Sekotong is a large, sheltered bay in south west Lombok with gorgeous beaches and excellent diving. There are over 3500 species in the waters around this area, making it one of the most bio diverse regions in the Indo-Pacific. With all sorts of colorful and interesting hard and soft corals, to amazing creatures such as reef sharks, turtles and cuttlefish, along with the rare macro stuff such as frogfish and the ghost pipefish.
There are some fabulous sites to explore and something for every experience level. From shallow, coral gardens, perfect for your first discovery dive, to super-fast drift dives, a great thrill for any advanced diver.
The sites ‘east of Gili Renggit’ and ‘west of Gili Renggit’ are sloping reefs, full of corals and will interest the macro photography lover who will enjoy scouring through the corals for the small stuff. Gili Kura-Kura is a great first dive for beginners where all sorts of fish will pop out to say hello such as many types of wrasse and the pretty Moorish Idol.
Go hunting for nudibranchs on Hadiah Reef or explore the Sunken Island for turtles, reef sharks and schools of barracuda and trevallies. Advanced divers will enjoy the drift dive Stairs to Medang where mantas have been spotted circling the reef. Lighthouse is the place for large coral formations and big schools of fish. Deep divers can head to Batu Gendang and Batu Mandi, a great site to see sharks and Napoleon Wrasses.
You can spend a good week exploring the diving around Sekotong. Snorkeling is also lovely so even if you’re not a diver, you can still enjoy the underwater world.
1.
NANGGU WALL / GILI NANGGU
( 5 min boat )
From 12 meters, you descend along a wall rich in soft and hard corals, sea fans, turtles, sharks, strange fish, macros, schools of colorful fish…
2.
PANTAI POH / GILI POH
( 10 min boat )
Sandy slope dotted with rock topped with coral.
You can see stone fish, scorpion fish and the devil one, crocodile fish, Pegasus,
Pipefish, cuttlefish, barracuda, mantis shrimp, lobster….lots of macros specialty nudibranchs.
3.
SUNKEN REEF / GILI ANYARAN
( 20 min boat )
The sunken island or gili Anyaran offer fabulous reef.
Diving starts on a beautiful platter between 0 and 8 meters where it is possible to see
Humped parrots fish, white tip sharks, green and hawksbill turtles. Then, descent along the slope until the wall.
In this area you can observe shark, cuttlefish, octopus, giant anemones, crocodile fish and a lot of different variety of macros.
4.
THE HARBOR / GILI RINGGIT
( 25 min boat )
Start on the slope, then down to 20m and enjoy the stairs and the small cave
Soft coral reef, colorful fish in the pulsing coral garden, puffer fishes, butterflies fishes, turtles, sea snakes, nudibranchs, white tip sharks, pipefish, frogfish…
Excellent site for enjoying reef or macro dive.
5.
WILL’S BEACH / GILI LAYAR
( 30 min boat )
Favorite site of macro-photographers for the wide variety of creatures found.
Underwater herbarium in shallow water followed by a sandy slope. We can observe
A wide variety of nudibranchs, flatworms … sea urchins flower and fire, anemones
And all their associated fauna shrimps, fish, crabs, squares, syngnathus, seahorses, and if you search well, you will have the chance to meet the ghost pipefish.
6.
SECRET GARDEN / GILI LAYAR
( 30 min boat )
Down on a beautiful soft coral garden, follow de current
2 dive possible on the stairs or on the wall, explosion of color, coral, fishes, turtles, sharks…
3 WAYS TO GET TO LOMBOK FROM BALI
BY PLANE
The round trip Bali-Lombok by plane is easy, fast and cheap. Garuda Indonesia and Wings Air (Lion Air) offer several flights a day from Bali to Lombok and from Lombok to Bali.
The flight takes approximately 25 minutes from the domestic terminal at Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) in Denpasar to Lombok International Airport (LOP) in Praya.
Garuda Indonesia is a reliable company, member of the SkyTeam alliance.
BY FAST BOAT / SPEAD BOAT
Crossing the Bali Strait takes between 1.5 and 2 hours. The companies offer daily crossings with the possibility of picking you up at your hotel in Bali to take you to the port of Padangbai.
The crossing can be a little difficult, so don’t forget your medication if you are prone to seasickness. But normally the journey should go well and allow you to admire the landscape of Bali, then the Gili Islands and Lombok as you approach it.
The boat trip will end at Senggigi or Teluk Kodek where you can find a taxi. For the return from Lombok to Bali, the speed boats also provide daily crossings.
Here are some fast boat companies: Blue Water Express, Marina Srikandi, Scoot, Semaya, Gili Gili, Gili Cat, Eka Jaya, Island Getaway.
BY PUBLIC FERRY
Departure every hour between the port of Padang Bai and the port of Lembar. The crossing takes 4 to 5 hours and only costs around 44,000 rupees for a pedestrian.
During the crossing you will follow the east coast of Bali. We can see Nusa Penida and all the Gilis of South Lombok very well. Often you can see dolphins.
The ferry crossing will be an unforgettable part of your trip, with Indonesians sure to ask you about your journey.