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South
Tala
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, whitetip 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.
Tanjung Loh Sera
Large pelagic fish like dogtooth tuna can be seen
circling off the point and around the pinnacles. Turtles
and large fish such as monster- sized giant trevallies,
potato cod, malabar grouper, schools of bumphead
parrotfish, napoleon wrasse, manta rays and much more
can be seen along the wall.
Superb
diving all along the southern point of Loh Sera, or off
the point towards underwater pinnacles. Due to
potentially strong currents only experienced divers
should attempt to swim to the pinnacles. Beginner divers
should stay along the wall. Great snorkeling along the
northern shore of this cape
Toro
Sie
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 crynoids and softcorals. 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 fishlife 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.
Yellow Wall
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 colors including
colorful 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.
Cannibal Rock/ Batu Buas
This site is famous for its varied and colorful
invertebrate life. Rich soft corals abound as well as
sea apples and other sea cucumber species. Amongst many
surprises are flamboyantly colored 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
wellprotected 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.
Crinoid Canyon
Many kinds of small invertebrate life can be found here
on very colorful walls carpeted in featherstars.
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.
Boulders
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.
Torpedo Point
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.
Payung Island
Very interesting underwater landscape with huge rocks
that give the illusion of a wreck dive. There are many
canyons and crevices to explore. Fish and invertebrate
life is diverse and abundant. There are big schools of
surgeons and smaller yellow snappers (Lutjanus kasmira
and L. quinquelineatus). Rocky reefs are covered with
soft coral, gorgonians and feather stars.
The
southern and western sides of Payung island offer the
most interesting reef scapes. A rock in the shape of a
cannon lies at 5 m depth on the southern tip of the
island. As with most dive sites in the southern section
of the Park, visibility is relatively low (5-10 m) and
the water is cooler (low to mid 20°C range). This site
should be dived at slack-tide, preferably during slack
of low tide. Two dives are possible: The first dive
descends at the northwest tip of the island (near the
rocks that nearly break the surface) and continues south
(with the slope on your left) at 15-30 meters depth,
then turns at the southern-most end of the island and
ascends to 10 m depth. The second dive starts at the
southeastern side of the island and proceeds around the
southern tip of the island at 20-35 m depth, then
ascends to 5-15 m depth
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