Page 36 - Diving Indonesia 21 November 2019

Padang Bai Padang Bai

Conditions Snorkeling and Freediving
Highlights
The diving conditions
around Padang Bai vary Blue Lagoon’s calm
widely depending on the conditions and scenic
site you are diving. The surroundings make it a
main fringing reef offers sloping reef dive popular spot for snorkelers
sites which are almost always subject who can expect to see a wide range
to some current and are best dived as of colorful reef fish inside the lagoon.
drifts. Blue lagoon is an easy site but can For freedivers, the edges of the lagoon
be prone to surge and reduced visibility provide deeper opportunities but
when the waves are present. Water careful attention must be paid to
temperatures are generally constant currents sweeping across the front and
throughout the year with some cool to boat traffic on the surface.
upwellings from August through to
October. Reliable year round conditions Padang Bai’s main reefs also offer
and good visibility make Padang Bai a wonderful coral gardens in the shallows
great area to explore for all levels. which are best accessed by boat
and drift snorkeled according to the
prevailing current.

Dive Site and Marine Life Highlights of Padang Bai

The Blue Lagoon is a must Moorish idols and look out for glass fish
PADANG BAI visit site when the sea is which often occupy the cabin.
calm. The inside of the bay is
home to a colorful, shallow coral garden “The Jetty” dive site is an iconic site for
he small coastal, port town of Padang which offers a vibrant mix of hard and those who are hoping to see some of Bali’s
Bai is where the main ferry boats to soft corals. At the edge of the bay, the more unusual critters and odd shaped
TLombok and the Gili Islands leave from. reef drops away into a steep slope and bottom dwellers including frogfish,
The town has a small white sand beach and is mini wall where turtles are often spotted crocodile fish, ghost pipefish, devilfish and
often bustling with back packers and travelers. on the reef or surfacing in the blue. This stingrays.
is also a good spot for looking out to the
Padang Bai is also one of mainland Bali’s most open water for occasional patrolling white Other marine life species which are
popular diving areas and it showcases the tip reef sharks. spotted around Padang Bai include:
diversity of marine life found in the region. Oriental sweet lips, moray eels, clownfish
Dive sites here range from sloping coral reefs “Jepun” is an excellent site for macro and anemone fish, napoleon wrasses,
through to mini walls and muck diving sand underwater photographers who will have trevallies, jackfish, lionfish, octopus,
sites. The “Blue Lagoon” is arguably the areas plenty of critters to entertain them. The cuttlefish, leaf scorpionfish, pygmy
most famous site to visit and Padang Bai is pleasure boat wreck which is also found seahorses, nudibranch and a plethora of
also home to a small boat wreck and some here attracts a variety of fish including other crustaceans.
incredible critter dives. yellow snappers, damsel fish, chromis,

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