Menjangan & West Bali · Indonesia · Reef
Close Encounters
Clear water from 3 m to 40 m, 15 minutes off Pemuteran
Area photo: Bernard DUPONT · CC BY-SA 4.0
Fifteen minutes by boat from Pemuteran beach, Close Encounters runs from 3 m down to 40 m in clear water. The diving itself is easy, but the site can pick up current with the tide, so it is planned around the tide table rather than dropped into at any hour. It is not a snorkelling site.
Where it is and how deep
8.1299° S, 114.6614° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat leaves from Pemuteran beach and the crossing takes about fifteen minutes. Checking the tide is the one piece of planning this site demands, because the current comes and goes with it. The water is clear and the profile is wide open — 3 m at the shallowest, 40 m at the deepest — so the dive is set by what the group agrees to rather than by the shape of the reef.
In slack water it is easy diving and the depth is entirely optional, which is how most groups run it: down early, then a long shallow return. With the tide moving there is current to account for, which is the reason to check it before the dive rather than discover it on the descent. It is not a snorkelling stop, so everyone aboard is diving it.
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 Menjangan & West Bali: Divable all year thanks to the lee of Java; Apr–Nov is driest, and the wet season only affects surface conditions.
Know before you go
- Current comes with the tide rather than constantly, so a site that was still on the last trip may be moving on this one — check the tide before committing to a deep profile.
Sources
- Close Encounters — Scubago
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