Where to Dive in Padangbai
Diving is like lifeline
Padangbai is one of the most popular destination in Bali when it comes to scuba diving and transport to Gili. This village does have beaches, ocean, temples just like many other places in the Bali island, but Padangbai is still rather quiet and full of traditional appeals. There is no luxurious nightlife although you can already find some fancy restaurants here too. The biggest treasure of Padangbai lays underwater, world class dive sites filled with diverse marine lives. OK Divers diving resort is a professional diving operator in the place; they are also one of the most reputable in the entire island to offer you an unforgettable experience of scuba diving in Padangbai. There are indeed many other places or beaches for scuba diving in Bali, but Padangbai is one that every diver must visit.
Tips for Best Diving in Padangbai
The village of Padangbai serves mainly as a port for tourists to catch a ferry to go further east to Lombok island or Gili islands. Padangbai does indeed offer various attractions including some temples, resorts and villas, but to experience and appreciate the real beauty of Padangbai one should go diving. Behind its quietness and modest presentation, the place has several widely popular dive sites including Blue Lagoon, Jetty, and Shark Point.
Blue Lagoon
This is probably the most welcoming place for diving in Padangbai. Blue Lagoon Beach is popularly known to offer friendly water to all levels of divers. The beach has white sand and the shallow water is usually crystal clear, allowing you really enjoy your time diving during daylight. The clear water allows for an excellent range of visibility to reveal everything that the bay has to offer. It does not matter whether this is your first or a 100th dive; the beach always has something for everyone. If you have just started your diving lesson and are still reluctant to go deep or wear the entire scuba gear, you can still enjoy the beauty of Padangbai marine life by snorkelling.
Shark Point
As the name suggests, Shark Point (sometimes referred to as Pura Kecil by the locals) has a rather unusual attraction, the white-tip reef shark. These fish appear all year long and you will encounter them nearly on every dive. Every once in a great while, however, bad weather seems to prevent any shark from coming out from their hiding place. Diving with sharks is the main attraction indeed, yet Pura Kecil is home to many other marine lives such as mola mola in the season, cuttlefish, jack fish, turtles, banner fish, and probably thousands of small-sized fishes. So even in a bad day, you still have very good chance of diving with turtles, which certainly is a peculiar experience.
Jetty
At a glance, Jetty does not seem to offer much because it simply appears as an abandoned docking site for a large ferry. Once you go down underwater, the place reveals plenty of beautiful sea creatures you probably think are non-existent at all. A scuba in Padangbai will always be incomplete without seeing what lies under Jetty. Fishes that are endemic to Indonesia thrive here in amazing numbers and variety. You can spot here many types of frog fish, stonefish, dragonets, octopus, scorpion fish and much much more. It is the ideal place for any underwater photographers.
An adventure of diving in Bali cannot be considered done without visiting Padangbai. Once you get to this traditional village, spend two or three days to enjoy everything it has underwater before continuing your journey to Gilis, another assortment of mesmerising islands in Indonesia.