Fair Diving Along the Coast of Amuk Bay
The are two main dive spot at Padang Bai: Pura Jepun and Tanjung Bungsil. We are these sites as slightly better than those off Nusa Dua or Sanur, but a damn sight colder. Bring a wet suit if you're going to dive this area. A good, deep chiell can take the pleasure out of any dive.
The ride to Padang Bai from the Kuta-Nusa Dua-Sanur triangle is a long, traffic-clogged 60 kilometers. Padang Bai is the port for the five-times-a-day Lombok ferry run, and things can always get a bit congested near the dock area. It's far more convenient to dive this spot from Candi Dasa, just 15 minutes away.
Before diving, you will suit up on the beach, at the restaurant Favored by your dive operator. Most small dive groups are taken to the sitein little local outriggered fishing canoes powered by small outboard motors.It's usually just two divers per craft, so if you have a large group, the little armada plays follow-the-leader to the site. There will probably be some spray just as you leave the harbor, and it may follow you further on if the wind is up. Both dive sites are a short 10-15 minutes away.
Pura Jepun
We Started Our first dive about 50 meters from shore, just opposite a small temple shrine (pura) called Pura Jepun, after the Balinese word for frangipani, although no flowers were in evidence along the stretch of coast leading to our entry point.(The shrine sits on a little cape, also called Jepun, so the site is sometimes called Tanjung Jepun).
After leaving the harbor, we headed northest along the coast, passing Blue Lagoon Bay with an idylic white sand beach at its back. A rocky point, against which some pretty large waves crashed, marked the end of Blue Lagoon, and from there to the Pura Jepun site the steep hills anded in small cliffs.These look like they drop straight down to the depths, but unfotunately continue only 2-3 meters undwerwater. At this point the bottom levels off quickly to a wide terrace at 6-10 meters.
We jumped overboard and began our drift dive, pushed back the way we came by a slight, less than one-knot current. Further out from the initial, 6-10 meters terrace, a slight slope eases down to 15-20 meters followed by flat sand at 40 meters.
After a very quick look in the deeper areas, we restricted our selves to 6-12 meters, where we had determined most of the animal life was to be found. Coral formations were scattered, altough there were white a number of anemones,crinoids of varying colors, odd clumps of tunicates and a few sponges.
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