Lotus Bungalows, Padangbai and Candidasa

Diving in Candidasa and Padangbai focuses on the three offshore islands of Gili Mimpang, Gili Tepekong and Gili Biaha. All three dive sites have beautiful reefs, swirling currents and plenty of fish life and are definitely worth taking several days to explore! Macro-lovers are also well catered for with some incredible muck diving in Padangbai.

The rocky outcrops and fast currents of Gili Mimpang are a fantastic place to see sharks, turtles, cuttlefish, and schools of small fish. And mola mola are often seen in the deeper sections during the summer months! Gili Tepekong also has plenty of fish life concentrated at a dive site known as ‘The Canyon’. Here a jumble of boulders drops down into deeper water, encouraging a fish ‘soup’ of sweetlips, barracuda, goatfish and more. Gili Tepekong has several small caves with resident whitetip reef sharks and some beautiful coral bommies. The last of the islands - Gili Biaha - is well known for its walls and overhangs.

Muck diving in Padangbai

Several of Padangbai’s dive sites, located around the headland, offer regular encounters with sharks, turtles, and friendly cuttlefish. But it’s Padangbai’s nearby reef and jetty dive site which have gained a reputation for offering some of the best muck diving in Bali. Visitors to these dive sites can often find sought after subjects such as Rhinopias, and both mimic and blue-ringed octopus. Sightings are especially common during and after the cold-water season.