Nusa Penida · Indonesia · Reef · Wall
Karang Sari
Bommie-topped plateau above a fan-covered wall
Area photo: Shrigusti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Karang Sari is a bay on the east coast of Nusa Penida, large enough that it is dived in a number of different ways depending on the day. A reef plateau at around 10 to 12 metres carries large bommies, hard corals and a lot of macro life, and below it the reef drops into a deeper wall of large sea fans and overhangs, where reef fish hold and pelagic species sometimes pass.
Where it is and how deep
8.7047° S, 115.5903° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Most of the dive is worked on the reef plateau at around 10 to 12 metres, where a number of large bommies break up the bottom. This is the shallow, slow half of Karang Sari: hard corals on the plateau with a lot of interesting macro life living in them, which rewards a diver who is willing to stay over one bommie rather than cover ground. Visibility here runs from about 15 to 20 metres through the year.
From the edge of the plateau the reef drops into a deeper wall hung with large sea fans and cut by overhangs. Reef fish hold along it and there is a chance of pelagic species passing, so it is worth turning away from the wall now and then to look into the blue. No depth is published for the wall, and the site is big enough to be dived several ways, so the profile you get comes from the briefing rather than the map. Water sits at 27 to 28°C.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Nusa Penida: August–September is peak mola mola season on the cold upwelling; mantas at Manta Point are reliable year-round.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Karang Sari?+
The reef plateau that holds most of the dive is at around 10 to 12 metres. The wall below it goes deeper, but no depth figure for it is published, so treat the deep half as open-ended and set your own limit on the boat.
What is there to see at Karang Sari?+
Large bommies and macro life among the hard corals on the plateau, then sea fans, overhangs and reef fish on the deeper wall, with a chance of pelagic species passing along it.
Sources
- Karang Sari - Dive Site — SSI/Scubago
More dive sites in Nusa Penida
Cave & cavern
A 200-metre cave ending in an air space full of bats
Wall
Shallow reef structure, infrequent hammerheads
Drift
Bali's other mola mola plateau, deeper and rougher than Crystal Bay
The mola mola site, in cold and sometimes downward current
Reef
West-coast slope where mola mola come up in season
A manta cleaning station in 15 metres under limestone cliffs
Artificial reef
Planted restoration structures at 6 metres, shore entry
Reef
North-coast slope from 5 metres to past 40
Similar dives elsewhere
A turtle point about 10 m under a shallow reef cliff
Table corals from 3 m down to 40, and nudibranchs on all of it
Seagrass, dense reef and wall on one protected slope
Walls from 7 m to beyond 40 m under a seabird island