I’ve started to refer to Manta point as the Eiffel tower of Nusa Penida. Yes, it’s super famous, yes, it’s pretty amazing, yes, it’s big and weird but if you’ve ever been to Paris you know Paris is waaaaay more than just the Eiffel tower.
That’s not to say that meeting the mantas is not amongst some of the most incredible interactions you’ll have with marine life. It is or certainly can be when done right! However, conditions do not always allow to dive in Manta Point, and we see a lot of sad faces when we have to say: "Sorry, we cannot go tomorrow".
But on those days of big swell when we say that Manta Point is not an option, you might not necessarily have to hang up your fins, maybe , just maybe, you could brazen head off, off the beaten track, and try one of the other awesome dive sites Penida has to offer.
Northern lights
The North coast of Nusa Penida offers an array for magnificent dive sites, which at the right time of day/month can be as calm and current free as a swimming pool. Choose another moment and you may be gliding along on a pretty constant current parallel to the shore, encountering numerous turtles, trevally, barracuda, bat fish and many more as you drift along. Mola molas like to make appearances as do bigger sharks like threshers. The nice toasty warm water is at 26 degrees and the coral health is on a par with famous places like Komodo and Raja Ampat. The sites run into one another so you can experience huge branching Acropora colonies for a while then suddenly come upon towering massive coral bommies to then find large tables and small nooks and crannies as you drift along, all providing a home to the most amazing and diverse marine life.
Ask about diving SD point, Pura Ped or Sental to name but a few.
Eastern promises
For those of you with really adventurous souls, these are the sites that, for one, are not so busy because of distance. You won’t meet a lot of other divers here. No boats above head. But these sites are truly incredible, not only on a par with, but, for some sites, as good as Raja Ampat and Komodo. These are the coral cities, the ocean elves dwell in and they know their coral. These are the sites where people surface telling us ‘I think that is the best dive I’ve done to date’. The waters are warm, the coral in perfect health, abundant and diverse like in few other places I’ve been. These are the truly epic sites of Nusa Penida. All the marine life described in the last paragraph is there in huge numbers, shoals of fish swim by and the odd manta gets lost and turns up unexpectedly. If you're lucky you might catch sight of a hammerhead.
Ask about diving Karang Sari or Batu Mulapan (Sea Elf city), our two all-time favourites.
If you’d like to experience diving around here, dare to try some dive sites in Nusa Penida will wow you with its colours and tropical fish.
Get off the beaten track guys, you won’t be disappointed.