A drift along a coral slope that begins as a platform edge at 5 m and steps down through bommies, gullies and small caves, with the reef rated to 30 m and gullies dropping to 40 m. Juvenile whitetip reef sharks shelter in the caves, green and hawksbill turtles are common, and anthias, sweetlips, trevally and surgeonfish work the coral.
Also known as Halik Reef.
Where it is and how deep
8.3369° S, 116.0384° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site sits on the northern side of Gili Trawangan and opens on a platform edge that slopes from 5 m down to around 15 m across a series of coral bommies. Below that the ground breaks into gullies and canyons, some running as deep as 40 m, though most of the dive stays well above that. It is normally run as a drift from the boat: settle onto the slope, hold a depth and let the water move you along the reef line rather than swimming it.
Look into the small caves as you pass, because juvenile whitetip reef sharks use them and they are the distinctive thing about the site. Green and hawksbill turtles are common along the coral, and bumphead parrotfish, coral grouper, lionfish and moray eels are all listed here. Schools of anthias dart in and out of the corals with large sweetlips, trevallies and surgeonfish above them, and eagle rays cross the open ground.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Sea turtles
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef fish swarms
- Eagle rays
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Gili Islands: Divable year-round; Apr–Nov brings the calmest crossings, and mola mola occasionally appear Aug–Oct on the deeper sites.
Know before you go
- Caves, gullies and canyons cut the slope and some of them drop to 40 m — stay above your planned depth rather than following one down.
- Current is strong around full and new moon, so a dive that swims easily on one tide becomes a fast drift on another; sources disagree on how much this site normally runs.
Photos from Halik
Tilonaut · CC BY 3.0
Tilonaut · CC BY 3.0
Tilonaut · CC BY 3.0
Questions divers ask
Is Halik suitable for beginner divers?+
Both PADI and Divezone describe it as suitable for all levels and the top of the slope sits at 5 m. The reason to treat it as an intermediate dive is water movement: current is strong around full and new moon, and the gullies below the reef run to 40 m.
Sources
- Halik dive site — PADI
- Halik Reef dive site — Divezone
Photo credits
- A pufferfish swims past a thicket of staghorn coral. by Tilonaut, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Two giant clams with patterned mantles nestled together on hard coral. by Tilonaut, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Close-up of branching hard coral with small fish sheltering among it. by Tilonaut, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A yellow-spotted nudibranch crawling over encrusted coral rubble. by Tilonaut, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- Where to see reef sharks on your first divesBig animals · 14 min read
More dive sites in Gili Islands
Wall
A vertical face dropping from 5 m to 30 m off Gili Air
Old bicycles under coral on a pontoon that sank in 2003
Pinnacle
Sea mounds rising from sand at 30 m to about 18 m
Sand slope
Broken rubble ground from 5 m to 16 m, then open sand
Sand slope
Macro life on bommies scattered down a sand slope
Turtles in numbers along a wall that bottoms out at 22 m
Reef
Whitetip sharks and turtles on three coral levels at 18-24 m
Reef
Deep reef meeting sand at 30 m off the northern Gilis
Similar dives elsewhere
A hard drift off the point, with tuna and barracuda in the flow
A current-washed plateau at 25–30 m, pelagics one day, pygmies the next
A drifted wall under a 200-year-old Spanish watchtower
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Black coral on the deeper reef, dived as a drift