again as boats come back and make their own explorations to find new sites as well as the classics.

You can see more about diving Kalimantan in my trip report from the Tambora liveaboard.

Bali is famous as a tropical island paradise, but it also has a wonderfully diverse collection of dive sites around its coastline that yield many hidden treasures. A Bali Dive Safari over a couple of weeks is the ideal way to enjoy the island both on land and under water

Mola Mola, Blue Corner, Nusa Lembongan, Bali © Chris Mitchell

(This story originally appeared in the June 2008 edition of Sport Diver (USA) magazine).

Head away from the tourist-filled beaches in southern Bali and discover a quieter, more secluded place. Better still, see a staggering variety of diving. In two weeks, it’s possible to drive in a rough triangle across the island and find adrenalin-fueled encounters with the elusive mola mola sunfish and manta rays at Nusa Lembongan, tranquil wreck and reef diving at Tulamben, and amazing corals gracing the plunging walls at Pemuteran’s Nusa Menjangan. All the while, journey through Bali’s culture and experience the islanders’ legendary hospitality.

Mushroom Bay, Nusa Lembongan © Chris Mitchell

Lembongan : Home Of Giants

Tim is waving his fist at me. Not in anger, but excitement — with his thumb and little finger extended. The manager of PADI Dive Center Bali Diving Academy Lembongan is signaling that he’s finally spotted what we’ve been searching for the past three days — the enigmatic giant ocean sunfish.

Dropping down to 110 feet, I peer into the blue and make out what Tim has spotted. The sunfish’s skin, a mottled gray, aptly camouflages it with its open-ocean environment, and it looks more like an alien visitor’s spacecraft — or maybe just the alien visitor itself — than a cousin of the reef fish we’ve seen over the past few days. Its body is a very solid-looking vertical disc, its fins sticking out at right angles, like the booms of a starship.

And it’s big, both longer than I am and taller – a fish so large it makes goliath groupers and Napoleon wrasses look puny. Yet, despite its great size, the mola mola appears positively docile as it looks me over with large, cowlike eyes. As a squadron of bannerfish crowds in to clean this gigantic vagrant, I find myself wondering what a mola mola eats to maintain its size.

We keep very still and close in on the reef, marveling as the mola mola comes up level with us, seemingly unfazed by our presence. It hangs just a few feet away from us while the bannerfish go to work. A glance down and suddenly we see two more sunfish swimming in closer, keen to get clean as well. For a few more minutes we stay with these rarely seen creatures and then, mindful of our dive computers and air, start slowly heading to shallower waters.

Finding a mola mola today – our final day on Nusa Lembongan – makes the victory all the sweeter. Lembongan, a half-hour speedboat ride off Bali’s southeast coast, is a small neighbor of Nusa Penida. Lembongan and the island sliver of Nusa Ceningan form two conduits through which the cold water and currents of the Indian Ocean channel directly. That’s the key to dependably sighting mola molas, which rise from the abyssal depths for cleaning during April through October. This is one of the few places in the world where divers can encounter them.

Mola Mola, Blue Corner, Nusa Lembongan, Bali © Chris Mitchell

Surfers first discovered Lembongan, and they still ride the island’s many challenging breaks today. Although seaweed farming remains the mainstay of this steep-hilled island’s economy, tourism — like the upmarket accommodation clustered around the perfect sliver of sand that is Mushroom Bay – is close behind. Our cozy room at Hai Tide Huts is built in the traditional Lombok style, with a high-arching thatched roof over a wooden bedroom resting on stilts 6 feet off the ground. Going diving couldn’t be easier – it’s a few steps from the room to the beach, where the dive boat picks us up each morning.

On our arrival at the island three days before, Tim is quietly confident that we will see molas within our allotted days. But he’s also eager to show us that with or without molas, Lembongan provides dramatic undersea adventure. The ocean currents that bring the sunfish also shape Lembongan’s epic-size reefs, and the cold, clear 120-foot visibility makes it easy to take it all in. I’m a little intoxicated by the sheer sense of space around me on our first dive, the pure blue of the water as it holds the sunlight from above and the craggy, current-blasted coral that tenaciously thrives in this aquatic landscape. Almost every dive is a drift dive, an exhilarating whirl of color, coral and critters where we speed along the reef as if it were a sideshow panorama unrolling next to us.

Nusa Penida

Manta Point is Lembongan’s other star attraction, a half-hour speedboat ride along the stunning, sun-scorched cliffs of Nusa Penida. It’s not difficult to see why the Balinese call Nusa Penida “The Demon Island” — blasted by the sea over centuries, Nusa Penida’s vertical drops contain numerous caves and a giant stone archway looming just off the island’s shore.

Manta Ray at Manta Point, Nusa Lembongan, Bali © Chris Mitchell

Within moments of descent, a young manta comes swooping directly toward me, winging in swiftly and smoothly over the gnarled coral, which bottoms out around 30 feet. It passes within a few feet of me, jet-black wings effortlessly powering it on beyond our group of divers and back out into the blue. Still slightly awed that it had been so easy, I wonder if that was to be our first and last manta sighting. For a while it seems so, as we moved along the ocean-battered reef, constantly searching the blue. Then the group behind us gives us the heads-up — with the clang of metal on metal. I have time to look behind me and see not one but three mantas gliding past together in single-line formation, passing between our two dive groups in an impossibly graceful train, almost wholly synchronized in their movements.

Images of mantas and mola molas play through my mind on the journey back to the mainland. What can top encounters with giants? The next stop on our Bali dive safari beckons, and as Lembongan disappears behind us, we’re already thinking about what lies ahead.

Mount Agung © Chris Mitchell

Tulamben: Under The Volcano

We hop off the ferry and are met by our Balinese driver, Wayan, who negotiates traffic around Sanur with an ease that seemingly defies the vehicular chaos all around him. We pass by scores of artisan shops that are haphazardly stacked with intricate wooden carvings, artwork and enormous statues of the elephant god Ganesh. Heading northeast, we wend our way through small villages set among the giant green leaves of tropical vegetation. The road steadily rises as it negotiates Bali’s mountainous interior and gives us tremendous views down into the vast terraced plains of rice paddies that are the heart of Balinese life. I’m glad I’m not driving so I can take it all in.

Equally spectacular is Pura Besakih, the Mother Temple, Bali’s holiest site on the slopes of Mount Agung. This temple has 35 shrines with towering, multilayered pagodas set on several levels of this volcanic mountain. A place of perpetual pilgrimage, Pura Besakih welcomes Balinese families who continually arrive in their finest formal dress to make offerings and celebrate. Not far away is the Tirtagangga Water Palace, a beautifully serene garden of meditation set around an intricate ensemble of water fountains. We finally arrive in Tulamben in the late afternoon, perfect timing to meet with Eli, the manager of Bali Diving Academy Tulamben, before enjoying the view of the spectacular sunset from the vantage point of Mimpi Resort Tulamben’s restaurant.

Jawfish © Chris Mitchell

USS Liberty

The following day, I’m sitting in a rigid-hull inflatable boat, riding over glass-smooth water, watching the early-morning sun illuminate the brooding presence of Mount Agung. Bali’s highest point and still-active volcano is visible throughout Tulamben. Mount Agung’s last catastrophic eruption in 1963 created the black-rock beach and the sand on which sits the USS Liberty. Previously on land, the Liberty was pushed underwater by the eruption’s force, which also created huge trenches of volcanic rock on the seabed. Today, the wreck and the dive sites surrounding it have become a haven for marine life. It’s easily Bali’s most famous dive area. Scores of people visit every day, from Tulamben and beyond, heading up on charter boats from the south. But if, like my buddy and I, you’re staying in Tulamben, you can have the wreck to yourself by simply getting up early and entering the water at 6 a.m.

As we drop into the water, a huge school of jacks sits in a cyclone swirl directly above the stern, the rising sun catching on their silver bodies. As we move farther down and round the stern, the entire wreck stretches out in front of us, swarming with rainbow runners, fusiliers and more. Perhaps the Liberty is so popular not just because it’s a beautifully easy dive — beginning at 15 feet and running down to 100 feet at its deepest point – but because it looks exactly as a shipwreck should. The arc of the stern remains fully intact, the ribs of the ship frame the sunlight streaming in from above, and marine life encrusts every surface – the smooth metal having long disappeared.

Scorpionfish © Chris Mitchell

My favorites are the large vase corals perched upright on some of the bow section’s struts and the fronds spilling from the Liberty’s now inert gun. Among the wreck’s ribs hover its resident bumphead parrotfish, their faces set in a perpetual grin beneath their bulbous foreheads. For such large fish, easily the length of my arm, they move nimbly around the wreck’s fallen debris, a flash of almost fluorescent blue-green.

For many, the Liberty is the sole site they see in Tulamben before being whisked back south. For my buddy and me, three days didn’t seem enough to explore the coastline’s endlessly surprising and nearly deserted dive sites. Kubu provides one of our most memorable dives, not least because upon descent, I see the flash of something large and silver-white above me. As I glance up, I can’t help but smile as I recognize the unmistakable profile of a bottlenose dolphin powering by, disappearing from my view almost as soon as it arrived. Kubu itself is a smooth slope of black volcanic sand that levels out around 60 feet. Scattered across it are man-size vase corals, the only feature on this otherwise unbroken level. Most are upright, but some lie on their side, as if tipped over. It makes for a fascinating and surreal landscape.

The irony that this incredible underwater world was created by Mount Agung’s destructive eruption is not lost on us as we enjoy our final sunset in Tulamben after a soothing Mandi Lulur Javanese massage. The tranquility of this tiny village, no more than a few houses and shops beside the dusty road, belies its recent, dramatic history.

For more on diving Tulamben, see my other post Diving the USS Liberty Shipwreck: A Quick Guide

Corals at Menjangan Island, Bali © Chris Mitchell

Pemuteran: The Town That Time Forgot

Having experienced the two extremes of Bali diving — the adrenalin rush of Lembongan’s huge reefs and the gentle-critter spotting of Tulamben — our curiosity is piqued by Pemuteran, our final Bali dive destination and the most remote. With Wayan at the wheel again, we follow the road west along the northern coast through Bali Barat National Park for a couple hours, occasionally glimpsing at the sea as we pass through sun-parched forests, their brown beauty awaiting the rainy season. While no volcano broods over Pemuteran, sharp-edged mountains rise like the spine of a sleeping dinosaur around the large, black-sand bay, seemingly protecting it from the outside world. Like Tulamben, Pemuteran itself is a sleepy straggle of houses and resorts along one small road, with several picturesque temples. Renaud and Mireille, the Swiss husband-and-wife team running Bali Diving Academy Pemuteran, welcome us on arrival, with Renaud showing us how to scoop up lunch with our hands, local-style, while we discuss our dive itinerary.

Menjangan Island

Nusa Menjangan, a protected island nature reserve and Pemuteran’s most famous dive area, is on the menu. And I’m surprised to hear Renaud say that excellent muck diving awaits nearby. Komang, our local guide, tells us that we might even spot the shape-shifting mimic octopus on these sites.

Ghost Pipe Fish, Pemuteran, Bali © Chris Mitchell

The mimic is the last thing on my mind the next morning – despite the lure of experiencing Menjangan, it’s hard to tear ourselves away from the luxury of Taman Sari Amertha Villas, a newly built complex boasting soaring Balinese architecture, huge rooms, sumptuous beds, and individual plunge pools specially designed to maximize privacy and peace and quiet for each guest.

When we drop in by Menjangan, nothing prepares me for just how vibrant the coral is down the length of the sheer walls here. Dozens of species of hard and soft corals overrun each other in a glorious abundance of shades and textures that continually bewitch the eye. It’s enough to simply hang in the gentle current and take in the big picture as we drift. The wall abruptly breaks off into a large, smooth, blindingly white sandy slope. Approaching it, I see thousands of eels halfway out of their hidey-holes and undulating in the current en masse.

The reef plateaus into broad table corals that jut defiantly from the bommie’s summit. Slowly finning between two bommies, which form an underwater boulevard, it’s hard to dispel the fanciful notion of flying past aquatic skyscrapers, the neon-vivid colors like the lighted windows of a nighttime cityscape.

Banggai Cardinal Fish, Secret Bay, Bali © Chris Mitchell

Secret Bay and Puri Jati (PJ)

I’m wondering if we should have returned to Menjangan as we plunge into the cold, murky waters of Secret Bay on our final day – our first muck dive, which yields some demon stingers, stripey fish and flounders. Not bad, but there’s not much else to look at and certainly little hope of seeing a mimic octopus. As if reading my mind, Komang drives us to Puri Jati, past bright-green, tiered rice paddies that surround the eponymous gray and red stone temple. From there the water is steps away.

As we wade in, the sand continues straight under the water, with its contours this gentle slope’s only features. Komang tells us that such an empty landscape is ideal for finding the mimic octopus. I’m skeptical that we will see one with just a dive here, but I am cheered by his enthusiasm. The dive is great anyway – we encounter reptilian eels, big flatworms, demon stingers and a common octopus with only its eyes showing above the sand. I’m thrilled momentarily and then disappointed: I realize it’s not what I had hoped for.

Mimic Octopus, Puri Jati, Pemuteran, Bali © Chris Mitchell

Then, just seconds later, the usually laid-back Komang bangs his tank insistently. Joining him, we watch the mimic octopus’s impossibly fluid black-and-white shape transform first into a starfish shape, then a stingray with all its tentacles trailing behind into a V, and finally a mantis-shrimp shape with stalklike eyes. When it finishes its performance by shrinking into a tiny sand hole, we feel as if we should applaud.

When we finally leave Pemuteran to drive back down Bali’s west coast, we experience more of the island’s breathtaking interior. We lunch at a mountain viewpoint overlooking a rice terrace that spreads for miles. With a couple of days left, we’re undecided if we should go to the cultural village of Ubud and take in Balinese dance and music, or head for the beaches, spas and designer shopping of Seminyak and Kuta. Either way, we’ll rejoin the crowds after nearly two weeks of blissful semi-isolation. Perhaps one day Bali’s interior and its amazing scuba diving will become as well-traveled as the tourist haunts of Kuta and Sanur – but for now, they still await exploration by anyone willing to head off on a safari.

For more beautiful underwater shots from Bali, check Julian Cohen’s Got The Shot portfolio.

Thanks to Michael Cortenbach at Bali Diving Academy for providing diving, accommodation and taxi transfers at all three locations.

My story about scuba diving in Indonesian Borneo is now out in EZ Dive magazine – exploring the islands of Nabucco, Kakaban, Derawan and Sangalaki – and the hidden reef of Palau Sambit

Back in May I did a trip on the Tambora liveaboard to explore the coastline of Indonesian Borneo. The article I wrote has now been published in EZ Dive magazine. You can see more of the photos I took during the trip from my previous post Scuba Diving In Indonesian Borneo on the Tambora Liveaboard. I’ll put the article up here in full once it’s out of print.