Explore Padang Bai
On Bali’s east coast lies the small fishing village of Padang Bai, home to idyllic beaches with alluring underwater worlds. Most visitors come here to take a ferry to Lombok, Gili's or Nusa Islands and leave without exploring the beautiful reefs and wonderful marine life found while scuba diving in Padang Bai. Famous for easy dive sites, Padang Bai diving is perfect for dive courses and those passionate about underwater photography. Yet, there are also a few challenging dive sites with current and the opportunity to spot reef-sharks and perhaps even the incredible oceanic sunfish!
From Padang Bai, you can easily access Gili Mimpang, Gili Biaha and Gili Tepekong at Candi Dasa where there is the chance to see hammerhead sharks. While, only a ferry ride away, there are numerous other dive sites waiting for you to don your scuba gear and investigate their depths. Just remember not to overlook the humble Padang Bai, home to excellent macro dive sites with numerous frogfish, nudibranch and ghost pipefish.
Padang Bai has a number of dive centres and dive resorts with excellent guides, all ready to help you discover the dive sites. For those interested in scuba diving in Padang Bai as well as other Bali dive locations, stay on one of the many liveaboards visiting Bali and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Dive Activity
Diving in Padang Bai
The easy and multi-coloured dive sites at the Blue Lagoon and Bias Tugal are popular sites for those participating in dive courses while they are also a great location for macro photography. Due to the calm conditions and array of ‘small stuff’, Padang Bai is suitable for night dives at Tanjung Sari and Blue Lagoon. A small wreck can be found at Tanjung Jepun where you can also search the artificial reef for the fascinating life it now harbours.
Located further out from Padang Bai’s coastline you can find a few dive sites with strong currents and accompanying pelagics. Also with challenging currents, close to shore, is The Channel dive site where you can find yourself gliding across a coral plateau with numerous caves providing shelter to a range of underwater life.
Top Wildlife Sightings in Padang Bai
While scuba diving in Padang Bai there is a chance to find unusual megafauna as well as rare macro critters. The sandy seabeds have seen the rare catshark and wobbegong sharks while the cool currents rushing through The Channel invite the oceanic sunfish to visit. Sea turtles and reef sharks are no strangers to Padang Bai’s waters, resting on coral ledges and sandy patches.
At muck diving sites the silty depths are a refuge for an array of frogfish, dragonets, cuttlefish, scorpionfish, stonefish, seahorse, nudibranch and the ghost pipefish. These wonderful creatures entice underwater photographers all over the world to delve into Padang Bai’s waters.
Wildlife Sightings are Based on User Generated Content
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 200
Alamy-WaterFrame
1.4k Sightings
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111
F
91
M
96
A
105
M
101
J
93
J
117
A
187
S
148
O
114
N
131
D
107
Shutterstock-Ed Jenkins
Hawksbill Turtle
1k Sightings
J
58
F
50
M
53
A
72
M
79
J
62
J
98
A
148
S
137
O
101
N
77
D
72
Shutterstock-Shane Myers Photography
Green Turtle
867 Sightings
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76
F
66
M
60
A
89
M
45
J
60
J
61
A
69
S
95
O
97
N
76
D
73
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 300
Alamy/Reinhard Dirscherl
Octopus
271 Sightings
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2
F
2
M
17
A
15
M
16
J
12
J
30
A
35
S
40
O
55
N
40
D
7
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 27
iStock-Global_Pics
Barracuda
166 Sightings
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0
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0
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0
A
15
M
15
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16
J
36
A
41
S
16
O
18
N
4
D
5
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 600
iStock/ultramarinfoto
Wrasse
128 Sightings
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4
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0
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5
A
23
M
13
J
0
J
11
A
12
S
45
O
15
N
0
D
0
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 28
Udo Kefrig
Clownfish
2.1k Sightings
J
135
F
118
M
117
A
169
M
140
J
127
J
158
A
292
S
243
O
213
N
225
D
146
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 80
iStock/Extreme-Photographer
Stingrays
1.9k Sightings
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123
F
87
M
110
A
142
M
138
J
164
J
173
A
261
S
233
O
197
N
164
D
142
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 90
Shutterstock-Rich Carey
Angelfish
1.5k Sightings
J
95
F
80
M
75
A
119
M
94
J
70
J
141
A
205
S
172
O
173
N
149
D
105
The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.
Total number of species: 130
Shutterstock_Krzysztof Odziomek
Butterfly Fish
1.5k Sightings
J
97
F
70
M
83
A
110
M
90
J
76
J
120
A
204
S
177
O
185
N
155
D
110
The best Months to dive in Padang Bai
Padang Bai diving is possible all year round but it is best to avoid the rainy season from December through to April. Surface run-off can lead to decreased visibility in dive sites close to the shore. The best chance to see a mola mola in Padang Bai is from July until November however they are in the waters all year round but often too deep to see.
