Oct 2024
Did a first-ever trip to Lembongan a while back. While the island is great, the diving was just so-so.
In May 2024 I visited Peninda, Lembongan's larger neighbor and had an excellent day diving Manta Point and Crystal Bay, where I saw many Mantas and a Mola Mola. Dive operators on both islands do many (all?) of the same sites, so I was keen to get back to those locations, this time from Lembongan.
I booked 2 dives with Dive Concepts, my 3rd time diving with them, having done Amed/Tulamben and Permuteran in 2024. The boat followed the spectacular west side of Penida, past some fast-evolving and gruesome development on the cliffside, including a massive elevator at T-Rex beach, one of Indonesia's most famous photo vantage points.
Arriving in Manta Point, I was shocked by the number of dive boats at the site, I counted nearly 30 - many more than 6 months earlier. And, unfortunately, things got worse under the water, with so many divers on the go, people were actually bumping into Mantas swimming by (with only a few of the beasts sighted this time, compared to many the last time there - not sure if this is a seasonal thing, or if they are tired of divers?). I think the time has come for a policy limiting the number of divers a day visiting the site, as done in Sipandan, for example.
After Manta Point it was on to Crystal Bay, where I had seen a Mola Mola on my previous trip. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky this time, making for a fairly pedestrian dive.
Afterwards, a friend who lives in Bali and travels to Lembongan a few times a year told me he no longer dives Manta and Crystal, only does sites on the north of the island. Food for thought if I (or you) are in Lembongan diving in the future.
Aside from diving, I give Lembongan a 5-star rating. I knew it's a famous chill-out place. But it exceeded my expectations in that regard - it's really quiet, comfortable, walkable, decent food, nice beaches, and the list goes on. One mega-highlight of Lembong you can do great diving and surfing from the same area, like one of the DMs at Dive Concepts told me he does.
The trip to Lembongan from Bali is a piece of cake. I did Grab from Seminyak to Sanur, then onto a pre-booked 20-minute ferry ride with dropped-off at beach, had an NMax rented before I was off the sand, then did a 1-minute ride to the hotel. The return trip was just as easy.
Questions?
Contact me at terraxplor1@gmail.com, I am happy to help.
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