South Lombok scuba diving features

MARINE LIFE:

Whitetip sharks
soft corals
blue ribbon eels
nudibranchs

SOUTH LOMBOK'S TOP DIVE SITE: The Cathedral

DESTINATION OVERVIEW
The island of Lombok is next to Bali and is often described as 'Bali how it used to be'.
For divers there are two distinct diving areas – the Gili islands in the far north and in the bays dotted around the southwestern corner of the island.

Lombok's southwest corner is affected by it's position jutting into the Lombok Channel. There are good diving options around the town of Sekotong which is a little way inland from the point. Conditions can be variable depending on how close to the channel you get, and the prevailing currents. As the water is shallow, visibility is never crystal clear but this doesn’t affect the calibre of the dive sites. There are bright soft corals and colourful crinoids, which harbour all sorts of small creatures.

Around on the south coast and edging the Indian Ocean is Kuta Beach, which has been on the dive map for some time. The bay could hardly be described as busy although this sandy stretch also attracts surfers. It can be very rough outside the bay but is much calmer inside. Deeper dives attract pelagic species.

Nearby Belongas Bay is fairly similar to Kuta but is gaining a reputation as an adrenaline rush destination. A pair of offshore pinnacles attract sharks and rays. The conditions can be extreme and dives are not suitable for the inexperienced, but can be highly rewarding.

Seasons
Year round
Visibility:
10 – 40 metres
Water temperature:
25 – 29º C.
Deco chambers:
Bali

Flights to Mataram from Singapore or to Bali then
20-30 minutes transfer by plane. One hour by road/boat to the Gilis

Accommodation
Minimal variety but nice quality guesthouses and small hotels. Dive centres tend to be independent. We dived with DiveZone-Lombok who cover all the areas mentioned here.

PROS AND CONS
Easy to reach, Lombok is just a 20 minute flight or a couple of hours by speedboat from Bali. The South of Lombok is very undeveloped and apart from the guest house or hotel you stay in, there will be little or nothing else.

SCUBA DIVING
Due to the affects of currents from the Lombok Channel and the Indian Ocean, southern dive conditions are far more variable than in the north. Sites that face towards the channel are shallower and tend to be calmer than those around the offshore pinnacles facing the Indian Ocean.

OPINION
We first went to Lombok as travelers in 1985. We snorkelled over the reef off Gili Air and were hooked. We have been back to experience the land-based diving twice since and have seen great changes over the years. The south can be very exciting and very different to the calmer waters in the north. We like the sense of being pioneers in this newly developing region.