Diving in Bali: Nusa Lembogan VS Padang Bai VS Menjangan Island?

[ebesuki]

Hi all the experienced divers/ travelers in Bali,

I'm planning a short 4 days dive trip to bali for a long weekend from Singapore.
this trip is last weekend of aug is hoping to see mola mola,
we have 2 AOW and 2 OW.

Have anyone dive in Nusa Lembogan / Padang Bai/ Menjagan island,
which one will you recommend?

thanks!

 

[Altamira]

We drift dived Nusa Lembogan last year on our second dive following a dive at Nusa Penida. On that particular day the current at Nusa Lembogan was really ripping, which made for a fun, but wild, ride. Although fun, the current made it impossible to stop and look at anything, and taking pictures was a bit problematic unless shooting straight ahead. The current was so strong that when we surfaced at the end of our dive, our boat was nowhere to be seen. Our DM had a Nautilus Lifeline so all was well.

 

[Luko]

Skip Menjangan, fish life is tame, only corals and gorgonians around a wall, plus it takes a long time to drive from/to the airport, in 4 dauys I would go for the easiest, not more than 2 hours to reach.If your focus is set on molamola, then I would opt for Padang Bai, looks like Gili Biaha and Mimpang are having the best record, plus you can enjoy macro dives around and if you still want to Tulamben is not that far away, moreover all companies run daily trips to Nusa Penida so you can try to hit the mantas as well.

 

[divingmore]

we dived Nusa Lembogan in June. beautiful diving. saw mantas at nusa penida, excellent corral, and the place is relaxed and quiet hard to believe one is near to Bali. commute is easy by fast boat from sanur and now that causeway is completed drive from airport to sanur is less than an hour. we did not see mola mola as it was not the season but lots of life otherwise. some sites have very strong currents (blue corner) and may be difficult for OW - but there are options with less current. I found Tulamben and Gilis too busy and reef overexploited.

 

[Mike Veitch]

If you want to see Mola mola then your options are Lembongan/Penida or Padang Bai/Candidasa. Mola are not common in Menjangan so if your goal is to see Mola then I would skip Menjangan. Do keep in mind that Penida and Padang Bai areas will be 23C or less for the molas so bring appropriate layers. And as mentioned earlier, currents are definitely tricky, you will want to make sure the OW divers are prepared for that.

 

[gekodivebali]

Mola sightings are aplenty this week in both Nusa Penida and Biaha/Tepekong/Mimpang.
Looks like it's a good year this year as we see them almost daily ;-)