Lombok Diving

Ideal for every diver, Lombok offers easy access to the famously relaxed Gili Islands and ‘turtle capital of the world’, plus diving with both scalloped and great hammerhead sharks. Dive in to enjoy Lombok’s crystal clear waters and captivating coral reefs teeming with macro life.

 

Diving in Lombok

Lombok, located in the West Nusa Tenggara region of the Lesser Sunda Islands, is home to crystal clear waters with a range of dive locations catering for both experienced and novice divers. Lombok diving allows divers to visit sites that are mostly unexplored as well as well-visited sites at the popular Gili Islands.
 
Senggigi, a town known for beautiful white-sanded beaches, offers divers the chance to dive rugged muck dives along the North coast of Lombok as well as visiting the idyllic Gili Islands, where you’ll be inspected by a number of curious sea turtles. Senggigi is only a stone's throw from Lombok’s international airport and has many dive centres willing to help you experience the best that scuba diving in Lombok has to offer.
 
In South West Lombok, Seketong invites you to dive the pristine coral reefs of Gili Asahan, Gede and Ringgit, which are affectionately known as the ‘South Gili’s’. This area is great for critter hunting with pygmy seahorse, frogfish and the ghost pipefish all being residents to the area. In Seketong, stay at one of the areas dive resorts and take advantage of the calm waters by participating on one of the dive courses available.
 
At the remote Belongas Bay, South Lombok, come for some peace and quiet on the surface while the underwater world has a completely different plan for you. Be humbled by the ocean’s strength as you are thrown into challenging, adrenaline-pumping dive sites in one of the three places in the world where you can see both species of hammerhead shark! You’ll find scalloped and great hammerhead sharks patrolling these waters.
 
Situated off the attractive Kuta beach there are also some dive spots but due to very strong currents and rough surface conditions, few dive centres operate here. To delve into all of the diversity Lombok diving has to offer, you can stay on board one of the many liveaboards travelling the West Nusa Tenggara region.

Best time to dive

Lombok diving is possible year-round, yet it is recommended to dive in the dry season between May and September. In the cooler waters of South Lombok, from March until the beginning of June the conditions are mild and the water temperature and visibility are at their highest. Outside of these months, the surface conditions can get choppier and the water colder but it’s worth braving the chill to see the hammerheads, which tend to school from July through to August. Eagle ray season in the south is August through to September where you can spot them searching sandy seabeds for crustaceans.

Types of diving

Lombok’s mostly unexplored North coast is a good place for underwater photographers to head out with their cameras. Along the rugged coastline, you’ll find a number of muck dives with varied topography, ranging from slopes to flat sandy bottoms. Combine these sites with those found at Seketong in the south west and it’s a macro divers haven. During pristine coral reef dives, search soft corals for the more unusual creatures of the deep.
 
Also in South Lombok, Belongas Bay features dive sites with towering pinnacles and enormous boulders. Within exhilarating dives, you can find yourself drifting along slopes, short walls and interesting rock formations as you overlook deep drop-offs that seem to go on for miles. At the Gili Islands of Trawangan, Air and Meno you can experience easy reef dives, perfect for those planning to undertake dive courses or drift dive along admiring the Gili’s impressive underwater scenery.

What to see

Lombok diving has a number of different dive locations which all showcase varied marine life - making diving here that much more exciting. The Gili Islands reefs are teeming with life and are host to black and white-tip reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, olive ridley turtles, lionfish, scorpion fish, cuttlefish and octopus, moray eels, sea snakes as well as the blue-spotted and eagle rays. From December through to March manta rays can make an appearance and under the light of the full moon bumphead parrotfish school. Dive resorts on The Gilis often witness dolphins and whales playing in the distance.
 
Belongas Bay in the far south is the place to seek out pelagics. Joining you in relentless currents you’ll spot hammerhead sharks, mobula rays, eagle rays and white-tip reef sharks. If you’re able to stay in one place long enough to investigate the soft corals, keen-eyed divers may see orangutan and porcelain crabs. Relaxed dive sites ideal for hunting out the ‘small stuff’ can be found around Seketong. Guides experienced in the area will help you to find pygmy seahorse, ghost pipefish and frogfish among the colourful reefs. At the less explored northern coastline of Lombok you can also unearth ghost pipefish, blue ribbon eel and rare nudibranch in sandy seabeds.

Best places to dive

Perhaps the most famous dive site at Belongas Bay, and for good reason, is The Magnet. At the surface, a large rocky pinnacle is bombarded by crashing waves meaning you can only safely dive below 15-metre due to the surge. Diving where the strong currents allow you to, you’ll spot hammerheads, white-tip reef sharks, mackerels and barracuda congregating. The sheer number of fish here will have you entranced by this tricky dive site.
 
Off the Senggigi coastline, Malimbu reveals a drop-off where you can search the sand for leaffish, moray eels and stingrays. Heading further south, in Seketog The Stairs of Mendang offer the chance to spot sharks and manta rays passing by in the deep. Dropping to 100-metres, this terraced reef is formed in the shape of a stairway, creating suitable resting spots for sea turtles.
 
Another site where you’ll discover a myriad of sea turtles is Turtle Heaven positioned on Gili Meno. Fin with turtles along a sloping reef where mantis shrimps, ribbon eels and octopus shelter among the rocks and sand. When conditions are suitable, head to Kuta Beach to experience the wonderful overhangs, swim throughs and arches at Boro Bagik 1. Shine your torch into dark crevices to find lobsters and crustaceans as snappers, Napoleon wrasse and stingray stream past.