Please note that due to its distance from Sanur, we do not offer day trips here. To go diving on Menjangan Island please book this amazing experience via our Scuba Diving and Land Package or include it in one of our popular Diving and Land Safaris.
Menjangan is an island part of Bali Barat National Park located in Bali’s Northwestern area. This island is quite small – roughly 3 kilometers long and 700 meters wide. Menjangan is sheltered from the strong currents that run between Bali and Java. Diving Menjangan Island is a dream for all levels of divers. Currents are typically mild and the visibility can be outstanding with +30 meters. You will dive on amazing coral walls with huge sponges and gorgonians.
The word Menjangan means “deer” in classical Javanese. We can easily spot the Javanese Deer. Apart from a small community of Hindu monks, its protected deer, and some rabbits and iguanas, the island is uninhabited.
We include all necessities and more in our price. Dive locations, trip duration, and extras can be fully customized to your preferences and diving skills. Please contact us regarding diving Menjangen Island and we will tailor a trip for you.
From Sanur, it will take between 4 hours to reach the National Park. We will pick you up from your hotel and bring you there after checking into our dive shop to fit you out with all your diving gear. Once we reach the National Park, we take a boat from the shore to reach the amazing dive sites described further down this page. One way it takes between 30 minutes to reach Menjangan Island.
Diving Menjangan offers a huge diversity of fish and coral combined with amazing visibility. Most of the dives are wall dives with a great opportunity to dive deep between 20m to +40m. The walls are magnificent with great Gorgonian sea fans, sponges, and small caverns. We also find some amazing macro photography options here. As located so close to the straits between Bali & Java, deep-water pelagic is a regular occurrence here. We can see here the white-tip and the black-tip reef sharks, turtles, big schools of fish, barracudas, Moray Eel, Napoleon Wrasse, Stingray, Mantis Shrimps, Whale Shark, Manta Rays…and much more.
POS I refers to the ranger station located close to our dive site at the southwest tip of the island. The dive here is a relaxing easy dive site. Here we rarely encounter currents which makes this dive great to ease into our Menjangan adventure. The site has a sandy slope which has a good variety of hard & soft corals and goes down to about 30m depth. The shallow water under the jetty is well worth being inspected as it hosts a variety of critters including the amazing Ornate Ghost Pipefish. With its clear waters and pleasant reef slope, POS I is also a good snorkeling spot and adequate for all levels of divers.
The eel garden is a shallow area notable for its beautiful white sand planted with hundreds of white garden eels living here. They live alongside the pygmy seahorses on the gorgonians and cleaner shrimps. The Eel Garden is perfect for a deco stop. Typically, you will be dropped in on the northwestern tip of the island. Then you will be drifting smoothly Westwards. You will explore a steep wall (12m-60m) which bolsters with marine life.
The Western point, where the wall turns to the Southwest, is often noted as the best part of Menjangan Island. Once we reach the Southeast it will be time to make our way up into the shallower water. The dazzling white sand will tell you that you are in the large colony of garden eels that cover the slope. The coral garden between 5m and 12m depth makes it also an ideal snorkeling site. This is one of our favorite dives in Menjangan and is suitable for all levels of divers.
We will find Cave Point in the middle of the South coast of the Island. This is a very scenic wall, going in and out, with steep-sided gullies and small caves. The wall runs deep on this side of the island. And if we are lucky we can spot Manta Rays and Whale Shark here during the rainy season. Big Barracudas hang out; surgeons, snapper, and grouper all are hiding in the many crevasses and overhangs. With the sun behind us, the wall takes on a surreal property with cathedral-like caves.
This is a drift dive. Here, a (usually) gentle current will take you drifting along the wall Eastwards. The dive starts at 12m where the white sand slope meets the top of the wall going down to 40m in depth.
The coral-covered wall has plenty of small caves to explore and is full of cracks and overhangs which is perfect for underwater photography. There a variety of macro life will blow your mind. If you are lucky you can spot electric scallops. But for sure you will find a huge variety of nudibranchs. As you dive deeper you may have the chance to see reef turtles, manta rays, sharks, and occasional Mola-Molas. Between 20 and 25 meters we can see gorgonian fans, sponges & soft corals.
Close to the safety stop, there are numerous Titan Triggerfish. Here, please be cautious and watch out for their nests, as they can be quite protective. Also, you will likely encounter many fusiliers and trevally fish here. Due to the mild conditions, this dive site is convenient for all levels from beginners to pros.,
Bat Cave is near the entrance of a few shallow caves filled with hundreds of resting bats. Temple Point, another dive site close by, begins at the feet of a huge Ganesh statue at the top of a cliff. Usually, thanks to the gentle currents, those two dive sites are visited at once. This is a drift dive along a magnificent and colorful wall full of life. The top of the reef is only three meters deep here. At 14 meters, there is a beautiful cave with a sandy bottom with light coming from above. Its walls are full of small critters, i.e. electric clams.
Coral Garden dive site is located on the North side of Menjangan Island. The dive site has a beautiful slope starting at 5-10m with an amazing diversity of hard & soft coral, gorgonian fans, and sponges. The coral reef is healthy and rich in marine life. Here you will find many cleaning stations, all attracting larger fish. We can spot large schools of fusiliers in the area and you will also see numerous trevallies & snappers. It is an easy & relaxed dive, perfect for beginners and also convenient for snorkeling!
Another popular dive is the Anker Wreck. This was a 19th-century wooden ship carrying bottled cargo. It probably sunk during the World War II. But nobody knows for sure. The dark wooden wreck lies on a sandy bottom at a depth of 35ms and goes deeper. The “Anker” name appears to come from the large rusty anchor that is in a 6m depth of water at the start of the reef wall.
We will follow the chain down to 33 meters deep and see the flattened pieces of the wreck appearing. There are glass and ceramic bottles in Cooper receptacles. One says that it might have contained palm wine or “Arak”.
This dive site is not famous for the wreck itself but more so for the impressive diversity, the wall offers to us. On the wreck, there is a nice array of marine life with huge schools of yellow strip snappers and whitetip reef sharks. There is also a great chance to see a green turtle here. We will finish the dive with our safety stop following a beautiful wall. It offers many overhangs, cracks, and caves to be inspected.
Although the current is not an issue usually, this is a deep dive. So the minimum level for this dive is advanced open water.
Scuba Diving and Snorkeling with one of Bali’s highest customer rated, environmentally responsible, and fun Eco Dive Shop.
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Nico Dives Cool Bali
Jalan Sekuta, No. 114 Sanur, Bali, Indonesia, 80228