Gili Islands · Indonesia · Artificial reef
The Nest
Forty-eight life-size figures in a circle on the seabed at 4 m
Area photo: Magul · CC BY-SA 4.0
An underwater sculpture installation off Gili Meno: a circle of 48 life-size figures set on the seabed at 4 m by the artist Jason deCaires Taylor in 2017. BASK commissioned it as an artificial reef as much as an attraction, the pieces were cast from pH-neutral cement so that corals and sponges would settle on them, and it lies within swimming distance of a public beach.
Also known as Nest.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Gili Islands and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
There is no route to plan. The figures stand in a single circle on the seabed at 4 m, embracing couples around the ring and more figures curled up on the sand inside it, so the dive is a loop: swim out from the beach, drop onto the bottom clear of the sculptures, follow the ring round, then cross through it and look back at the inner figures from the middle. At that depth the air lasts, which is why most people go round more than once.
The piece was made to be taken over. The sculptures are pH-neutral cement anchored to the seabed, and the interlocking sections were designed as a platform for soft corals and sponges to settle on, so the growth across the figures is part of what you have come to look at rather than damage to it. BASK commissioned the work and gifted it to the local community, and the beach it sits off is open to everyone on the island.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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.
Dive videos
The Nest Underwater Statues in Gili Meno · Camille Swan on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Nest sculpture at Gili Meno?+
Four metres. The circle of 48 figures sits on the seabed in shallow water within swimming distance of a beach on Gili Meno, so it works as a snorkel as much as a dive.
Sources
- Jason deCaires Taylor — Wikipedia
- Nest — Jason deCaires Taylor — Underwater Sculpture (Jason deCaires Taylor)
In The Logbook
- Cheapest places to scuba dive, and the catchTrip planning · 15 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
Juvenile whitetips tucked into small caves along a drifting slope
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
Similar dives elsewhere
Motorbike frames and concrete set on a sandy slope at 15 metres
Mimic, wonderpus and blue-ringed octopus under the pillars
Twenty-five carved statues and a split gate at 28 m
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A decade-old tyre reef, grown in and dived after dark too