Some of the best diving in Bali can be found around Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. Three islands just South East of Bali. Joe’s Gone Diving organises regular trips to the dive spots there.
Nusa Penida is the largest of the islands and the most popular for diving. The visibility can be brilliant on occasions and here you can enjoy impressive wall dives, fast drift dives, often find sun fish (mola mola) in season and dive with manta rays.

Manta Point
One of Joe’s Gone Diving’s most popular dive sites is Manta Point, South of Nusa Penida. Not surprising as the cleaning station here attracts the giant Manta Rays. They cruise around the rock in groups. This dive leaves you with nothing but awe for these beautiful creatures. An amazing experience you will not easily forget. The only drawback – encountering the mantas is not guaranteed.
- Diver Level: All Levels
- Depth: 3-30 meters
- Visibility: 5-20 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by boat from Sanur
- Manta Rays
- Large groups of blue spotted stingrays
- Bamboo shark
- Turtles
- Mola molas (sun fish) in season
Manta Bay
Mantas can mainly be spotted at Manta Bay or Manta Point. Manta Bay consists of multiple bays and often you can already spot the mantas from the boat. The site has a sandy bottom sloping from 5 meters to 12 meters, then continuing to a depth of 30 meters. Visibility in this bay is usually about 10 – 15 meters. There are no cleaning stations here, but mantas can often be seen playing at 1 to 6 meters. The main attraction is of course mantas, but we sometimes see turtles and sharks here.
- Diver Level: All Levels
- Depth: 2-12 meters
- Visibility: 10-15 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by boat from Sanur
- Reef and oceanic manta rays
- Turtles
- Sharks
Toyapakeh
Toyapakeh lies just at the entrance between Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan. Joe’s Gone Diving often takes more experienced divers to this dive site. As a result of the constant current through the channel, the reef is very healthy here and you can enjoy blooming coral gardens. Toyapakeh is a drift dive.
- Diver Level: Intermediate - experienced
- Depth: 3-37 meters
- Visibility: 10-40 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by speedboat
- Mola molas in season (sunfish)
- Great variety of reef fish
- Diverse hard and soft corals
S.D.
Another dive site Joe’s Gone Diving often dives is called S.D. S.D. is named after the primary school Sekolah Dasar that lies just opposite the site on Nusa Penida island. This dive along a coral slope is usually a drift dive which can be exhilarating at times. This beautiful coral garden is home to a wide variety of fish including the large queen angelfish, large puffer fish, hump headed parrot fish and cuttlefish. And if you are lucky you might run into some white-tip reef sharks and mola molas.
- Diver Level: Intermediate - experienced
- Depth: 3-40 meters
- Visibility: 10-35 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by speedboat
- Coral garden with hard and soft corals
- Smaller reef fish and Nudibranchs
- Queen angelfish
- Large puffer fish
- Cuttlefish
- Hump headed parrot fish
- Occasionally reef sharks
- In season mola mola (sun fish)
Pura Ped
This dive site along Nusa Penida’s north coast is named after the temple on the shore (Pura in Indonesian). This healthy coral reef slopes down to about 50m and is home to a wide variety of fish. The rich coral cover is home to a lot of exotic fish, such as groupers, moray eels, barracudas and occasional sharks. Joe’s Gone Diving organises dive trips to Pura Ped on a regular basis.
- Diver Level: Intermediate - experienced
- Depth: 3-37 meters
- Visibility: 10-30 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by speedboat
- White-tip reef sharks
- Green moray eel
- Groupers
- Sea snakes
- Cuttlefish
- Barracuda
- Colourful reef fish life
Blue Corner
Looking for the big pelagics and some advanced diving? Blue Corner is the place to be. In this dive site around Lembongan Island you will find strong currents, schools of black sting rays, bull rays, reef sharks and mola molas in season. The sloping reef tops start at about 12m before dropping into a steep wall in excess of 40m before sloping down once again. Blue Corner is not always diveable and Joe’s Gone Diving only goes there when we feel it is safe to dive.
- Diver Level: Experienced
- Depth: 7-40 meters
- Visibility: 10-30 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 30-45 minutes by speedboat
- Rays
- Schools of large black stingrays
- Bull rays
- Sharks
- Mola Mola (sunfish)
Jack Point
Jack Point, or Mangroves or Sakenan as it is often called, is located on the North east side of Nusa Lembongan. This reef is famous for its variety of reef life and is a great dive for beginners and more advanced divers alike. In the shallows it is an easy dive, however deeper it offers some great drift dives. Joe’s Gone Diving organizes regular trips to Jack Point.
- Diver Level: All levels
- Depth: 5-27 meters
- Visibility: 10-20 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 30-45 minutes by speedboat
- Schools of sweetlips
- Dogtooth tuna
- White- tip shark
- Huge angelfish
- Emperor and blue-ringed angelfish
Crystal Bay
Crystal Bay is most famous for the mola mola (sunfish). Your chance of spotting a mola mola is the highest here. Crystal Bay is a small bay on West Nusa Penida and is relatively protected. Diving takes place around a rock and besides the mola mola offers some beautiful reef life and corals. The site is not always easily accessible. Joe’s Gone Diving often dives here during mola mola season.
- Diver Level: Intermediate
- Depth: 3-37 meters
- Visibility: 10-30 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 30-45 minutes by speedboat
- Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)
- Sharks
- Giant Angelfish
- Imposing eels
- Eagle rays
- Tuna
- Schools of (reef) fish
Sental
Like S.D., Sental can be found on the North side of Nusa Penida. The topography of the sites are quite similar. This dive along a coral slope is usually a drift dive which can be exhilarating at times. This beautiful coral garden is home to a wide variety of fish including the large queen angelfish, large puffer fish, hump headed parrot fish and cuttlefish. And if you are lucky you might run into some white-tip reef sharks and mola molas. Joe’s Gone diving organises regular trips to Nusa Penida’s dive sites.
- Diver Level: Intermediate - experienced
- Depth: 3-40 meters
- Visibility: 10-30 meters
- Distance to Dive Site: 45-60 minutes by speedboat
- Coral garden with hard and soft corals
- Smaller reef fish and nudibranchs
- Queen angelfish
- Large puffer fish
- Cuttlefish
- Hump headed parrot fish
- Occasionally reef sharks
- In season mola mola (sun fish)