Diving In Menjangan Island Marine Park, Bali, Indonesia

 

Diving In Menjangan Island  Marine Park, Bali, Indonesia 

While you are on the boat, looking at the island of Menjangan, you see a Hindu temple with a big statue of Ganesh at the gate and numerous shrines.

There are no people living on the island.

But this does not mean that the island is without residents.

The island’s name, “Menjangan, “ actually means “Deer Island.”

Wild deer from the jungles of nearby Bali and from the island of Java swim to the island and make it their home.

My dive guide assured me that the local deer are excellent swimmers and are able to cross currents and make it safely to the island.

The area surrounding Menjangan island has been a protected marine preserve for decades.

The dive guides could not say when it had become a marine reserve, but they all agreed that it happened before they were born.

Boats do not dock by the shore, and people do not go onto the island.

The beautiful underwater corals and marine life are well hidden under the calm blue surface.

While I stayed in Pemuteran, I took a few boat trips to the dive sites around Menjangan Island.

Each day included two dives in different locations.

For those who are staying longer in the area, there is also the opportunity to dive Bali’s famous macro-dive sites like “Secret Bay” and “Puri Jati.”

Both of these dive sites are reached by car from Pemuteran, and both locations offer shallow shore dives. 

Most dive boats also bring snorkelers to Menjangan island, so the dive sites are chosen after we arrive and assess the visibility and current conditions.

The coral reef around the island is vibrant and colorful and you can spot small creatures of all kinds.

I cannot describe my excitement at seeing the illusive Pygmy Seahorse that hides in the fan corals.

It has evolutionally developed the exact same spots and coloring that the coral it is living in, have.

I also saw the never before seen (by me) tiny hairy orangutan crab, with its golden fur moving with the currents.

I saw all sorts of see-through shrimp with only their outlines and tails visible to the eyes.

I became obsessed with photographing the Ghost-pipe fish and the most adorable tiny Pygmy Seahorse, and looked for them everywhere.

In a future post, I will add a description of the dive sites around Menjangan Island .

From Menjangan with love,

Tali