2018 Mola Sighting in Bali

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tsuyoshi

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Location
Los Angeles, CA
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I'm considering stopping over Bali in 2 days before a live aboard this early Nov. Just wanted to check in with the folks here on how this season is with Mola Mola sighting. How's my chance in early November?
Thanks in advance.
 
Can't speak to November but I was just there for 5 days in late august and I nor any other group from the dive centre I was using had any sighting during that time. Water temp was 26 to 27 and most dive sites including Crystal Bay, the staff were saying it's usually colder by now which is why there haven't been a ton of sightings. I heard from one person maybe 1 group a week has been seeing them.

I guess your chances should be better though in october/november when it should be colder.
 
Hey Scubaboarders,

I'm glad to say that the mola mola season is "finally" on as we speak! We're having daily sightings in both Penida and Bali's Gili islands ( Gili Tepekong, Gili Biaha & Gili Mimpang) in the last 2/3 days...

It took a while for the season to start, but hopefully this is more than just the effect of the black moon and we will have another great sunfish season.

@tsuyoshi: the season usually runs from mid-July/August to end of September/mid-October. Seeing that the season arrives a month and a half late, you may still get lucky at the beginning of November. Just try it!

As usual, it's best to dive deep and stay there for a while (read nitrox) with guides that have a reputation for mola sightings! Divers looking for molas should have experience with depths... and currents! Crystal Bay is a strong contender as usual, but the crowds make me prefer the dive sites I mentioned earlier.

Happy hunting everyone and remember to have fun whether you see the big ugly beast or not! Ah & stay safe too...
 
Have just come back from the Tulamben , they were seen semi regularly in deep water (60+m) in the Batu Nitty area.
Yes, they seem to be seen more and more regularly in Tulamben Bali and Amed in fairly deep water (70-80m). More frequent sightings. may be due to more frequent deepish dives (60-70m+) taking place. These are great spots to do such dives, although I prefer Nusa Lembongan !
 
Wondering if any of you seeing the Mola in Bali waters have also observed them flapping their dorsal fins and lying horizontally at the surface with seagulls or other birds coming in to clean parasites off them?

See my recently posted column:
DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #779: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
 
We were in Lembongan in late October / early November 2015 and saw at least two molas chilling on the surface, no sea birds though. One we saw around the corner from Crystal Bay. When we had been down at 30 mts and 15 degrees C looking for him, while Mr Mola was having a lovely snorkel on the surface.
 

On my recent trip we spent some time on Nusa Lembongan and did a couple of dives, I was absolutely shocked at the number of boats trying to put divers and snorkelers on the manta rays and the number of boats in crystal bay was astonishing, you could hardly move anywhere in the bay without running into another boat, snorkeler or diver and I hear the situation is similar regarding the mola hot spots ie over crowded with boats and divers. What impact is this having on those animals? hopefully dive operators will be giving some consideration to this. It just seems totally out of control and unsustainable. I preferred my Tulamben diving experience.
 
Thank you all for the great discussions! I didn't know the Mola will surface to the top!
60-70 M dive? I've gone down to close to 40 m but that's tech dive territorry below 40, no?
Re Tassi Devil Diver, we definitely need to develop more courtesy & sense to other divers & marine environment. The one time I encountered Oceanic Mantas, I felt like there was a frenzy of all the humans in the water around the Mantas. I got tired of that then just start wander around the reef that no one else was looking at.
 
I spotted my first Mola mola ever (on my first trip trying) with Geko last week and no one but our small group of four were there!
I feel that deeper is now the way to go.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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