Sea Horse Bay

In our prior article "Tulamben, ready for macro" we talked about a perfect destination for this type of diving –macro- on the island of Bali.

Frogfish

Lombok, a neighboring island (~2hrs by boat, 30 min by plane), does not fall far behind. To the northwest, very close to the Gili Islands, you can find Sea Horse Bay, a bay where macro diving is just spectacular. You can dive here with any dive center from the Gili Islands or the west coast of Lombok.

Opisthobranch

The site´s sandy bottom requires divers to have good buoyancy, as the visibility can be significantly worsened by suspended particles rising from kicking the sand. Aside from the visibility, suspended particles can hurt the fauna as many marine organisms are filtering the water around them so they can suffocate or suffer problems of abrasion.

Cerianthus sp.

As we already know, we are not racing when we are diving. We try to go slowly unless conditions demand otherwise. In Sea Horse Bay, you can never go too slowly. Patience is your best ally. Stop and take a few minutes to look closely at each cement block holding buoy lines, anemones and/or any other elements you can find in the sand. You´ll be surprised with the amazing things you can find hiding at plain sight!

If you have made the decision to do a night dive in the bay, the chances of seeing cephalopods, such as octopus and cuttlefish, will increase considerably.

Flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi)

The name of the bay also hints us to another type of fish that we can find, seahorses, in addition to other pipefish of the same family (Syngnathinae).

This is another of the macro diving heavens you can visit as you travel Lombok, the new Bali.

See you in the blue