Gili Islands · Indonesia · Pinnacle · Reef
Turtle Heaven
A coral-covered pinnacle turtles live on year-round
Area photo: Magul · CC BY-SA 4.0
A slope off the northeastern side of Gili Meno that leads out to a pinnacle standing from 9 m down to 30 m with coral on every side. The site is named for the turtles that live around it, and it is one of the places in the islands where they are resident rather than passing through. Depth is chosen on the pinnacle itself.
Where it is and how deep
8.3408° S, 116.0618° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive starts on the slope off the northeastern side of Gili Meno and follows it out until the pinnacle appears. That structure is the site: it stands from 9 m at the top down to 30 m at the base, with coral covering all of its sides rather than just the sunlit face. How deep you go is a decision made on arrival, since the whole rock can be dived at any level and the shape of it does the navigating for you.
Working around the pinnacle in a slow spiral is the usual approach, dropping to whatever depth the plan allows and then circling upward. This is home ground for many of the turtles around the Gilis, so they are resident on the structure rather than passing through it, and the coral cover on every side means there is no dead face to hurry past. Finish on the top at 9 m, where the safety stop can be spent on the shallow coral instead of in open water.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
| 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Turtle Heaven?+
The pinnacle stands from 9 m at its top down to 30 m at the base, so the dive can be planned at almost any recreational depth. Divers without a deep qualification can work the upper half and still see the whole structure.
Sources
- Turtle Heaven - Gili Meno — Scubago/SSI
In The Logbook
- Where to dive with sea turtlesBig animals · 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
A holed rock at the surface, a coral-covered pinnacle below
Cleaning stations on the summit, mantas on the flanks in season
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Whitetips, blacktips and marble rays on an atoll pinnacle
Trevally and tuna in numbers that block out the light