Lembeh Strait · Indonesia · Muck & macro · Coral garden · Sand slope
Pantai Parigi
The strait's only white-sand muck site, with coral in the shallows
Area photo: Bernard DUPONT · CC BY-SA 2.0
The odd one out in a strait built on black sand: Pantai Parigi, on the Lembeh Island side, is the only white-sand muck site here. Dense healthy coral covers the shallows at 5 to 10 m, then a gentle slope of pale volcanic sand with scattered boulders takes over, darkening into the usual Lembeh black sand as it goes deeper.
Where it is and how deep
1.4500° N, 125.3167° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The shallows are the introduction rather than the safety stop here: between about 5 and 10 m the bottom is white sand under dense, healthy coral, which is not what the rest of the strait looks like. Visibility runs 10 to 20 m and the current is very mild, so there is no rush to get down. From the coral the ground slopes gently away into pale volcanic sand with scattered boulders and small coral patches worth checking one at a time.
Pipefish and nudibranchs are the reliable finds around the coral blocks in the shallows. Deeper, the pale sand gradually turns to the classic Lembeh black, and with it the search changes from coral heads to open bottom, where frogfish and Pegasus sea moths take over. Mimic octopus are not uncommon on this site and blue-ringed octopus are here too, so ask what has been showing before the briefing rather than expecting either.
Because the shallow end is coral rather than sand, the last part of the dive is the one to leave time for. Working back up the slope onto the white sand puts the densest growth on the site inside safety-stop depth, in the brightest water of the dive.
Background
The name is plain description in Indonesian: pantai means beach and parigi means well, after a freshwater well by the shore above the site. The white sand that gives the dive its character sets it apart from the black volcanic bottom that runs the length of the rest of the Lembeh Strait, and the site sits on the Lembeh Island side of the channel rather than the Sulawesi mainland shore.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
- Frogfish
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Lembeh Strait: Diveable year-round; May–October dry season brings marginally clearer water for photography.
Questions divers ask
What makes Pantai Parigi different from other Lembeh sites?+
It is the strait's only white-sand muck site, with dense healthy coral over white sand at 5 to 10 m before the bottom slopes into pale sand and eventually the usual Lembeh black.
Sources
- Pantai Parigi dive site | PADI — PADI
- Lembeh Strait Dive Sites — Dive The World
More dive sites in Lembeh Strait
Pinnacle
A swim-through at 22 to 25 m lined with crinoids
Muck & macro
Sand, rubble and algae on a point that pulls in nutrient-rich water
Muck & macro
Zebra crabs sheltering in the spines of purple heart urchins
Wreck
A 60 m wartime cargo hull on its side under crinoids
Sea fans on the mini-wall hold pygmy seahorses
Reef
A shallow coral bowl between two soft-coral mini walls
Muck & macro
Banggai cardinalfish in the hundreds under a night torch
Muck & macro
Blue-ringed, coconut and mimic octopus on one black sand slope
Similar dives elsewhere
Debris slope from 3 to 18 m, dived for frogfish and nudibranchs
Mimic and blue-ringed octopus over Anilao's best-known muck slope
Black sand to 20 metres with regular rhinopias sightings
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Chromodoris, phyllidia and pyjama slugs over sand and rubble