Scuba diving in Candidasa.
🐠•°•°•°•°°~ The Amuk Bay undeniably offers some of the best dives in Bali. However, diving around the islands is quite technical due to their topography and exposure to strong currents ~•°•°•°•°°🐠
The archipelago is formed by three volcanic islands offering various dive sites. The islands rise from the depths of the Indian Ocean. They are exposed to strong currents, so we must thoroughly understand their topography and adequately plan to enjoy these dives safely.
🦈 🦈 It is the perfect place to dive with sharks and the impressive mola mola fish 🦈 🦈
We reach all the islands by boat, and the navigation takes about 10 minutes from Candidasa Beach.
✅ Dives reserved for divers with a minimum advanced level and experience in currents.
✅ A check dive is mandatory before being able to dive in this area.
☑️ We recommend diving with Nitrox when doing two dives at the islands.
💎 When sea conditions are favorable, this area is perfect for teaching deep dive specialty courses up to 40 and 60 meters.
Dive Candidasa: Gili Biaha
Gili Biaha is a small islet located opposite the famous Virgin Beach. It emerges in the Indian Ocean, with impressive walls and a shark cave. These walls, adorned with vibrant coral, plunge to depths exceeding 80 meters.
°*🫧 Diving along the wall and witnessing the vastness of the blue is genuinely breathtaking 🫧*°
✔️ Shark cave
⭐️ The highlight of this dive is the shark cave, where we can observe resting whitetip reef sharks ⭐️
Additionally, within the cave, we can also spot the spectacular lanternfish. These fish reside at the cave’s bottom and have fluorescent parasites beneath their eyes. When illuminated with a flashlight, you can see the fluorescent glow reminiscent of fireflies.
Search with your flashlight in the nooks and crannies, and you’ll also spot lobsters that have made the cave their home.
During the dry season, sunfish flock to this island, seeking a natural spa experience at the cleaning stations, where cleaner fish help eliminate parasites.
A very special feeling while diving in the cave is the big pressure from the swell. You will feel it in your regulator and your ears. For this reason, inside the cave, divers must constantly equalize their ears.
🌊 🐋 The best moment of the dive is when you are inside the cave looking to the blue. If you are lucky, you can see the silhouette of the sharks swimming in the cave. It is an image you won’t ever forget 🐋 🌊
Diving Candidasa. Gili Tepekong
🏝️ 🏝️ Gili Tepekong is the biggest of the three islands in Candidasa. Its unique topography makes it one of our favorite spots in the area 🏝️ 🏝️
The island offers different diving spots, which we will explain below.
✔️ Blue hole
The blue hole is a tunnel located at the island’s southern tip. It starts at 16 meters and ends at 28 meters, opening to the blue.
Just at the end of the blue hole starts a very deep wall and a vast platform that continues to descend gradually deeper than 80 meters.
We often see resting white-tip sharks at the blue hole. It is also a perfect spot to see mola molas in the right season.
Usually, we head north from here. We follow the reef on our left shoulder, where we can see extensive rock formations that harbor an incredible biodiversity of marine life.
We need to take special attention at the tip of the island where the currents from the deep ocean split and can trigger up, down, and mixed currents, which divers usually call the washing machine.
✔️ Shark nursery
Highlights of the northern part of Gili Tepekong are the giant boulders creating a unique topography. Diving in the middle of them and doing the swim-throughs is so much fun.
🌊 🐬 No doubt the highlight is the shark nursery. Baby sharks love to swim inside, protected inside the boulders 🐬 🌊
We continue our dive along the island’s eastern side, the most sheltered area. Here, a vibrant reef thrives, adorned with rocks cloaked in corals and adorned with majestic gorgonians.
Furthermore, marine life flourishes abundantly. For instance, one can spot sweetlips, batfish, fusiliers, jacks, cuttlefish, clownfish, and turtles. Keep an eye out between the table corals and beneath the rocks; this is where sharks love to hide.
✔️ The canyon
Diving in Candidasa. On the western side of Tepekong Island, there is a vertical wall where we usually begin this dive. From there, we head south until we reach the canyon, an impressive formation of enormous rocks that starts at 20 meters deep and descends to more than 60 meters.
Descending through the canyon, we can see large schools of fish swimming in the currents, sharks, mola mola fish, Napoleon wrasses, and groupers. From the canyon, we can swim into the blue to reach Secret Island, an underwater pinnacle in the middle of the ocean, adorned with corals and home to large schools of fish.
🌊🐬 Visibility is usually excellent. It’s awe-inspiring to traverse through the blue, surrounded by schools of fish, and gaze upon the depths and spectacular rock formations. 🌊🐬
Diving Candidasa. Gili Mimpang
Gili Mimpang is a small archipelago of four big rocks. We usually start the dive at the Northside of the middle rock dropping straight to around 18 meters. Here we encounter a sloping reef. Full of hard and soft corals with many bommies and teaming with fish life. Usually current will carry us along that reef to the West.
On the way, we have the chance to spot white and blacktip sharks, schools of jacks, sweet lips, and many more different species of marine life. The shallow part of the reef on the southern side of the islands is just magical with a great variety of life. Examples are reef fish, clownfish, turtles, crustaceans and hard coral bommies, gorgonians, and also large barrel sponges. At this dive site, we usually enjoy very good visibility and in the season we have a chance to spot mola-molas.
Like all the dive sites in the area, Gili Mimpang may also present strong currents. Therefore, this dive site is only suitable for advanced divers.
👉 Dive Bali Candidasa: Watch this video, of a normal day diving at Gili Biaha.
Video credit: Ludovic Amevor
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