Gili Islands · Indonesia · Reef
Simon's Reef
Deep reef meeting sand at 30 m off the northern Gilis
Area photo: Magul · CC BY-SA 4.0
A deep reef in the channel north of Gili Meno and Gili Air, where the reef runs out onto a sandy bottom that lies at 30 m and reaches about 35 m at its deepest. It is dived for depth rather than for shallow coral, which keeps bottom time short and the plan simple. Advanced certification and deep experience are what the site asks for.
Where it is and how deep
8.3354° S, 116.0643° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is reached by boat from the northern Gilis and dived as a straight descent to the deep part of the reef, where it meets sand at 30 m and drops away to about 35 m. Divers go down the reef, level off before the sand and take a bearing before moving off, because the bottom here carries few landmarks and the reef edge is easy to lose. The deepest part of the profile comes first, at the start of the dive.
From there the dive works back up along the reef, trading depth for bottom time as gas and no-decompression limits allow, so most of the dive after the first few minutes is spent well above the sand. Following the reef in one direction keeps the group together and lets the boat track it from the surface. The dive ends with a safety stop in open water above the reef, with the boat picking up bubbles.
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.
Sources
- Simon's Reef - Gili Islands — Scubago/SSI
- Diving in Gili Islands, Lombok — Divezone
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
Shore-entry house reef from 5 to 30 metres with structures at 15 m
A no-take reef since 1982, with turtles on nearly every dive
The protected shallows where Balicasag's turtles are thickest
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Ghost pipefish and pygmy seahorses on a calm coral slope