This site is popularly known as the ‘Japanese Wreck’ in the diving community. A relatively small steel shipwreck, that appears to be a tug, had sunk in this picturesque bay about 3 km to the east of Jemeluk, at a time not remembered. The fact that this site is easily accessible from the shore (park your car on the roadside, gear up, walk down a couple of stairs, wade across the stony beach, submerge and there you are) and that the wreck rests in very shallow water (5m to 12m), makes this an easy dive. It is also a popular destination for snorkelers. Not much, in fact nothing at all, is known of this wreck and how it got here. It may just as well be Japanese; an almost intact squat type toilet on its port side would speak for that. Amazingly for a wreck this easily accessible and shallow, the prop has survived and produces a beautiful, heavily encrusted silhouette. Due to its small size, the wreck is quickly explored, and divers would continue down the sandy slope dotted by many large, beautiful Gorgonian sea fans (look out for those Pygmy seahorses), purple, white, yellow, red; each one a great photography object by itself. A reef starts to the left, whose top is impossible to describe within the confines of this space. A German lady I took here not long ago (she started diving when Hans Hass published his first pictures) who had explored the tropical seas all over the world for her entire life had this to say: “Breathtaking. The most incredible, amazing coral formation I have seen anywhere, ever”.

You should save this dive for a day when conditions are right (which is most everyday during the dry south-east monsoon from April to November) however, as you may be disappointed when diving this site in lesser conditions, when reduced visibility would dull the brilliance of the colors of the reef. And be aware, since we are now close to Bali’s easternmost point and the ‘Indonesian Through-Flow’ that currents can be tricky, so don’t wander off too far and stay within the protected confines of the bay.

Diveable :
During dry, south-east monsoon April – November, occasionally ‘exceptional days’ otherwise

Maximum depth :
30m

Current :
Mostly mild but may pick up seasonally

Level of experience :
All