Pemuteran Diving
Good Diving and a Comfortable Resort

It's a long drive from the Nusa Dua/Sanur/Kuta area to Menjangan, which adds up to a lot of time on the road for just a couple of dives. But there is an excellent alternative: stay at the Pondok Sari Beach Bungalows in Pemuteran, which has a professionally-run dive operation, Reef Seen Aquatics, which offers very good diving. Pemuteran is located just a few Milometers east of Meniangan on the north coast, on a little bay.Reef Seen runs its own boat to Menjangan, but divers often prefer the closer locations. The latter are all just a few minutes away. There are five main dive spots, well explored by the operator, each worth several dives. The dive center caters to small groups of divers, especially to those staying for several days, for whom discounts are available. Independent divers, not requiring a guide, can save a bundle on both day and night dives from shore. We highly recommend this (live business, developed by PADI instructor Chris Brown, a pro in all senses of the term, who also takes concrete measures to preserve the marine ecology.

The atmosphere in Pemuteran is quiet and pleasant, and the Pondok Sari Beach Bungalows are very nicely designed: The rooms are spare and decorated with natural woods and clean white sheets on the beds; the bathrooms are open to the sky, and feature dripping Japanese bamboo pipes and smooth black river pebbles. A very comfortable, and romantic place. All the sites Chris Brown has pioneered off Pemuteran are small takas, or bank reefs. He is constantly investigating new sites, however. The diving here is generally good year-round, with very occasional rough seas during the southeast monsoon, May-JuIy. The very best times are from March to early May, and September through January. The rainy season, during the northwest monsoon from January to early March, usually brings heavy rain only in the late afternoon ar at night. Water temperatures almost always are around 28°-32°C. Visibility is good, but not as clear as Meniangan under the best of conditions. There is hardly any current, and this is a good site for beginners.

Napoleon Reef

"Napoleon Reef," is a flat-topped, underwater mound, about the size of a football field. At its shallowest, to bottom rises to about 5-10 meters of the surface. The reef is covered with sponges and
corals, including great table-top Acropora reaching a diameter of 5 meters. From the top, the profile follows a gentle slope to 35  meters, with very good invertebrate life. Two enormous barrel sponges serve as landmarks. Fish life is quite good. Large cuttlefish are often seen. Occasionally, manta rays appear to feed   across the reeftop. The southeastern point of  Napoleon drops down to 35 meters, where there is an excellent deep reef with soft corals and whip corals, dubbed "Cody's Corner."

Close Encounters

"Pertamuan Dekat" (literally the substrate shows a
"Close Encounters") takes its name from the big fish here which allow-and even initiate-close encounters with divers: reef sharks, tuna, mackerel, barracuda and jacks, and an occasional large grouper or Napoleon wrasse. Even whale sharks have been seen here on occasion.

Lebar Reef

At Lebar (literally "wide") Reef, steep slopes drop to flat sand at about 25 meters. Out over the sand, coral outcrops appear at 25 meters and again at 35 meters.Both the reeftop and side of the taka are covered with thickets of staghorn Acropora, some with colorful blu tips, interspersed with tabletops Acropora and fan gorgonians.

Kebun Batu

Kebun Batu ("Rock Garden") is just a 5 minute snorkel from shore. Here a huge boul rises vertically from about 18 meters to just 3 meters from the surface. The rock, full of crevices and small, shallow caves, serves as a hotel to many fish. Elsewhere, the substrate shows a mixture of sponges, hard and soft corals. This is a very good night dive.

Kebun Chris

Kebun Chris ("Chris's Garden") is the dive operators current favorite site. Diving begins just 20 meters from his back door, with hard corals starting at less than a meter's   depth and continuing on down to about 10 meters. This reef spreads continues for about 300 meters, parallelling the shoreline.

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