Batu Kelebit sits between the Tulamben Drop-Off and Emerald and is reached only by traditional jukung, about five minutes from the Drop-Off parking area. The coral slope drops easily to 40 metres, and groupers, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda and sweetlips are often encountered along it.
Where it is and how deep
8.2811° S, 115.6003° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The jukung runs about five minutes along the coast from the Drop-Off parking area and puts you over a slope of coral between the Drop-Off and Emerald. There is no shore option here, so the dive starts and ends at the boat: you descend onto the coral and work along the slope rather than out from a beach, and the turn is planned knowing the exit is a pick-up rather than a walk.
The coral slope drops easily to 40 metres, which gives you the choice of running deep along it or staying up on the reef and letting the depth go. Groupers, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda and sweetlips are often encountered here, so there is fish life to work along at whatever level you settle on, and holding the shallower half of the slope keeps the ascent and the safety stop simple.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Napoleon wrasse
- Barracuda
| 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
- The coral slope drops to 40 metres without an obvious shelf, so agree a maximum depth on the boat and use the reef, not the sand, as your reference.
Questions divers ask
How do you get to Batu Kelebit?+
Only by traditional jukung, about five minutes from the Drop-Off parking area in Tulamben village. The site lies between the Drop-Off and Emerald, and there is no shore entry.
How deep is Batu Kelebit?+
The coral slope drops easily to 40 metres. Groupers, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda and sweetlips are often encountered on it, and the reef can be dived much shallower than the maximum.
Sources
- Batu Kelebit - Dive Site — SSI/Scubago
More dive sites in Tulamben
Shore-entry house reef from 5 to 30 metres with structures at 15 m
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
Big-fish habitat in a current that usually runs strong
Fish fill the water before your BCD is finished deflating
Current-swept corner with a pinnacle at 21 m for watching pelagics
Hard coral grown over lava that reached the sea in 1988.