A house reef entered from shore that runs from 5 to 30 metres, with soft and hard corals starting at 3 metres and artificial structures lying between 15 and 18 metres. The current is usually mild to moderate and the surface generally calm, and the reef holds macro life such as nudibranchs and shrimps along with ribbon eels, stingrays, reef fish and turtles.
Where it is and how deep
8.2478° S, 115.5742° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The reef starts shallow, at about 3 metres, with soft and hard corals, and the dive proper ranges from 5 down to 30 metres. How deep you take it is a choice rather than a requirement: the same entry serves a long shallow dive along the coral or a deeper run down the slope and back. Macro is the draw on the shallow half, with nudibranchs and shrimps, ribbon eels, reef fish, stingrays and turtles.
The artificial structures lie between 15 and 18 metres and give the middle of the dive a fixed point to work around before turning back up the slope. Current is usually mild to moderate, described as manageable, so the route can be planned out and back rather than as a drift. Coming home along the shallow coral leaves plenty of gas for a slow last stretch above 5 metres.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Stingrays
- Sea turtles
| 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 Tulamben: Diveable year-round with modest seasonal shift; April–October dry season typically gives calmer surface conditions.
Know before you go
- Current is usually mild to moderate rather than absent; swim out into it where you can, so the return along the reef is the easy half of the dive.
- The surface is generally calm but can be choppy from May to October, which makes the shore entry and exit the part of the dive to time carefully.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Abwonderdive house reef?+
The dive ranges from 5 to 30 metres, with coral starting at about 3 metres and artificial structures lying between 15 and 18 metres. The profile is yours to choose from the same shore entry.
Sources
- Abwonderdive House Reef - Dive Site — SSI/Scubago
More dive sites in Tulamben
Reef
Five minutes by jukung to a coral slope dropping to 40 metres
Muck & macro
Fine sand and rock past 30 metres, dived for the small stuff
Artificial reef
Motorbike frames and concrete set on a sandy slope at 15 metres
Reef
Easy shore reef a few hundred metres from the Liberty wreck
A wall to 60 m with a gorgonian fan at 27 metres
Wall
The far end of the Tulamben volcanic wall, to 40 metres
Reef
Small beach-entry reef with the best coral to the left of the entry
Muck & macro
Coral-grown structures at nine metres, dived for shrimp and nudibranchs
Similar dives elsewhere
Banded sea kraits crawling openly over a sunken plateau
An easy north-coast reef on the Napaling and Doljo road trip
Sleeping turtles at low tide on the west-coast slope
Sand slopes, low coral walls and a warship at 28 metres