Padang Bay Diving
Fair Diving Along the Coast of Amuk Bay

There are two main dive spots at Padang Bai: Pura Jepun and Tanjung Bungsil. We rate these sites as slightly better than those off Nusa Dua or Sanur, but a damn sight colder. Bring a wet suit if you're going to dive this area. A good, deep chill can   take the pleasure out of any dive.The ride to Padang Bai from the Kuta-Nusa Dua-Sanur triangle is a long, traffic-clogged 60 kms.

Padang Bai is the port for the five-times-a-day Lombok ferry run,  and things can always get a bit congested near the dock area.     It's far more convenient to dive this spot from Candi Dasa, just 15 minutes away. Before diving, you will suit up on the beach, at the restaurant  favored by your dive operator. Most small dive groups are taken to the site in little local outriggered fishing canoes powered by small outboard motors. It's usually just two divers per craft, so if you     have a large group, the little armada plays follow-the-leader to the site. There will probably be some spray just as you leave the  harbor, and it may follow you further on if the wind is up. Both      dive sites are a short 10-15 minutes away.

Pura Jepun

We started our first dive about 50 meters from shore, just opposite a small temple shrine (pura) called Pura Jepun, after  the Balinese word for frangipani, although no flowers were in evidence along the stretch of coast leading to our entry point. (The shrine sits on a little cape, also called Jepun, so the site is sometimes called Tanjung Jepun.) After leaving the harbor, we headed northeast along the coast, passing Blue Lagoon Bay with an idyllic white sand beach at its back. A rocky point, against which some pretty large waves crashed, marked the end of Blue Lagoon, and from there to the  Pura Jepun site the steep hills ended in small cliffs. These look   like they drop straight down to the depths, but unfortunately continue only 2-3 meters under water. At this point the bottom  levels off quickly to a wide terrace at 6-10 meters.
We jumped overboard and began our drift dive, pushed back the  way we came by a slight, less than one-knot current. Further out from the initial, 6-10 meter terrace, a slight slope eases down to 15-20 meters, followed by flat sand at 40 meters. After a very quick look in the deeper areas, we restricted our-   selves to 6-12 meters, where we had determined most of the   animal life was to be found. Coral formations were scattered, although there were quite a number of giant anemones, crinoids of varying colors, odd clumps of tunicates and a few sponges.

The bottom remained quite flat across our "flight path" until we reached the rocky point that marks the entrance to Blue Lagoon Bay, where a sheer wall drops close to 40 meters. Visibility throughout the dive was a decent enough 10-12 meters. Since we remained in quite shallow water during most of the dive, we were treated to several schools of elongated surface feeders: silvery, pencil-thin keeled needlefish (Platybelone Plat  Yura) and halfbeaks (Hemiramphus sp.), and only slightly more substantial arrow barracuda   (SPhyraena novaehollandiae). I disturbed a peacock flounder (Bothus manchus), delicately patterned to blend in with the sand, quite unlike its namesake.
It is only when the fish swims slowly that one can appreciate its colorful back pattern and strangely positioned eyes. The dive's   other highlights included a playful few minutes with a cuttlefish, and two small lionfish cowering in a vase sponge. Two blue    spotted stingrays also made a brief appearance but disappeared quickly.

Otherwise, the dive was basically average for Indonesia which is      to say not bad saw lizardfish, hawkfish, yellow trumpetfish, the  odd small grouper, a few oriental sweetlips goatfish, parrotfish, wrasses, butterflies, emperor and blue-faced angelfish, damselfish-especially plucky sargeant-majors-foxface and lined rabbitfish a cubefish, a dog-faced puffer, Moorish idols, surgeonfish-including clown surgeonfish and several electric-blue hepatus tang-and several species of riggerfish. Although the hard coral was not plentiful, we saw a fair number of anemones, crinoids and Even though I was not carrying a macro set-up, and was looking for overview shots, I noticed a very beautiful nudibranch.

Blue Lagoon

When we arrived off the wall below the rocky point at the end of Blue Lagoon, we dipped down just far enough (25 meters) to see a few larger predatory jacks: rainbow runners, a couple of black jacks, and blue-lined sea breams. There are said to be occasional strong down-currents towards the base of this wall, but we felt no pull whatever.When we were almost out of air, we surfaced and, not seeing our boat around, snorkeled to the beach at Blue Lagoon, stopping along the way to check out a few coral outcrops in the sandy bottom. When we clambered out of the surf in our gear, we were the sunbathers' center of attention. These included four very pretty Italian girls, but unfortunately our boatman showed up immediately, apologizing profusely for the delay. Arivaderci.

Tanjung Bungsil

After a quick lunch, we headed for Tanjung Bungsil, on the south side of Padang Bai harbor.
This dive was to be even shallower than the morning's-at the end my computer showed a maximum depth of 10.2 meters. The very slightly sloping bottom was a bit rockier here than at Tanjung jepun, with corals growing to within a few meters of the surface. Some large carpet anemones grew here in the shallows. In places the visibility dropped to a very poor 5-6 meters.
The good variety of fish life here was similar to the morning's dive, We also saw several six banded angelfish, and a little group of the curious, headstanding shrimpfish. As I tried (unsuccessfully) to sneak up on a clown triggerfish, a very attractively marked ringtail wrasse (Cheilinius unifasciatus) swam up and insisted on posing for a portrait.
The dive's highlight was a Titan triggerfish, doing a headstand while furiously snapping away with its strong teeth at a patch of coral rubble, apparent trying to dislodge an irresistible hors d'oeuvre.
This big boy's energetic activities attracted a host of camp followers looking for a free snack: angelfish, butterflyfish, wrasses, goatfish and even a pair of Moorish idols.
Unfortunately, the triggerfish did not allow human beings into his circle of friends, and abandoned his activities as soon as we  approached to within 3 meters.

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