Pantai (or Pante) Parigi lies on Lembeh island just close to the huge white limestone formations. The name can be translated with "beach with a well". You dive on light grey sand on a gentle slope. This turned out to be a good place for the Ambon scorpionfish (Pteroidichthys amboinensis) and frogfishes (Antennarius striatus and pictus). These animals were hidden among the algae and some ropes that were lying on the sand. There are also quite a lot of broccoli soft corals with tiny porcelain crabs and egg cowrie snails living on them.

Tanduk Rusa wreck (Mawali wreck) : This Japanese freighter burnt and sank in 1943. Rob Sinke from Divers Lodge Lembeh has found a fused compass and melted bottles. He thinks the reason why so much hard coral grows on the wreck is because all the paint was burnt off. It lies on the port side, large poles sticking out. You either start the dive from the propeller or you dive towards the cargo holds and the bow. It is nicely covered with beautiful hard corals. Depths start at 16m and go to 31m.

Kapal Indah : this is a cargo boat about 45m long and lies between 17 and 24m deep, upright on its keel. It is mostly covered with bryozoans, hydroids and sponges and there are a lot of nudibranchs, some very rare living there and on a large sponge on the top of the deck perched a giant frogfish, ready to devour the fishes around him. After diving on the wreck you can finish the dive on the small coral patches further towards the shore. Close to Kapal indah lies Kapal Baru, a boat that burned and sank recently and lies between 4 and 14 meters. This is a nice place for night dives (only for small dive groups), you see a lot of crabs, nudibranchs and perhaps a ghostpipefish.

Bimoli wreck : This is also a Japanese freighter which sank during the second world war. It lies now close to Bitung in the middle of the shipping area. You can sometimes hear ships going by, so it can be very noisy and the visibility is not always very good - also be careful when you surface! The Bimoli is about 100m long and the deepest parts lie on 35m. The Bimoli (real name not known) was torpedoed either from air or by submarine (the last is what the locals say) and sank. The ammunition (Bakelite) is still there and I hope nobody is stupid enough to try to lift that too up to the surface. The Rina's wreck and Kapal Baru have also been destroyed by people taking scrap metal from them.

Batu Kapal : This dive site is not so well known. You dive on several large submerged rocks which are jutting up from a plateau of about 22 to 27m. Everything is covered with yellow tube corals (Tubastrea) - what a sight it must be during night when they all open - and hard and soft corals. The amount of fish is just amazing, from small Anthias and red tooth triggerfishes, bannerfishes to mackerels, Napoleon wrasses and the occasional shark. The current carries you among the rocks, sometimes you stop and watch the fish soup, sometimes you drift to another current pocket.
If strong currents or waves make it impossible to dive at the pinnacles you might still be able to dive at the wall of the largest rock because it is somewhat more protected there. At 15 meters at the foot of the wall there is a gentle slope with large boulders. At about 22m it suddenly gets steeper with large gorgonian fans and we found sharks, Napoleon wrasses and large schools of snappers.

Batu Kapal south : You start this dive in a small bay a bit south of Batu Kapal. It is a slope covered with hard corals. Sandy areas reach like long bands down between. Several times on our dive we encountered a large group of barracudas and you can see some rainbow runners, a group of bumphead parrotfishes which were feeding on the corals and a turtle.

Californian dreaming and Pulau Putus : Most people come to Lembeh for the rare critters, but some dive sites like these have beautiful rich coral growth and colorful reef fishes! Specially look out for the cleaning stations here, apart from the colorful cleaning shrimps you might find some leaffishes or frogfishes there also.

Angel's window : This dive site is a large rock with two peaks off the north coast of Lembeh Island that rises to just a few meter below the surface. There is a large swim through at about 25m, and around them are several gorgonian sea fans (Muricella paraplectana) with pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus bargibanti) and outside there are other gorgonians with the yellow Denise seahorse (Hippocampus denise).

Southeast coast of Pulau Lembeh : During the northwest monsoon (November to April) it's also possible to dive on the eastern side of Lembeh island. These dive sites are well worth a visit. Just close by is Pulau Dua, a small island with a nice beach where you can eat your lunch. The dive site here is a large and steeply inclined ridge.
On the coast the coral is also very nice, specially at Jiko I, II and III. You dive on a steep slope covered with mostly hard corals and many small animals such as orang utan crabs or nudibranchs to be found. Check out the outcrop of corals in Jiko I (at 25 to 29m), it is teeming with live, small reef fishes, angelfishes, butterflyfishes and groupers.

There is another dive site further north at Batu Bunyan  there are sharks, eagle rays, bumphead parrotfishes and large pelagic and you can see dugon.

Of course night dives are also specially interesting in Lembeh. As soon as night falls nocturnal critters like crabs, worms, feather stars, cuttle fish and eels appear. Some animals like scorpionfishes are much more active at night, but you can find some ghost pipe fishes and juvenile batfishes on night dives. Most dive sites in Lembeh strait are also good for night dives. Probably because the combination of reef and sand is best to encounter a large range of nocturnal animals. Dive sites like Nudi Falls or Nudi Retreat are also just beautiful, because the tube corals on the walls open their tentacles and the wall becomes a yellow meadow!

Police pier : During night you dive on the sandy part and don't go under the pier. This dive site is full of surprises. You can find frogfishes and humpback scorpion fishes and the rare Bobbit worm. This worm is nocturnal and waits in its lair until a fish or some other animal swims over his head that sticks out of the sand. Then it extends its pincers and strikes, grabs the unfortunate fish and drags it down into its lair. Apart from the Bobbit worm there are of course also a lot of nudibranchs, crabs, shrimps to be seen.
Air Prang : South of Air Prang is a small beach with a flat sandy area. Several bobtail squids, huge red and white nudibranchs that bury in the sand during the day and emerge at night, small nocturnal scorpionfishes and of course the usual - octopuses, slugs, frogfishes, shrimps and crabs.

Nudi Retreat : This dive site is a small and protected cove. You can find ghost pipefish in the sponges. The highlight is the juvenile batfish with an orange fringe that looked just like a flatworm! Amazing!

Divers Lodge Lembeh house reef : Start the night dive around half past five and first go to observe the Mandarin fishes (Synchiropus splendidus) while they are mating. They live in rubble, mostly broken staghorn corals and during the day they are very well hidden. But around 5 o'clock (dusk) they start to forage among the corals and it is easy to find them. The male (larger) displays his dorsal fins to attract the female. Soon they rise together from their lair, side by side, and head for open water to release spawn and eggs. The nocturnal seahorses (probably Hippocampus mohnikei) which live in the staghorn corals close by. These seahorses are very agile and climb around in the branches to search for food. There is plenty more to see - featherstar crabs, nudibranchs, moray eels and with luck a sleepy ghost pipefish.

The Komodo and Rinca islands are the largest of about 80 islands that lie in between the islands of Sumbawa to the west and Flores in the east. Together with an extensive area of the surrounding ocean, they form the Komodo National Park lying 200 nautical miles east of Bali. The park was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site in 1986. The park is famous for its Komodo Dragons and its outstanding diving sites.

Abundant fish life exists in current-prone areas including large, missile-like Spanish mackerel. On the northwestern corner of this seamount grey reef sharks swim at 30m depth. Dogtooth tunas can sometimes be seen along the deeper slopes.

Big potato cod, gray reef sharks, eagle rays, turtles, schools of rainbow runners, dogtooth tuna, giant trevally and snapper frequent this reef. There are also large coral-encrusted pinnacles. This reef extends south from Tanjung Letuhoh and consists of big boulders and pinnacles that offer some of the best big-fish diving in Komodo. The optimal time to dive is during falling tide when a counter-current flows northwards. Recommended dive entry is on the southern-most rock that breaks the surface. Hang out on the reef face and watch the show, which is particularly good at around 30 m depth. Swim clockwise around the rock where you will encounter some big pinnacles encrusted with corals This site is affected by surge and can look quite frightening from the surface especially when there is a big swell running; however conditions are less terrifying underwater.

This area is marked with very large giant trevally, sharks, beautiful coral and a high diversity of other invertebrate life in relatively shallow water between 5-20m depth. Sometimes lots of manta rays may be seen feeding between September and January each year. The tiny rocky islands in this southern Komodo bay are great for snorkeling and diving, with even if there are no mantas. Only little damage has been done to the corals in this area and the damaged corals seem to be recovering rapidly. The best diving entry point is on the northeastern side of a rock located near a coral mound that is submerged 3-5m below the surface The temperature of the water can drop to the low 20°C range and this site tends to be current-prone.

Abundant small fish life at shallower depths, interesting invertebrate life on the walls and lots of larger fish somewhat deeper. Enormous schools of surgeon fish sometimes obscure views. Schools of large red snappers, Whitetips reef shark and huge groupers further down amongst the boulders frequent the reef. The southern point of Tala island is characterized by steep rocky walls and occasional strong surge.

On the south west coast of Rinca you will find a point marked Toro Sie. Adjacent to the point is a rock awash. This rock has a ridge that extends to the west that is covered in crinoids and soft corals. On the seabed around the rock lots of interesting critters can be found. If you swim out over the sand southwest of the rock there is a patch reef that usually has excellent fish life on it and quite often a few big grouper. This dive is usually has better vis during the NW monsoon along with most of the parks other southern sites.

A very good place to see invertebrate diversity, especially during a night dive. Walls are packed with a mind-boggling array of marine life and colours including colourful sea urchins, bright red sea apples, beautiful soft corals, Spanish dancer nudibranchs and a great variety of tunicates. Crevices in the wall reveal sleeping fishes, spiny and slipper lobsters, cleaner shrimps, and decorator crabs. Nighttime fish life include sleeping coral trout, cat sharks, all kinds of cardinal fishes and parrot fishes in their mucus cocoons, as well as sleeping turtles. Yellow Wall is an excellent day or night dive spot just inside the southeastern corner of Loh Dasami Bay. It is also one of the best areas in Loh Dasami for snorkeling. The current usually flows south to north so the best entry point is just around the western-most tip of the headland; the dive should then continue into the bay along with the current.

This site is famous for its varied and colourful invertebrate life. Rich soft corals abound as well as sea apples and other sea cucumber species. Amongst many surprises are flamboyantly coloured nudibranchs, and fire urchins with Coleman shrimp. The fish life can also be quite good at times with an array of scorpion fishes, schools of red snappers and surgeon fishes. Unusual fishes such as pygmy seahorses and frogfishes may also be seen. Cannibal Rock is a small seamount in well protected Loh Dasami Bay, between Rinca and Nusa Kode, which allows for easy diving with little current. Night dives are excellent, especially on the sandy slope of the northern side of the island starting at about 25 m depth.

Many kinds of small invertebrate life can be found here on very colourful walls carpeted in feather stars. This site is located in a small cove just outside the southern entrance of Loh Dasami on the island of Nusa Kode, almost directly opposite Yellow Wall. The diving entry point is just south of the cove then continues along the wall in a counter-clockwise direction. Best to start the dive at 25 m depth and then continue swimming back and forth up along the wall to the surface. This is a easy dive location with no current and is good in the early morning as it catches the morning sun.

The dive begins with forests of soft coral at 30-35m depth. Along the way to the boulders is the best place in Loh Dasami to find fire urchins with Coleman shrimp. The boulders themselves have good coral, invertebrate and fish life. Quite often manta rays can be seen in this area as well. This site is located on Nusa Kode where the bay widens just northwest of Crinoid Canyon. Directly below this point there are several big boulders laying on the bottom. The shallowest boulder is in about 8 meters of water and the deepest one is in about 30 m of water. A torch is useful on this dive. The best point of entry is 100 meters south of the point where the reef slopes down to soft coral forests on a dark sandy bottom in 30 to 35 m of water. Continue the dive to the boulders by ascending to 20m with the reef to the left. This is also a good night dive location.

An excellent place to find unusual critters such as torpedo rays, Bobbit worms, flying gurnards, frogfish, and ghost pipefish. Located north of Cannibal Rock, critters can be found on a patchy rocky reef at a depth of 15m. A great low environmental-impact dive for photographers as most of the rocky habitats are surrounded by sand.

Nusa Kode

The south western tip of Kode island is characterized by large, coral-encrusted boulders and huge groupers. Amongst the boulders are some of the largest reef fishes residing in the Park such as gigantic potato cod and malabar grouper. Schools of large red snapper are normally prevalent. Diving entry is west of a small island at this site. Swim down to a depth of about 10 m and follow the ridge, which juts out in a southerly direction. Swim along the crest of the ridge and down to a max of 50 m depth.

Very interesting reefscape. Large schools of fusiliers can be found here along the reef slope, which is covered in an interesting variety of soft corals. Sharks and the odd turtle are often encountered. Pillaarsteen is a rock pinnacle located on the shore of a small island east of Padar Besar. Best diving entry is just off the point below the rock where there is a nice wall. Continue swimming to the west towards interesting caves and swimthroughs at different depths. Diving is particularly good at around 30-40m depth. This site is a good choice when other sites have too much current. This area may be effected by surge when there are swells from the southwest.

There as a great variety of fishes here and also a good selection of critters such as leaf scorpionfish, blue ribbon eels, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, and more. Visibility varies but is best during falling tide. This is the most frequently visited site in the Park for snorkeling and diving. Snorkeling is excellent from the beach and there is a very good dive around a small area of reef around a steep rocky wall which is visible from the surface of the water at low tide. This site is also a very good night dive and offers excellent macro-photography opportunities. Several mooring buoys are stationed at this site.

An excellent "big fish" dive. Large boulders in deeper water to the west offer excellent habitat for grouper and other creatures. Mantas, giant trevally and other pelagic fishes are frequently seen here. Most of the coral growth is stunted as a result of the strong prevailing currents. Batu Tiga is without a doubt one of the most current-effected sites in Komodo and is tricky to dive. A rocky reef is situated southeast of Tanjung Kuning in Linta Strait and extends below the surface up towards Komodo Island. The best diving entry is at the northeastern side of the three rocks. Swim counter-clockwise until reaching some big boulders at 33 m depth. After exploring the area around these boulders turn around and swim back, keeping the reef to your right.

Good reef fish life and an endless field of orange soft corals. Mantas are often seen in this area. A good drift dive starts at the northwest tip of the island and runs along the western side in about 15- 20 m of water. A similar drift dive is also possible along the north coast of the Tatawa Besar from the same entry point. This site is a good dive option if the current is too strong at Tatawa Kecil or Batu Bolong.

This is another good site within easy reach of Labuanbajo. On the west side of the island there is a small white sandy beach. At the northern most point of the beach where the sand meets the rocks is the best point to enter. The reef slopes down to sand and there is a patch reef isolated from the islands fringing reef . The Water clarity is usually good and so is the dive. Once you have seen the patch reef you can return to the fringing reef slope to finish your dive.

Always a great dive site to see fish but does not have much to show in terms of hard corals. Behind a very large rock on the corner of the reef is a drop-off covered in boulders and many holes in between with hidden animals. Excellent grouper sightings, especially in October and November during spawning aggregations. There are usually many golden trevallies, snappers and sometimes huge napoleon wrasses. The site is located on the northeastern tip of Gililawa Laut. The best time to dive this site is when there is a slight current just before or after slack-tide.

Sangalaki : Some very exciting diving can be found around several islands and atolls lying just to the east of Tanjungredeb (Berau) in the strait of Makassar: Derawan, Nabucco, Kakaban, Maratua and Sangalaki.

Sangalaki (also written Sangalakki) is known for the large gatherings of manta rays that goes there. The reef is actually not so nice, but you don't look at it, when these huge animals swim by! About 15 min by boat is another dive site, Samama which is good for macro. Maratua (also written Merah Tua) has several impressive drop-offs and you will have a good chance to sea large pelagics like sharks, tuna, eagle rays and schools of barracuda, trevally and mackerel. Derawan and Nabucco are known for the critters such as frogfishes, shrimps, scorpionfishes, ghostpipefishes and invertebrates like nudibranchs and special shrimps. Probably the most special place is Kakaban, a most unique experience! In the middle of this island is a mangrove fringed lake where thousands of non-stinging jellyfish live. This place is similar to jellyfish-lake in Palau. Around the outer reef there are drop-offs for drift-diving. Visibility can sometimes be low due to silt from the river in Tanjung Redeb.

Sangalaki is known all over the world as the center of Manta Rays. Some of them are giant and gorgeous ray that have wing span up to 3 meters wide. To the east of the island are Manta Avenue, Manta Parade and Manta Run - where the manta rays can be found feeding, gills wide open, on a rich supply of plankton minutes from the beach. The mantas can sometimes be seen cruising down these manta highways, whilst other rays forage around for food under the sand together with the goatfish. Their wing tips break the surface at regular intervals as they circle around you. They prefer to swim close to the surface, so snorkeling or free diving is also a good way to interact with them. The best time to see them seems to be full moon when there might be as much 20 mantas hovering over the cleaning stations.  Gently sloping patch reef frequented by manta rays. These giants, some with wing spans as great as 3.5 metres, fly in graceful circles while feeding in the current line, so they can be seen up close by snorkellers as well as divers.

The place to go for the manta rays (Manta Birostris) all lie to the north and east of the island: Manta Avenue, Manta Parade and Manta Run. There manta rays come from all directions, their wing tips breaking the surface at regular intervals and circle around you. They prefer to swim close to the surface, so actually snorkeling is also a good way to interact with them. They congregate there in large numbers and feed on plankton or are cleaned at special cleaning stations. The best time to see them seems to be full moon when there might be as much 20 mantas hovering over the cleaning stations. The dive sites are a series of ridges of various size and sandy bottom and towards the west the underwater terrain flattens out.

Coral gardens, Turtle patch and Sandy Ridge: these dive sites all lie to the south west of Sangalaki and are small coral reefs and ridges with a sandy bottom. Hard corals, whip corals and some gorgonian sea fans with colorful reef fishes and green turtles.

Lighthouse reef: Sandy bottom with coral heads. There are two small wooden boat wrecks. A good place for gobies, scorpionfishes, clownfishes, jawfishes, nudibranchs, frogfishes, mandarin fishes and ribbon eels as well as Tridacna giant clams.

Samama island is very close to Sangalaki and Kakaban. It has been described as an underwater naturalists dream teeming with macro life. It offers the unique scenery of bio-diversity for divers to interact with. Since the waters surrounding Samama are shallow and ideal for beginners and u/w photographers looking to capture the magical undersea lighting. Large swathes of colourful soft corals and sponges intermingled with hydroids and sea whips give way to massive cabbage, staghorn and plate coral colonies. Around the edges of the sand patches iridescent blue ribbon eels can be seen along with many juvenile fish that take shelter in the islands mangrove root system labyrinths. Pygmy seahorses have been found here and there are myriad nudibranchs to be discovered

Kakaban island lies around 20 minutes from Sangalaki and offers 2 very different diving experiences. In addition to some spectacular wall diving, where pelagics can be found.

The island of Kakaban is an isolated marine lake (lagoon) and unique in its own.  Thousands of years ago the island was naturally uplifted and then isolate the marine ecosystem from surrounding marine area making all biota in this marine lake become very unique and endemic critters such as non-stinging jellyfishes and non-stinging anemone.  Marine biologists have also found a number of unknown species of anemones, tunicates and crustaceans in the lake. The shoreline is fringed with a tangle of mangroves. Their sturdy roots are carpeted with sponges, seaweeds and tunicates. Visibility is around 10-12 meters and at its deepest point the lake is 18 meters with tidal amplitude of about 0.2m, this is a result of a network of underground fissures that connect to the ocean. This truly is a biological paradise.

There are several impressive drop offs and a great drift dive can be done through the channel into the lagoon. The channel entrance is at 27 meters and strong currents sweep by attracting large pelagics such as eagle rays, mantas, barracuda, tuna, mackerel, mantas, hammerheads, and variety of sharks. It is the home of the barracudas. Best time to dive the channel is on an incoming or slack tide where marine life reaches a crescendo of activity. Coral growth is not as spectacular here due to the strong currents, diving should also be carefully planned. The island is inhabited hence unfortunately some of the reefs have been fished.

Derawan island can be reached from Sangalaki but also has its own dive operation. Visibility is not so good. The best diving is at the Jetty in shallow 5m, where you can find some very interesting critters such as flamboyant cuttlefish, squat lobsters, ghostpipe fish, bluering octopus, nudibranchs, seahorses, ribbon eels and scorpionfishes. The Sea Garden is a shallow reef (10m) and the Blue Trigger Wall a small wall starting at 18m with lots of red-toothed trigger fishes.

There are several diving terrains ranging from walls to caverns and fringing reefs. The island is also popular with green turtles that use it as a breeding ground laying their eggs in the night time. With 9 dive sites around Derawan,  there are diversity of marine life,  such as white tip, leopard and nurse sharks, cuttlefish, Spanish mackerel, jacks, batfish and ornamental reef fish in varied terrain, huge lavender seafans, cuttlefish, nudibranchs galore, unusal tube anemones, blue ribbon eels and multi colored crinoids.  A completely new species of coral is also found here named appropriately Acropora Derawanensis. Derawan's 656ft jetty is home to dumpling squids, crocodile fish, finger-sized purple crayfish, squat lobsters, decorator crabs, sea horses and various species of worms, tunicates and Dwarf scorpionfish. Shallow (10 metres) reef at Sea Garden is very healthy coral and abundance of  flatworms and nudibranchs, ribbon eels, large blennies and anemones