Moyo Island Diving

Offering remote diving well off the beaten track and exceptional coral cover, Moyo Island is not to be missed for peaceful dives and flourishing marine life. Pelagic highlights such as mantas, Mola mola and whale sharks are just a few of the treasures found there.

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Maleo Moyo Divers

Maleo Moyo Divers

Moyo Island, Indonesia
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Diving in Moyo Island

Moyo Island, a marine reserve located in the Lesser Sunda Islands, is a remote paradise. Located next to the Makassar Strait, Moyo (also spelt Mojo) is an excellent location for coral larvae to collect meaning in many dive sites there is almost complete coral cover. As few people have heard of Moyo Island diving, you will find few other divers enjoying the pristine reefs. Whether you choose to enjoy the untouched reefs close to shore or the more distant deep walls and wrecks, you can delight in flourishing marine life. Fully exposed to the Flores sea, manta rays, sea turtles, mola mola and whale sharks are all possibles sightings here - just make sure you’ve packed your good luck charm!
 
Gain access to Moyo Island via a boat ride from Sumbawa, where you can make your choice of the few dive centres and dive resorts there are on offer. Calm dive sites close to shore provide the perfect location to invest in dive courses or drop by Moyo on one of the visiting liveaboards. Many liveaboards travel across the Lesser Sunda Islands exploring countless dive sites all with variable topography, marine life, and memories to be made.

Best time to dive

Moyo Island diving is possible all year round but the best conditions are from April through to November, in the dry season. As the visibility is usually very high, whilst scuba diving in Moyo Island people often report seeing whale sharks passing by way off in the distance.

Types of diving

Flourishing coral reefs close to Moyo’s shore, such as Endless Reef, are perfect for novice divers while atolls further offshore provide a great location for more experienced divers to revel in the magic found at deep wall sites. Immerse yourself in former-worlds by exploring wrecks, like the Chinese Wreck, or search sandy seabeds for leaffish and nudibranch. When scuba diving in Moyo Island there can occasionally be currents, so you may find yourself in a gentle drift dive in some dive sites. As the island is quite remote, liveaboard diving is common here where you’ll have the best chance of seeking less-visited dive sites further offshore.

What to see

Scuba diving in Moyo Island offers the chance to see rare macro creatures as well as larger pelagics. Search sandy-bottomed dive sites for the venomous blue-ringed octopus while underwater jungles formed by gorgonian fans hold microscopic pygmy seahorse. Numerous species of nudibranch adorn walls as leaf fish flit among picturesque sloping reefs and hawksbill sea turtles scour the seabed for crustaceans. Peer out into the crystal clear waters with the hope of watching as manta ray, sunfish or whale sharks grace you with their otherworldly presence.

Best places to dive

While scuba diving Moyo Island ensure that you visit one of its many reef diving sites where you can gaze in admiration at untouched corals. Angel Reef, boasts healthy hard corals before an abrupt vertical wall, plunging to well over 40-metres. Here you can encounter, rounded batfish and impressive schools of red tooth triggerfish. Peep over the drop-off where you’ll often find yellowtail tuna and black-tip reef sharks hunting among the reef. Some lucky visiting divers have even reported whale shark sightings.
 
 
At Sea Fan City find yourself humbled by an astounding deep wall dive. Within large gorgonian sea fans hunt for pygmy seahorse as schools of fusiliers stream past you. Reef sharks are not an unusual sight at this dive site and huge sea turtles often swim up to the surface for a breath of fresh air. Another wall dive site where reef sharks are common is found at the Blue Emocean Reef. On the plateau search for the elusive yellow rings of the blue-ringed octopus before descending onto a wall where squid pulsate at the wall’s edge.
 
Journey into River Mouth to inspect the sandy seabed for leaf fish, nudibranch and blue-spotted stingray. In this shallow dive site spend some time watching mesmerising cuttlefish as they adjust the colour of their bodies to match their surroundings. More nudibranch can be found at the Chinese Wreck. Advanced divers will find themselves descending onto the long-lost vessel which is encrusted with sponges and nudibranch sitting like dazzling jewels on the boats steel surface.

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